Ever had a crush that you wanted to know more about? Wondering if that guy who sits next to you in class would be a good hookup? Or do you have an ex-boyfriend you want to warn other girls about? Let Lulu help you. Lulu is a social networking site and application by girls and for girls that is taking the collegiate world by storm. You can simply look up anyone listed as a male on Facebook to read a detailed review of him to find out if he’s #PerfectionSquared or if he #WearsEdHardy. Admit it, if you hit it off with a guy, you’re going to Facebook stalk him… why not try Lulu to find out from anonymous reviews if he really is the man of your dreams?
The beauty of Lulu is that all of the reviews are anonymous, so you can’t see who has reviewed your crush, and other girls can’t see if you’ve rated theirs. Not only is it anonymous, but boys literally have no access to the app and can’t see any of their ratings, nevertheless rate themselves. Maybe you even heard about the perfect sweetheart out there for you on campus: someone who’s nerdy but cute, knows how to talk to your parents, and to top it all off he’s #TallDarkAndHandsome. Only problem is that you’re not Facebook friends with him. No fear because Lulu is here to narrow your search down to anyone and everyone so you can find your very own Campus Cutie.
There is one way boys can have some influence over their scores and ratings. If your guy friends are anxious about their Lulu reviews, they can check out LuluDude (m.luludude.com) to alter their profile by uploading pictures and adding their own hashtags so girls will know what their turn-ons and turn-offs are. This way, you can easily find out if your Dude #WillSeeRomComs with you, and values a girl that #SpeaksHerMind but can’t stand a girl with an #OrangeTan.
Although fun to giggle about, Lulu has its drawbacks. Some of the hashtags used to describe men can be offensive and hurtful, and girls are asked to rate them out of ten. The Huffington Post remarks that Lulu “Lets women review men like restaurants.” Imagine if the app was created for boys to rate girls. As we all learned from Mean Girls, Girl World can be a scary place, especially when anonymous reviews a la The Burn Book are shared with the public. Lulu is all fun and games until you have hashtags associated with your name like #Slut and #Stage5Clinger for everyone to see. Although Lulu can give women a sense of liberation and confidence, the app is ultimately a form of cyber bullying.
How reliable and truthful can the app be about the men in your life? It takes less than thirty seconds to rate a guy, so if you see one bad rating on your Prince Charming, don’t let the app make it or break it for you. Don’t let Lulu dictate your feelings and make your own conclusions about that special someone based solely from his ratings. After all, you never know if the reviews could be from crazy ex-girlfriends or girls who have never even met him. Let’s be real, it’s realistically impossible to find the perfect bachelor out there, so you may as well focus on a guy’s best attributes instead of the negative ones. Your crush might #SwearLikeASailor but at least he #BelievesInLove and #RespectsWomen.
Lulu CEO and Founder Alexandra Chong wanted to focus on the typical female college student who “is a smart, accomplished woman who also knows how to let her hair down on the weekend.” Sound like you? If so, be sure to download the app, just don’t let Lulu tell you what you should or should not do.
Works Cited
“Lulu App Is Like ‘Yelp For Men’: Here Are 20 Descriptive Hashtags We Think They Should Add.” The Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost Inc; AOL Lifestyle, n.d. Web. 14 June 2013. <