Hot or Not: Destroying Self Esteem the World Over

January 31, 2003 | Justin

For those who live in caves, Hot or Not is an extremely popular website where you can rate and “meet” people based solely on their picture and a short profile. How it works is like so:1) You sign up for Hot or Not, a free service, and upload your picture.

2) I, in browsing Hot or Not, see your picture and rate you–on a 1 to 10 scale–what I think you deserve.

3) You then log in and check your rating, and, upon seeing that it is so low, jump off of a cliff. Lone Palm and its affiliates do not condone one jumping off of a cliff, this is just a figure of speech people.

Hot or Not also has a handy little feature called “Meet Me” which is paring up people and destroying relationships the world over. Say for instance I think you are really hot and rate you a 10 and I think to myself, I would give my first born to meet that girl. Well, if you have signed up for Hot or Not’s “Meet Me” feature (also free) then I would click the appropriate link and then click the “Yes” button. If you also happen to click the “Yes” button, upon seeing my picture, then a “match” is made. No, you don’t actually meet said person (give me a break people), but you do have the opportunity to exchange little notes which you put together from prearranged phrases. Here’s a sample:

Wazzup,
Looks like we matched! I clicked Yes to you because you are soooooo HOT! I am sending this note because you are like my dream come true and I’m just crazy like that.
xoxoxo,
Someone who’s dieing to meet you!

Now, you may be wondering how this site makes any money. Well, each person has the option to pay a $6 a month “Star Membership” fee in which you can actually email the other person without having to use the preformatted notes. Most of the people who are on Hot or Not, including myself, do not pay the membership, they simply “Meet” people. Hell, I don’t even send the goofy notes. It’s just a fun way to pass the time seeing as college is very boring at times.

But enough explanation, lets get into the fun stuff. What is the fun stuff? Why the actual rating of people of course! It’s kinda funny when you think about it; our whole lives we’re brought up not to judge people and this website’s sole basis is judging people. And you know what? It’s pretty damn fun if you ask me. Haha. You give a 7 here and 5 there and every now and again you get that one person who deserves the coveted 1, the bottom of the barrel so to speak. But, all is fair in love and war. I have received my share of 1’s in my day. I don’t tend to mind. It’s just a game. I don’t take it seriously. No really, I don’t. Ok, maybe I do. Haha, no really, it’s just a game, its fun, and in fact, my roommate and I have concocted our own Hot or Not game.

While we’re watching TV or otherwise occupying our mind, we will open up the “Meet Me” section of Hot or Not, search by a particular state or country, and click “Yes” to EVERYONE without even looking at pictures or reading profiles. The fun part comes in when you open up your “Double Matches” the next day and see whom has also said yes back. I’ve gotten everything from teenagers with kids, to people seriously needing to hit up the Subway diet. I, however, have not–thank god–gotten a match from a “pre-op transsexual” as my roommate has. The good part about this game is you can delete the not so worthy people off of your “Double Match List” thus leaving the few people who actually deserve to stay on the list.

So, all in all, Hot or Not is a great college past time. It kills time, brings the worlds female population into view, and best of all, entertains. What more could you ask for from a website these days? I mean, besides commentary on various issues right? That’s what I thought.

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college, Hot or Not, internet, thoughts