A few days ago I got a Facebook notification from a guy I went to high school with for an app I had never heard of. My initial reaction was, of course, to internally scream: “Oh my gosh!! He just sent me an app request on Facebook!” Because let’s be real, who wasn’t obsessed with this guy in the early years of high school? (It could have just been me.)
But the excitement wore off pretty quickly; the notification was a very generic one that everyone on his friend list probably got. I realized I wasn’t 14 anymore and didn’t care very much about this app I had never heard of or, really, the guy.
However, I was a little curious about what this app was. So I did what anyone living in this century who has a question would do: I googled it. Within a few seconds, about 216,000,000 results popped up, and I clicked on the very first one.
The Wikipedia page of the app "Hot Or Not" describes it as: "A site where users would submit photographs of themselves to the site for the purpose of other users to rate said person's attractiveness on a scale of 1 - 10, with the cumulative average acting as the overall score for a given photograph." Users could submit their photos so others in the area could rate them. Not only is there now social media where users can post photos of themselves, stage their photos to mold others' views of their lives or share their unfiltered thoughts, but this exists, too.
After opening the notification, it automatically took me to a download page. I went along with it, downloaded the app and started a profile. The app functions with a geographical location, so everyone who was popping up was someone I had gone to school with. I was surprised by how many people I recognized but even more surprised by the fact that I had never heard of the app before.
Immediately it notified me that my popularity level was “very low” and that I was currently number 10,672 in the search results. After looking through some profiles of people I recognized, I decided I had seen enough. The whole idea of putting yourself on a social media platform for others to rate you was not very appealing to me. After a few minutes, I deleted the app.
Don’t get me wrong: I am a millennial, and I love social media. It is the last thing I would be against. But everything needs to be done in moderation. Who really benefits from this? Is it the user whose self-worth is now dependent on whether people think he is hot or not? Is it the user who votes on these submitted photos and basically controls others’ self-worth?
This is a prime example of toxic social media. It does nothing to benefit society – if anything it tears people down.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. So if you are going to let something determine your self worth, please let it be the knowledge that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
