Lacebook: Lolita Social Network

Original picture from Lacebook

Since last, a new social networking site for active lolitas has sprung up: Lacebook- Lolita fashion snaps.

Lacebook is a platform for lolitas to share coordinates and thoughts, in the form of photos added to a public or private photogallery, and blogposts posted to a personal blog on your profile or posts in a small forum. It is only possible to join Lacebook if you have received an invitation from a person who is already a member of Lacebook- and this person must also have received an invitation from a member, and so on. The invitation is given by asking a moderator for a code for a specific lolita (including name and future username of the lovely lady/bro) and then passing this code on to the aspiring Lacebook user.
The invite system, though kind of slow and probably only getting more and more heavily stressful for the moderators and administrators as the site grows, probably keeps out spammers and creepy lurkers, and as such I think the system is a good idea- Though I hope they will find a way of setting up the system as an automatic feature. Experience tells me that sites that needs a large amount of manual activity from the administrators to run smoothly, tend to die out as they become uninspired to do tedious tasks, like handing out codes to people.

Apart from the above, the site of course has a bunch of small hiccups like any new website would have- Only moderators are able to customize their profile with a cover photo, for example. Apart from this, the site is very well run, and I think overall it is a great idea to have a Facebook-like site where you can make status updates and easily browse through gallery upon gallery of creative coordinates and make comments to each photo.

What I am not OK with, though, and this is my only major critique point- Is that you are able to "rate" peoples' pictures(At least the ones the user does not choose to make private, because that is also an option.) With a click of your mouse you can rate an outfit on the scale of 1 to 5, without having to take the time to leave a comment. This feature might be very handy in the sense that you can give a person a quick compliment without having to sit down and type out why a coordinate is great. Sometimes giving a reason for why a coordinate is great can be hard- it just looks great, yo! But in this case, it is not just a "like" feature, like the one Facebook has. The rate feature also pretty much gives you a "dislike" feature- 

1 star, well: You suck!

Do you see my point? I like the quick and easy browsing ability that Lacebook gives you- It is quicker and easier than the former primary outfit-platform that we had, Daily Lolita, and the invite system protects us from trolls, creepers and spammers, but on Daily Lolita you had to type out a message to the lolita whose outfits you were judging, which meant that constructive criticism was shared. The rating system makes it too easy to be the judge of a person's outfit without giving them a reason for the critique, and ways in which they could improve. You should always take anonymous opinions dealt out on the internet with a grain of salt, but I see how some people with softer souls could be hurt by happily sharing a coordinate that they themself liked, just to receive a number of 1 star ratings- The equality to being "boo'd" off stage.

In conclusion: Lacebook is great and very innovative.

 It is quick, easy and effective, the way the internet-users of today like it! It has the potential to become a very popular social platform for lolitas all over the world, to share ideas, outfits and thoughts, especially if the forum finally takes off. All it needs is the option of better customization of your profile, and maybe an online "Meet-up Planner" and the option of making your own groups- Unless I have overlooked that option somehow. Please correct me if that is the case. 

Oh, and please; Remove that rate function. It really doesn't do the friendliness of the site any good. 

Thank you.