@Vandy_Makeouts and VandyManCandy

“Pick a cultural event or phenomenon that has been sparked by a blog or twitter feed in your area of interest; chronicle and analyze it.”

For the millenials, which obviously include the Vanderbetches and Vanderbros, we define “cultural event” kind of loosely. We can easily recognize what constitutes an important cultural phenomenon, from a social movement to a political election. However, despite late hours in the library, and early hours volunteering, sometimes the dedicated and passionate millenials act that part of our age that really can only focus on one thing: scopin’ out the hotties.

As a part of this generation, I want to make the case that we are, and will continue to become, valuable, upstanding members of society. We are smart, we are involved, we want to make a difference. And we take stalker pictures people making out.

This gem comes from a anonymous twitter account @Vandy_Makeouts. “Even though you might not remember, we will,” these sneaky bastards declare on their twitter profile.  However, the creators of the account are much too generous (and busy) to want to document all the glory themselves: they invite other Vandy tail grabbers to submit photos of their friends submerged in each other’s faces. Tacky? Perhaps. Hilarious? Absolutely.

But WOW, does this describe a good bit of the nightlife I’ve experienced at Vanderbilt. From people who were certified pros in high school, to geeks without a clue, college is fair game! Fishing with dynamite was never so easy – or so easy to document. The tech and society savvy subset of the millennial generation (Hello, Vandy) is actually pretty careful about what they post on facebook and online. They know they can be identified easily and would prefer not to be engaged in a drunken makeout in a picture online, so @Vandy_Makeouts has keep the pictures pretty anonymous thus far. Millenials know that a questionable, identifiable picture will only result in a call from a livid parent. “WHO IS THAT BOY?! AND WHY IS HE GIVING YOU WHAT APPEARS TO BE LIFE SAVING CPR? BECAUSE ONLY SOMEONE WHO WAS unconscious WOULD ALLOW THIS PICTURE TO APPEAR ONLINE!!!” (Depending on your parent, “young lady” or your first name and middle name might make an appearance in this rant.)

Despite our parents’ dismay (and probably disgust) we’re eating it up! (As we practically eat each other’s lips…. Har har.) With an inaugural makeout pic posted on September 25, @Vandy_Makeouts has garnered 421 followers. I’ve seen people perusing the feed in class, in libraries, and at meetings. Pretty much anywhere Vandy students are making genuine contributions to society, they are also looking at picture of their friends making out.

This isn’t just a Vandy phenomenon. Drunk collegiate voyeurs are on the rise across the country, and can be found at @ASUMakeouts, @AlabamaMakeouts, @MizzouMakeouts and the mack daddy (no pun intended), @MSUMakeouts with 2118 followers. If you’re really looking to broaden your social media scope, millenials can head to campusmakeouts.com, where hundres of pictures are posted.  It’s a makeout epidemic that we didn’t know existed (because we were probably too drunk to realize what was happening) but now our makeouts will live on indefinitely! And by indefinitely, I mean until the next funny twitter feed pops up.

So the voyeurism part is a little weird, but kind of understandable. You’re standing with your buddies or your babes at the bar, and you see a member of your posse playing tongue hockey with that hottie (or nottie) in a corner. You snap a pic, email to the feed, they upload it, and everyone has a few laughs. But here’s the really bizarre part: people kind of WANT to see themselves on the feed. The generation that lives online is really now living ALL parts of their lives online. It’s a 15-seconds of fame kind of thing to see yourself be seen by (at the very least) 421 other people. The psychology is a little twisted, and I would love to sit down with someone skilled in psychoanalysis to hash this phenomenon out, but for now, let’s just say that the millenials like to see and be seen.

Ok, now that I’ve indicted everyone, I have to turn my attention to the ladies. The women at Vanderbilt are forward thinking, progressive, capable individuals, who enjoy the respect and equality of their male peers. However, they still often face 18-22 males checking them out and not seeing much more than a [insert body part here]. However, three self-described Vanderbelles, and their cadre of followers, are turning the tables on their female “looked-at” status.

They’ve started a blog called VandyManCandy.tumblr.com, where, like @Vandy_Makeouts, they invite their followers to post pictures, but this time, it’s of good-looking, unaware Vanderbros. “Vandy Candy” is a nickname for younger Vandy ladies, so the anonymous creators reinvented the term to apply to guys. Again, the voyeurism is a little weird, but one can definitely see the power trip that these girls get by subjecting the boys around campus to a reduced, sexualized status. Freudian, but, again, hilarious.

So what does this say about us? Well, from the beginning, I wanted to be an advocate and a voice for the Vanderbilt student. I wanted to document and reveal our successes and our passions, our dedication and our intelligence. But you know what? Our technological inclinations are a huge part of how we communicate and talk to one another, and sometimes, we just want to talk about sex, baby.