Hot Enough - another online dating website

Hot Enough is a dating website that has recently been splashed all over the news. Mostly, the “news” has just been a frenzy of press releases, but when hotenough.org garnered a segment on the O’Reilly Factor last night, I took notice. Like it or not, the site has gotten enough attention to pull it from the AP Newswire to primetime TV.

I only see the site as a passing fad, and more in the tune with Hammer pants than retro chic. The site is supposed to be a niche market for attractive people to online date. Prospective members submit three pictures and must be rated an 8 or higher by people already in the “club.” Once they pass, they are permitted to email other "hotties" for $9.95 a month.

“A few months after [the site’s] launch, membership is just under 1,000…In the beginning, only 8 percent of those who applied made the grade, but now about 25 percent of applicants do.” A Fox News article goes further to compare the site to an online Studio 54. Is anyone else seeing red flags?

Attractive people especially those who have “great” pictures, and thus are aware of their physical appeal, go out to meet people. Women and men who rate in that 8+ range are use to attention and have little or no issues getting a date. The beautiful people that are legitimately too busy to find their soul-mate at the local singles bar do not have time to spend on frivolous dating sites that rate users as “Hot Enough.” Those individuals use more “legitimate” sites such as eHarmony, JDate, Match, etc.

Just remember that the individuals who have enough time to play on the Internet also have enough time to photoshop pictures or find other outlets to join the Hot Enough “club.”