Lulu (app)

Last updated
Luluvise, Inc. [1]
Industry Social networking service, mobile app
FounderAlexandra Chong
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
WebsiteNo longer available, formerly onlulu.com

Lulu (formerly Luluvise) was a web and mobile app for iOS and Android that allowed female users to make positive and negative evaluations of male users on the basis of their romantic, personal, and sexual appeal. The app allowed only female users to access the evaluation system, and evaluations made through the app are attached publicly and anonymously.

Contents

In 2015 the app moved away from Facebook, and currently only allows registration via mobile phone numbers, for both male and female users.

Lulu describes itself as "a private network for girls to express and share their opinions openly and honestly" [2] about the weaknesses and strengths of the manners, appearances, spending habits, and career ambitions of their male acquaintances. The company's expansion of its user base focuses heavily on recruiting undergraduate [3] members of American all-female sororities, which commentators describe as reflected in the "app's linguistic and visual design [which] is visibly influenced by US sorority culture." [4]

The app has been highly controversial, and the functionalities offered by the app are frequently described negatively in the popular press as "sexist and objectifying", [5] "nonconsensual", [6] and "shallow and mean". [7] Although female users cannot write their own comments to avoid bullying, the company's harshest critics hold that the pre-selected terms used within the app for evaluations in the form of hashtags are instrumental in "reinforcing completely horrible stereotypes", [8] accuse the site of tolerating a sexist double standard, [9] [10] and liken the "candor" [11] for which the app aims to a form of public harassment. [12] The company's founder, Alexandra Chong, refers to the app's functionalities as "provocative" and "ground-breaking" [7] and the website holds that the multiple-choice nature of evaluations creates "a safe and positive place for girls and guys". [2]

The company has also been accused of inappropriate use of Facebook accounts' user data. Lulu does not query male Facebook users for their consent in integrating their profiles in the app, and at the time of its release the product caused notable social "recoil" [13] and received significant negative coverage in the press for its violation of Facebook's policies on the use of user data. [14] The company notes that its data collection policies are now in compliance with Facebook's Platform Policies. Also, it points out how users who have unwittingly been incorporated into Lulu's databases may contact their support center for the removal of their personal data.

Lulu was sold to Badoo in 2016 [15] and discontinued some time later.

History

Lulu was created by Alexandra Chong, a Chinese-Jamaican/Canadian from Ocho Rios and former Jamaican tennis Olympian who studied at Appalachian State University and received her LLB from the London School of Economics. [16] [17] She has stated as her inspiration a "really funny" Valentine's Day date she went on in 2009, after which she wanted to be able to discuss details with her female friends without sharing information on Facebook. [18] In December 2011, after stints at Upstream and The Corporate Executive Board Company, [17] she launched Luluvise.com, which was succeeded in January 2013 by Lulu, then as a private, invitation-only app for female users at Florida State University and the University of Florida. [16] In February 2013 the app was released nationally in the US. [16] By April 2013 the app had 200,000 men listed and rated. [19] In November 2013, the app was covered by The New York Times , [4] at which point the company claimed more than a million users. [1] New York magazine reported in November 2013 that the average rating for male users on the app's 10-point numerical scale was 7.5 points. [13]

Current features

Female users answer multiple-choice questions about a man’s sense of humor, manners, ambition, commitment level, and look and style. Results are converted to a 0-to-10 rating, which constitutes a guy’s “score”. Unlike other review-based systems, they cannot add their own comments.

Male users on Lulu can add photos and hashtags to influence female users' opinion. They can edit any detail on their profiles, see their average score, how they perform across 7 categories, and which hashtags girls they know use to describe them. They can also acquire a subscription to see a more detailed breakdown of their scores.

Lulu has an online automatic self-removal tool that allows both male and female users to delete their account at their request and "blacklist" their mobile phone numbers. Their Support Center also mentions the inclusion of agree and disagree buttons let girls weigh in on the accuracy of each review.

In 2014 Truth Bombs was launched: [20] an anonymous forum where users can anonymously share their doubts and opinions about relationships and sex.

In 2015 the Private Chat feature was added [21] to the app as a main feature, allowing women “to make the first move”: female users can invite men they are interested in to a one-on-one conversation via their profiles or Truth Bombs.

