I was driving to work when I first heard the news about a new dating app called Lulu.
And I almost crashed.
Lulu, if you haven’t heard, is an iPhone and Android application that allows women to review the men they date through Facebook. Let’s just say it’s an overall evaluation of their assets.
Think “Angie’s List” and then let your mind wander straight into the gutter.
The creator, Alexandra Chong came up with the idea at a post-Valentine’s Brunch two years ago as she sat with her girlfriends and dished on men and relationships.
Chong claims she identified a need –to create a forum for women to talk about the men in their lives.
Here is what concerns me:
- It dehumanizes men. Women hate to be objectified and yet this is exactly what they are doing to men.
- Women need REAL relationships with other women to process male/female interaction. They do not need another app on Facebook to isolate even more. Relationships and people are complicated and they cannot be numerically staticized.
- No man deserves to have his relational immaturity advertised. We all make mistakes and it’s simply unfair and extremely immature to exploit another person’s faults –even if they are legitimate.
- If a guy has a bad reputation –it will get around. Trust me. Facebook can’t compete with how much women love to gossip.
- It could cause lasting emotional damage in the wrong hands. One vindictive young woman could destroy a man’s online reputation. A bitter woman with this app in hand is a recipe for disaster.
- It’s snarky.
The only possible good I see in this app is that a few guys might clean up their act when held accountable by a posse of young women. Because this app is targeted for college kids in a campus environment, unless a guy plans on changing schools he might want to reconsider treating women poorly if they are all comparing notes.
Chong said women answer a series of questions and then anonymously or privately share the information about the male. Once ratings from the quiz are calculated, Lulu gives the male an overall ranking on a scale from one to ten.
The female-only application is available to students at the University of Florida and Florida State University because Chong wanted to launch Lulu at schools that have strong Greek life, social environment and academic culture.
“We thought those were some good schools,” she stated. “It certainly has been a big success so far, and we’re really happy we came here.”
“We had a lot of guys trying to get into the Lulu app,” she said. “We decided we wanted to make sure to give them a voice on the app as well. It’s called LuluDude.”
Chong said the mobile Web application, LuluDude, which is yet to be released, will allow men to manage their Lulu profile and see their ratings.
The Bible gives it own warning in Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”
Ladies, I imagine a male version of this app is already in the works -so tread lightly before you critique. Only God knows our heart and no app or program could ever quantify a changed life.
What do you think about Lulu? Would you use it if it were available?
