The Impact Dating App Lulu Has on Men

Now any man over seventeen can sign up to be on Lulu, a date review application. It used to be any woman could put a man on it without his consent. The benefit to men is to meet more women and network the dating scene. At least that is what men think. It would allow tons of available women to see what a wonderful catch the man is. Women can even recommend men to girlfriends, rather like books or movies.

Originally, the men had no chance to read reviews the women posted about them. How would you feel if you knew people were discussing your manners, your hairstyle, even your kissing ability? Well, apparently most men who signed up for Lulu wanted to know what was being said about them.

The app was supposed to be a type of gossipy social network just between us girls. The ad for Lulu calls it a Tool To Help Girls. In fact, it always used the term ‘girls’ as opposed to women. Girls can be silly and not held responsible for their actions. That’s why we refer to irresponsible men as boys.

Women can sign on after an initial date and complete an interview. The resulting ‘review’ is full of hashtags or summaries of the man including items such as #bigfeet #opensdoors #boring #onetrackmind #germaphobe #questionablesearchhistory and the like. The women don’t make these hashtags, a program does. If a woman admits she saw the man wash his hands, he can end up either with the hashtag #clean or #germaphobe.

It’s hard to believe a person could be reduced to a number of hashtags. What if the hashtags aren’t correct? One woman might comment her date had bad breath after eating Italian food. Now his rating includes hashtag #stinkybreath.

If you’ve been on Yelp, you know only three types of people leave reviews. The first are those who are acquainted with the business/person. A mother, sister, or female co-worker could rate a guy. How many men want to beg their friends to do this? Can they trust their co-worker not to mention annoying habits? What if a younger sister thinks it’s funny to rate him a dud in bed? So many things can go wrong in this scenario.

The second reviewer is the most common, the unhappy one. I recently went to a wonderful restaurant one man trashed on several review sites because his wife found dark meat in her chicken and noodles. Seems a silly reason to trash a restaurant. Men on Lulu received defamatory hashtags for less horrific things.

The third reviewer is someone who is very happy with the experience. If a woman finds a wonderful man, while she might brag to her girlfriends, would she really rate him on a social media app, well aware other women would read the review and be interested in him? Of course not. She’d want to keep the man to herself.

The ratings are anonymous and could possibly be only one woman’s opinion. The woman didn't even feel like going out on a date, but she did. George Clooney probably wouldn't had made a good impression. Feeling vindictive at men in general, she picks the man apart on the app. We can all accept that different people attract different people, but being different isn't wrong unless you're being rated on Lulu. Wealthy or rock star handsome men received higher ratings. No big surprise there. What is surprising that some women will rate a man they like negatively. It's to keep the competition away. It also makes the man more appreciative of a woman who actually admires him unaware she was the one who trashed his rep in the first place.

In the end, I think it still comes down to trusting your own opinion as opposed to an anonymous woman who may or may not have gone out with the man that you’re considering dating.