Acquisition by Badoo

In February 2016, Badoo acquired Lulu and removed the app's ability to rate men. [22]

Controversy

The stock phrases and "coy euphemisms" [5] used within the app in the form of hashtags to evaluate users' male acquaintances have been noted by The Independent to evoke "stupid cookie-cutter men who can't feel or think and can be summarised in a few sassy phrases of cute girl-talk", [5] highlighting concerns that the app violates the bounds of social propriety and could be used to debase the social standing of users of whom it contains evaluations.[ citation needed ]

Lulu states that it aims to "unleash the value of girl talk" to empower its female reviewers. [2] Columnists dispute the app's stated aim to help "girls to make smarter decisions on topics [such as] relationships", [11] arguing that the "Lisa Frank girly fun" of the app and its pre-selected review terms prevent the service from meaningfully addressing a substantive topic such as dating abuse or sexual assault. [23] The Telegraph praised the app for “...making dating safer for women”. [24]

Critical reactions such as in Forbes note the a sexist double standard regarding the app: "If Lulu existed for men to rate women," columnist Kelly Clay notes, "it's likely that Apple would probably reject it from the app store." [25] The Daily Barometer likewise suggested that the app is degrading to both men and women, concurring that: "If there was a man’s version of Lulu, women would absolutely not stand for it." [7] Slate described the app as "creepy" and noted that "[u]nwelcomed sexual commentary isn't a compliment, it's harassment." [12] Forbes notes that Lulu "has enabled female millennials to think that digital revenge is acceptable ... and provided them a sleek platform to slander men." [25]

In May 2013, a "Shut Down Lulu" petition was created on Change.org by a man named George Orlin. This petition gained over 700 supporters. [26] [27]

Lulu attracted attention after its release for how its initial collection of male Facebook users' data was at the time in violation of Facebook's Platform Policies. [14] The public nature of the app's negative evaluations has also sparked concerns that the evaluations could potentially be libelous in nature. According to the libel laws of the United Kingdom, observers note that it "could well be construed by a judge in a court of law that [an evaluation on the app] has 'lowered [the male Facebook user] in the minds of right thinking members of society'". [28] In response to such allegations, a Lulu representative responded at the time that they "have good legal counsel and guidelines in place" and "also have a takedown policy", [29] and the site notes that its present data collection does not violate Facebook's Platform Policies. [14] Lulu's terms and conditions likewise have referenced how "uploading or posting information about other individuals might encroach on the data protection rights of those individuals". [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

Hot or Not was a rating site that allowed users to submit photos of themselves to be rated by other users on a scale of 1 to 10, with the average becoming the photo's score. The site also offered a matchmaking engine called 'Meet Me' and an extended profile feature called "Hotlists". The domain hotornot.com is currently owned by Hot Or Not Limited, and was previously owned by Avid Life Media. 'Hot or Not' was a significant influence on the people who went on to create social media sites like YouTube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online dating</span> Romantic relationships formed on the internet

Online dating, also known as internet dating, virtual dating, or mobile app dating, is a method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An online dating service is a company that promotes and provides specific mechanisms for the practice of online dating, generally in the form of dedicated websites or software applications accessible on personal computers or mobile devices connected to the internet. A wide variety of unmoderated matchmaking services, most of which are profile-based with various communication functionalities, is offered by such companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Femicide</span> Murder of women or girls because of their sex

Femicide or feminicide is a term for the murdering of women, often because of their gender. Femicide can be perpetrated by either sex but is more often committed by men. This is most likely due to unequal power between men and women as well as harmful gender roles, stereotypes, or social norms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Facebook</span> Social-networking service owned by Meta Platforms

Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name derives from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities. Since 2006, Facebook allows everyone to register from 13 years old, except in the case of a handful of nations, where the age requirement is 14 years. As of December 2023, Facebook claimed almost 3.07 billion monthly active users worldwide. As of November 2024, Facebook ranked as the third-most-visited website in the world, with 23% of its traffic coming from the United States. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s.

Badoo is a dating-focused social network founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev in 2006. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus and London, United Kingdom, with offices in Malta, Russia and the United States. It operates in 190 countries and is available in 47 languages, making it the world's most widely used dating network. The app is available on iOS, Android, and the web. Badoo operates on a freemium model, whereby the core services can be used without payment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender differences in social network service use</span> Differences between genders with regard to use of social media and social network service

Men and women use social network services (SNSs) differently and with different frequencies. In general, several researchers have found that women tend to use SNSs more than men and for different and more social purposes.

