Thanks to the increasingly transportable internet, people can have been given so many ways to waste time while on public transport. They can play games on their handheld devices, watch films or read books. Or, if you prefer, interact with people instead. However, too many people seem to enjoy combining their enjoyment of hand-held photos with the presence of other people, taking photos of them to later upload online. Sometimes the intention is to be mean, sometimes it’s simple adoration.
And that’s where we come to the story of Chinese women on Weibo (the alternative to Facebook in a country where Facebook is banned) who have been sharing images taken of British men on London’s tube. They visit TubeCrush.net, a site set up in the UK, and comment on the images, sharing them on Weibo to sometimes get a whopping 200,000 likes.
Its founder, Stephen Motion, told the BBC: ‘The third biggest source of traffic to our website is actually from China’
‘The website isn't blocked in China. It's fully available in all of the cities. We see most traffic coming from Guangzhou and Shanghai.’
According to Ruhua Xianyu, a BBC correspondent in China, ‘When Chinese people think about British men, we think they're true gentlemen, because of their good manners and politeness.’
Which makes us almost feel a little bad for the Chinese tube-crushers; they’re seeing a bit of a Hugh Grant-ified stereotype of a kind British chap played out way more than is actually representative of IRL men on public transport.
READ MORE: Stranger Shaming: How Being A Woman Eating On A Tube Got Me 12,000 Online Haters
But for the most part, we feel bad for the guys, plus the guys on the Instagram account dedicated to hot men on the Paris Métro. Yes, we’re sure some don’t mind the adoration. Mr Motion told the BBC last year: ‘As it stands, men that have been featured [on the site] have said they feel very proud, with the bravado they have of saying 'someone thought I was hot enough'. They haven’t felt objectified.’
However, what if the boot was on the other foot? We all know why there’s no horrendously popular TubeCrush for women to feature on – because it’s just a bit too creepy. We figure, too, that because of a world full of naked images of women, straight men just aren't that interested in going online to look at clothed ones, even if there is that thrill of their obliviousness. But really, back to our original point, just because the intention is kind, doesn’t mean that guy consented to having his photo taken and shown to people around the world.
READ MORE: Air Stewards Are Getting Their Revenge By Shaming Passengers On Social Media
It might be pretty fun to crush on strangers through the periscope of a phone, but how’s about looking at them with your eyes? That way, you might actually get smiling, or talking, or getting one another’s number, or dating, or ending up in actual selfies together! Even if your end game is a photo, there are far better photos to take.
Like this? You might also be interested in:
There's An Upside To Daniel Pearce's Horrific Coming Out Video Going Viral
Emma Stone Wants You To Know That Nude Selfie Going Viral Isn't Her
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.