THE RATING GAME — It started with a simple idea: invite masochistic exhibitionists to post their photos on the Internet, and enable the masses to rate them. Launched in October 2000, amihotornot.com allowed users to post their photos — ranging from Glamour Shots to an impromptu pose with a beer bong — and be rated by site visitors on a scale of 10 (hot) to 1 (not). The Web site quickly exploded in popularity; less than a year after its inception, the site allegedly logged more than 10 million unique visitors per month. As with all wildly successful Internet phenomena, an arsenal of imitators quickly followed. Have you always wondered: Am I Goth or Not? Post your photo on gothornot.com and find out if you’re a 10 (oh my goth!) or a 1 (khaki-wearin’ normie). You can also submit your mug to Am I Redneck or Not? (amiredneckornot.com), Am I a Scary Clown or Not? (scaryornot.com), and, inexplicably, Am I Bin Laden or Not? (fugly.com/ornot/binladen).
But why should humans have all the fun? The same 1-10 rating scale applies to ratemykitten.com, a cavity-inducing site if there ever was one. Cute kitten alums of this site have gone on to great fame in the realm of avatars and Photoshop gags, such as the orange kitten being held up with a pistol, or the animated kitties singing a White Stripes tune. There’s also ratemypuppy.com for dog lovers, ratemyrave.com for glow stick fans, ratemyink.com for the permanently marked, ratemyboyfriend.com for the perpetually insecure and ratemymullet.com for those who scored high at amiredneckornot.com.
However, you might want to pass on ratemypoo.com and ratemyvomit.com. Some things, after all, are just better left unrated.
Send comments to [email protected]This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2005.
