Like My Status – LMS For A Rate: A New Teen Facebook Game

Parents of Teens on Facebook: Just when I thought that I was really savvy about all things teenage, all things related to social media, and teen language,-I once again learned something brand new. Now, I must tell you that I was talking to a group of 30 teens yesterday and it took about twenty minutes for them to explain this to me. So bear with me, as I try to explain this new Facebook game clearly. After all, I want parents to be in the know.

LMS For a Rate: The “Not-So-Great” Game Our Teens Are Playing on Facebook

So here goes:

Step 1: A teen either male or female writes “LMS for a rate” on his/her Facebook page.
Step 2: Usually it is members of the opposite sex who respond with a thumbs-up if they are interested in playing.
Step 3: The person who wrote LMS  for a rate then goes on the responders’ Facebook pages and rates them on a scale of 1-10 on their attractiveness level.

One scenario might be that Ashley gives the thumbs up to Jake’s LMS rate status and he then gives her a 9 because he likes her and finds her attractive. Ashley might then be very flattered and start a dialogue with Jake. This is a possible scenario with a good outcome. On the other hand, Amanda who has written LMS for a rate on her Facebook page might respond to Zak’s thumbs-up with a 9 and to Rick’s thumbs-up with a 3. In this case, we’d expect a very disappointed Rick.

Yep, this game worries me for both our male and female teenagers who are already so self-conscious. Our teens are putting themselves out there publicly and making themselves extremely vulnerable about a very sensitive topic which is,of course,appearance. I know that these types of ratings have been going on for a long time but they still worry me. I remember when I was a teen the boys at the beach would sometimes hold up numbered signs to indicate how good they thought the girls looked in their bathing suits. Even if that might have been flattering it nonetheless made my friends and I very self-conscious and at times very embarrassed. I remember that we would avoid one specific restroom where the sign holders sat on their beach towels ready for rating action.

My suggestion to parents is that you talk to your teens about this game with the intent to dissuade them from participating. Not only might their feelings get hurt when playing this game but they might also hurt the feelings of others.

And, surely they must have something more fun and productive to do instead.