Andrey Andreev is a multinational tech entrepreneur. He is known for founding the dating and social networking apps Bumble and Badoo, amongst others. In 2019, Andreev sold the apps' holding company, MagicLab, to Blackstone at a $3 billion valuation. In 2020, he founded social audio app Stereo. His previous ventures include SpyLog, Begun, and Mamba.

Role congruity theory proposes that a group will be positively evaluated when its characteristics are recognized as aligning with that group's typical social roles. Conversely, the stereotype fit hypothesis suggests that group members will experience discrimination in different social roles or positions to the extent that their group stereotypically does not have characteristics associated with success in the position. For instance, women may not be considered a good fit for a managerial position if being aggressive is seen as a characteristic of a successful manager. Due to stereotype fit, men may be considered more qualified for the position and are not only more likely to be hired, but are also more likely to be promoted as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instagram</span> Social media platform owned by Meta Platforms

Instagram is an American photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with preapproved followers. Users can browse other users' content by tags and locations, view trending content, like photos, and follow other users to add their content to a personal feed. A Meta-operated image-centric social media platform, it is available on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and the web. Users can take photos and edit them using built-in filters and other tools, then share them on other social media platforms like Facebook. It supports 32 languages including English, Hindi, Spanish, French, Korean, and Japanese.

Blendr was an online dating application based on geosocial networking for Android, iOS and Facebook. It is designed to connect like-minded people near to each other. It was created by Joel Simkhai and patterned after his previous app Grindr which is instead aimed at gay men. Blendr claims to be "powered by" Badoo but largely appears to be the same service. As of 2022, it had 200 million users worldwide and requires users to be over the age of 18.

Networked feminism is a phenomenon that can be described as the online mobilization and coordination of feminists in response to sexist, misogynistic, racist, and other discriminatory acts against minority groups. This phenomenon covers all possible definitions of what feminist movements may entail, as there have been multiple waves of feminist movements and there is no central authority to control what the term "feminism" claims to be. While one may hold a different opinion from another on the definition of "feminism", all those who believe in these movements and ideologies share the same goal of dismantling the current patriarchal social structure, where men hold primary power and higher social privileges above all others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinder (app)</span> American online dating app

Tinder is an online dating and geosocial networking application launched in 2012. On Tinder, users "swipe right" to like or "swipe left" to dislike other users' profiles, which include their photos, a short bio, and some of their interests. Tinder uses a "double opt-in" system, also called "matching", where two users must like each other before they can exchange messages.

Sexism in video gaming is prejudiced behavior or discrimination based on sex or gender as experienced by people who play and create video games, primarily women. This may manifest as sexual harassment or in the way genders are represented in games, such as when characters are presented according to gender-related tropes and stereotypes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitney Wolfe Herd</span> Founder and former CEO of Bumble (born 1989)

Whitney Wolfe Herd is an American entrepreneur. She is the founder, executive chair, and former CEO of publicly traded Bumble, an online dating platform, launched in 2014. She is a co-founder of Tinder and was previously its Vice President of Marketing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminism and media</span> Use of media by feminist movements

The socio-political movements and ideologies of feminism have found expression in various media. These media include newspaper, literature, radio, television, social media, film, and video games. They have been essential to the success of many feminist movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free the nipple</span> Topfreedom campaign since 2012

Free the Nipple is a topfreedom campaign created in 2012 during pre-production of a 2014 film of the same name. The campaign highlights the general convention of allowing men to appear topless in public while considering it sexual or indecent for women to do the same and asserts that this difference is discriminatory, contravening women's rights. The campaign argues that it should be legally and culturally acceptable for women to bare their nipples in public.

Bumble is an online dating and networking application launched in 2014. Profiles of potential matches are displayed to users, who can "swipe left" to reject a candidate or "swipe right" to indicate interest. The app is a product of Bumble Inc., founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd shortly after she left Tinder. Wolfe Herd has described Bumble as a "feminist dating app".

