‘See Someone Hot, Take a Shot’: Hottie in the Library

Back in June 2011, a bored, testosterone-filled student at the University of Manchester founded ‘Hottie in the Library’, a website which ‘celebrates how University is the best bloody time of your life and Libraries bring together people of all different levels of hotness.’

From a first glance, it seems to contain exactly what it says on the tin: pictures of physically attractive individuals who also just so happen to be, well, studious and hard at work in their local library. According to its creator(s), the site had garnered almost 17000 hits in only 5 days, and the count now stands at over 137000, with more and more hits every day. Not only this but over 2000 people have already ‘liked’ it as a page on Facebook; clearly, there’s a market out there for ‘Hottie in the Library’.

So why create ‘Hottie in the Library’? It seems to stand in line with pre-existing websites such as ratemyteachers.com, sexymp.co.uk, asianssleepinginthelibrary, and even textsfromlastnight, all of which have gained huge popularity by exploiting the same kind of concept. Showcasing anonymous material on the internet, which can be deemed funny or clever, and is then spread on various platforms of social media for the amusement of other webaholics, seems to be the next big thing.

In an attempt to cater to both sexes, the website includes photographs of both male and female folks, and viewers are able to rate the anonymous photos as either ‘Hot’, ‘Smoking’ or ‘OMG’. Anyone can view the results for each photo, with people also having the option to vote for a ‘Hottie of the Week’. The already substantial stream of photos continues to grow but so far, the pictures seem mostly limited to ones of students in the John Rylands Library located in the University of Manchester. However, as the audience expands, so will inevitably the variety of photos.

In order to submit content, just follow the rules of consent and make sure your ‘hottie’ allows their face to be plastered over the internet for others to judge and scrutinise.

As the website entails: ‘If for any reason someone in a picture wants to be taken down, there is a no quibble process. Just send in your full name, picture and reason and we will take it down with no further issues. Although we hope you understand the light hearted approach we are taking with this.’

Critics may call the project superficial, unnecessary or any other adjectives they desire, but they would be missing the point; it’s all a bit of fun.

So if you want to embrace your sapiosexuality, get snapping. Hartley’s hotties await you!

After all, who says intelligence can’t be sexy?