In an epic U-turn, the controversial new dating site for Oxford students, OxShag, has chosen to suspend its operation following an abundance of privacy concerns. The website was criticised by students for its database, which consisted of student names, email addresses, and colleges without consent, in order for participants to select up to 20 potential suitors to “shag.”
The creator of “Oxshag” told Cherwell: “Whether or not you choose to believe me, I started this genuinely with the best of intentions. I thought that it would spice up the Oxford casual sex scene (which is underwhelming and/or hard for a lot of people). As a concept, Oxshag isn’t dissimilar from something like Tinder, just a more effective way of matching compatible people together, leading to a more enjoyable experience for everyone.”
“I will admit that I made some poor choices with the initial website, which were not as carefully considered as they could have been and may have been surprising for some. I apologised for this, and after receiving complaints I immediately reworked the website so that you had to opt-in for your name to be listed.”
“But putting it in perspective, your name and college, if not publicly available on the Oxford Search website (which they are for the vast majority), can almost always be found somewhere on the internet. Like seriously, it’s your name and college?! The site was only up for a few hours and the data that was available was seriously unlikely to cause any harm. While this doesn’t excuse the fact that I fucked up, what happened was an innocent mistake that has been blown massively out of proportion.”
“What could have been a fun event has been now ruined by the loud minority. Loosen up a bit, have a laugh, and take life a bit less seriously. I think those who are the most against Oxshag are probably the most in need of it.”
“At the beginning of next term, after a period of reflection (and some more resoundingly mediocre casual sex), I hope attitudes will have changed and I will poll the community to see if people would like me to give this another crack…”
This comes after “Oxshag” received substantial criticism on other student social media forums. The situation with whether or not the site will be reinstated is developing, although the project stated that was initially planned for Valentine’s Day in February. The identity of the creator of “Oxshag” remains anonymous.
Image credit: Oxshag.com