Online shaming is a form of public shaming in which targets are publicly humiliated on the internet, via social media platforms, or more localized media. As online shaming frequently involves exposing private information on the Internet, the ethics of public humiliation has been a source of debate over Internet privacy and media ethics. Online shaming takes many forms, including call-outs, cancellation, doxing, negative reviews, and revenge porn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Chong</span> Jamaican entrepreneur

Alexandra Chong is a Jamaican entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Jacana, a global cannabis company. Jacana cultivates, develops and distributes medical cannabis internationally and in a historic move, it was the first company to export Jamaican medical cannabis flower internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huggle (app)</span> Location-based social application

Huggle was a location-based social application which connected users based on commonality of places they frequent. The app was developed through a partnership with entrepreneur Andrey Andreev. Following a soft launch in 2015, it was officially launched in July 2016. It was acquired by Badoo in 2018. In 2020 Bumble decided it would no longer maintain the platform.

References

  1. 1 2 "Lulu". Google Play. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "How Lulu works". Lulu.com. Luluvise Inc. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Lulu: Fake feminism for the 'hashtag generation'". Zeynep Zileli Rabanea. Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 Schoeneman, Deborah (20 November 2013). "What's He Really Like? Check the Lulu App". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Jupp, Emily (6 February 2013). "Luluvise: Nobody—male or female—comes out of this boyfriend-rating app looking good". The Independent. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Hess, Amanda (7 February 2013). "Rating Men on Lulu Isn't Empowering. It's Creepy". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 Strasbaugh, Werner (7 May 2013). "Lulu strikes OSU". The Daily Barometer. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  8. ↑ Cardiff, Ashley (7 February 2013). "Review Men Like Restaurants With New Lulu App, The Yelp Of Romance (For Girls!)". The Gloss. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  9. ↑ Griffin, Spencer (7 March 2013). "'Lulu' app shows social double standard". The Echo. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  10. ↑ Kelly, Audrey (27 February 2013). "Lulu app supports double standard for objectification". The LU Chameleon. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  11. 1 2 "About Us". Lulu.com. Luluvise Inc. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  12. 1 2 Benedikt, Allison (7 February 2013). "Rating Men on Lulu Isn't Empowering. It's Creepy". Slate. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  13. 1 2 O'Connor, Maureen (13 November 2013). "The Nice Girls of Lulu, So-Called 'Yelp for Men'". New York Magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 Scott, Tom (8 February 2012). "Luluvise's date-rating site shows where your Facebook data can end up". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  15. ↑ O'Hear, Steve (2016-02-09). "Lulu, The App That Lets Women Rate Men, Acquired By Badoo". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
  16. 1 2 3 "Lulu, The Girls-Only App for Dating Intelligence, Launches in US Colleges". PR Newswire (Press release). UBM plc. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  17. 1 2 "Alexandra Chong". The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  18. ↑ "Lifestyle: Style Observer: Cocktails With - Alexandra Chong". The Jamaica Observer . 20 November 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  19. ↑ After Rebooting, Lulu Sees Its Database Of Guys App Hit 200K Users In 8 Weeks Across U.S. Campuses. TechCrunch (2013-04-09). Retrieved on 2013-07-30.
  20. ↑ Stampler, Laura (22 October 2014). "Here Are The Strange Things Dudes Are Asking on Lulu's New Messaging Service". Time Magazine. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  21. ↑ Kosoff, Maya. "Lulu, the app that lets women secretly rate men, now lets them send men anonymous messages too". Business Insider. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  22. ↑ The infamous app for rating men doesn’t let you rate men anymore
  23. ↑ Friedman, Alex (1 May 2012). "Opinion: Lulu blurs line between networking and crazy". The Daily Reveille. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  24. ↑ Buchanan, Daisy (19 June 2015). "How rating men on a 'sexist' app is making dating safer for women". The Telegraph. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  25. 1 2 Clay, Kelly (24 November 2013). "Why We Should All Be Scared Of Lulu App". Forbes. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  26. ↑ "Lulu app lets women rate men they've dated". 13 Dec 2013.
  27. ↑ "Lulu app gets iOS 7 revamp, lets girls rate and date guys". 19 Sep 2013.
  28. 1 2 Phelps, Tony (11 February 2013). "Lulu—Review Guys, Violate Privacy, Have a Cosmopolitan". Consumer Privacy USA. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  29. ↑ Butcher, Mike (13 December 2013). "Luluvise goes live, but will this girl-only site attract more legal ire than eyeballs?". TechCrunch. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.