Hot or Not

App review – Hot or Not

Threat Level – Very High

Hot nor Not is a social picture sharing app that allows kids to vote a simple Hot or Not on a profile picture they select, giving them a point score (similar to a grade on their looks)

This app reminds me of the original thought process of the popular Facebook site. If you have ever read the history of Facebook, Hot or not is similar to what Developers envisioned Facebook to be. A simple yes or no vote on the basic idea if that user is attractive.

Hot or Not is a free app downloaded for mobile markets that starts you out with the create profile screen. From this page you can select 2 ways to make your account. #1 Using your own Facebook account (which is a simple one click login) or #2 creating a login based on a username and password (email address). For my review I selected the second option to create an account which only took about 3 minutes to create. During this time, it asks for profile information and also for you to upload a picture of yourself so that people can vote if you are hot or not.

Once I had my account, I was able to then customize my settings. I was able to select the guys or girls and the age frame (starting at 18 years old) of who I wanted to rate as a Hot or Not. The interface is simple and easy to customize. There is a point system that is associated with the percentages of hot votes vs not votes that you get from the application live as other users of the app gives you votes. They are voting on the profile picture that you uploaded of yourself while you are voting on others.

This app may seem fine for an adult, but for children there are 3 very dangerous parts of this app that bumps this right up to a Very High Threat Level. #1. The pictures you are voting on are people that are using the app close to you.
This means the app is using GPS that is getting more and more common on social media outlets. You do not want people to know who your children are and where they are posting near…never. #2. There is a chat feature that allows messages to be sent from user to user. So that you may have contact with the stranger that is closest to you. Anyone else visualizing a problem with children using this app? #3. I feel a child has enough stress on them with school, activities and growing into maturity to be given something else to worry about. That worry is the number they are rated or their grade. Kids should not be graded as a number based off other peoples votes for them. I can see where this could run into more problems with possibly bullying or arguments.

From the first few minutes of browsing this app, I realize there is no way that some of these users on the app were adults and appeared to be underage. Some I would guess between 11-12 years old. Obviously they Clicked on the 17 years old plus warning on install to skip right past the age requirement part. (I hope that is not your child). There were also very sexual oriented profile pics of users which in my opinion, were trying to get more ‘hot’ votes vs ‘not’ votes. Also, when I switched inside the app from girls to guys, the first male was dressed in full drag queen attire. These images you would not want your child seeing.

As instated earlier, this app is free to download and should be flagged and discussed with your child if found on their device.

App description : red flame, red, white, red fire, fire drop, white fire, red heart, heart, white flame, flame with red heart

Lulu

Lulu
Threat Level – High

Lulu is an app available for the Apple and Android markets for the mobile platform. They also have a website that can access a portion of what the app does. Lulu is describe as a private network for girls to express and share their opinions openly and honestly. In other words, they say Lulu is a private app for girls to read and create reviews of guys they know.

Girls will download the app and rate boys via a questionnaire that is a set of questions. If they do not want to answer a question they skip it. This app is different than other review apps such as Yelp, due to the fact it does not allow a spot for personal opinions, only a multiple choice answer to the questions about the boy. I thought at first view this app maybe similar to a dating app, but in reality it is one sided opinions from girls on boys around them. There is a 17 year old warning or restriction but it is just one click of an ok button away from downloading app with full access.

Once downloaded you can connect your account with your Facebook account. You are then ready to start reviewing boys. After the questionnaire, you are able to create hashtags for the guys reviewed. For example #sporty, #cancook or #bigblueeyes. This app seems like it is generated around college students having a college search setting. You do not have to authenticate any entry though and all ratings from 1-10 is based off different opinions. Also on a side note…If you are a guy getting a review, and are not happy with it, you can request a removal via their website.

As you can imagine, some kids are not waiting until they are 17 or in college. They are downloading and using at an earlier age. Another part that was concerning about someone that is not an adult utilizing this app was a feature a section called Dear dude. This is where a guy is posting about male/female issues from a males perspective anonymously. The first comment I saw was a sexual explicit comment related to a sexual topic with comments back and forth. This was graphic enough that I would not want my child downloading the app and exposed to this kind of content.

Lulu – pink pink app, l, letter l, capital l, pink and white l
Be sure to monitor devices and watch for this app if downloaded by your child.