Check out the new way college students are getting around dating anxiety. 

For students who may be too nervous to ask out their campus crushes, a new college dating site, GoodCrush.com, provides an alternative.

The website – a cross between Match.com and Facebook that requires a university-linked e-mail address to join – gives students two ways of connecting with their would-be romances. The CrushFinder allows users to enter “crushes” and attempts to match them up.  If there’s a match, both parties receive an e-mail notification.

There’s also a Missed Connections message board (like the one found on Craigslist) that lets college students post anonymous messages in hopes their crush will spot it and respond.

The site has seen a quick rise in popularity: Within 24 hours of GoodCrush’s launch at Princeton University 30% of the student body had signed up. Since its inception in February, it’s become available on 20 campuses and has 14,000 users. And requests are pouring in from over 80 other colleges.

While some may argue it’s the start of a risk-free dating culture, where students can make moves while protecting their self-esteem, others point out that it actually requires a greater degree of risk. Taking dating out of public venues – like bars and parties – means they have to deliberately voice their interest, and can’t blame their actions on beer goggles.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section.

Tags: GoodCrush.com, Princeton University, Social network romance