Bathroom selfies banned from flirting app Skout
The "cliché of shirtless people showing off their abs" is now taboo on Skout, a match-making app used by 220 million worldwide. Celebrities such as Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber, however, may be the worst offenders.
At least one social network is putting the kibosh on bathroom selfies. Skout, the so-called flirting app, has banned oversharing snaps of shirtless singles flexing their muscles in the mirror or stripped down in a tub full of bubbles, à la Rihanna, who posted steamy bath time photos on Instagram last year.
"This cliché of shirtless people showing off their abs - we're not having that," Skout's global PR manager Jordan Barnes said. The app, used by more than 220 million people worldwide, will no longer approve shirtless selfies taken in restrooms, powder rooms or water closets.
The bathroom selfie is a trend embraced by celebrities on social media. Last week, Nicki Minaj posted a string of shower selfies, and Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber are also perpetrators. Even non-celebrity figures indulge in the showy shots - a close-up of Anthony Weiner's pecs leaked in 2011, and who can forget Geraldo Rivera's nearly nude mirror selfie?
Barnes said Skout's decision came after market research revealed that the toilet-side snaps don't increase users' popularity. Response rate drops 43% for people whose photos include a bathroom selfie, she said. "People just don't want to see that stuff if they're really going to start talking to someone," she said.
Dating coach Laurel House points out another downside of the ubiquitous mirror selfie. "It makes it look like you don't have any friends to take photos of you," she said. Barnes credits the "digital and mobile revolution" for the influx of the TMI trend.
Skout, which uses GPS to connect people, made headlines in 2012 after three users reported they were raped by someone they met though the app. Skout later banned minors from signing up. (New York Daily News)
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