FB LIKES + MORE

by yuri translation missing: jp, datetime, distance_in_words, x_days ago

You may have noticed these changes but just in case you were confused, here's a quick overview:

- Every look now has a Facebook "Like" button beneath the photo. This is just an additional way to share a look via Facebook. Each time you "like" a look, it will be published to your Facebook stream and your friends will be able to see and click the link in their news feeds.

- Every user profile now also has a Facebook "Like" button. When you "like" a user's profile it also gets published to your Facebook stream for your friends to see, but it also additionally allows you to get updates from that user whenever they post a look in your news feed!

- Every look now displays a counter showing how many times a look has been viewed. It only counts views on the actual look page itself, not views on the HOT, NEW, TOP, etc. where a user may have clicked in from.

- You can now "Zoom" or "Embed" looks right from HOT, NEW, TOP, etc. without having to click into the look. This way you can browse HOT, NEW, TOP, etc. and be able to get a closer look right away by clicking the "Zoom" icon right next to the photo on the left-hand side.



14 Comments

OPEN LB PT. II

by yuri translation missing: jp, datetime, distance_in_words, x_days ago

We'd like to announce that in response to your suggestions and feedback about opening up the site, we have made the following changes to our NEW page and LB FORUM:

1. New members and members with lower reputation will not have their looks included initially on the NEW page.

New members' and low-rep members' looks will be excluded from the NEW page when they are just posted, even when Karma Filter is off. For their looks to be visible on the NEW page, they must first build up their reputation/karma level. By requiring that new members' earn karma before they can get their looks on the NEW page, we ensure that users who have been around and earned karma will not have their looks buried too quickly by new members--who are much more likely to break the rules and/or post low quality photos. (We will address the ways a new user can get their look on the NEW page even with low or no reputation.)

2. New members will not be able to post on LB FORUM until they have been an active member for a period of time.

We believe that new members must be required to spend some time learning about the community, reading the forums, and getting the hang of the site before posting their own topics and comments. This will also help to deter trolls and prevent new members from posting forbidden or redundant topics.

--

You guys have expressed a lot of different reactions, understandably. We are listening and we want to make sure that all your questions and concerns are addressed one by one. Here are some of the most common issues you raised, and our responses below:

It was already hard to get noticed before. Now that the NEW page is flooded with looks from new users, it's going to be even harder!

If you've been an active member of the community and have an established reputation, rest assured that your look will not be buried too quickly by new members' looks. From now on new members' and low-rep members' looks won't be initially published on the NEW page. Members with low or no reputation will need to earn hype from community members in order to have their looks become visible (even with the Karma Filter off).

But I am a new member. How can I possibly get my look noticed if my look isn't even included on the NEW page at all?

There are many different ways that you can successfully promote your first look(s) and gain the few hypes you need you get your reputation up enough to be published on the NEW page.

1. Post a clear photo that shows your style at its best. Make a good first impression.
2. Follow the rules! If your first look is flagged, it will NEGATIVELY affect your reputation and make it difficult to recover.
3. Be active in the community. Give genuine feedback and compliments (beyond just "love it!") and hype/fan the people you like so that they will in turn scope out your profile and do the same. (NOTE: it is NOT considered cool to leave comments *asking* people to "check out your look" and "hype you back." This is unnecessary. If your comment is meaningful, making new friends won't be hard.)
4. Use our look and profile widgets to drive traffic to your look from your blog. Chances are if you have a fashion blog, some of your readers are probably LB members who can show you love.
5. Connect your account with Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr so that your friends who are on LB can stay updated with your recent looks and give you hype.

Everyone starts at 0 reputation and can successfully promote their look enough to earn the little hype needed to get published on the new page. Just remember: we know if you are cheating.

NOTE: Creating multiple accounts to hype yourself will not help.

I'm pretty sure LOOKBOOK.nu will get flooded by unwanted members: spammers, trollers, impostors, and offensive, rude, or obscene people in general.

Our community is full of volunteers who actively flag spammers and trolls and bring these types of issues to the attention of our moderators, who have the ability to ban users. We are aware that we will need to step up our security to keep these kinds of people out, but we have faith that there are enough awesome people watching over our community that honestly, it will be okay.

Forum is going to be filled with the same old tired topics from new users.

This is why we are now requiring new members to go through an extended period where they will not be able to post topics or replies in the forums. Our forums are intended for power users who understand what the community is about and know what types of topics are prohibited. Requiring new members to go through this waiting period is our way of deterring trolls and new members who are eager to post redundant, prohibited, offensive, or inappropriate posts in LB FORUM.

It took me long to apply and get my invite. It's unfair that anyone can join now!

That's exactly why we opened it up. It was taking way too long for moderators to go through our backed up applicants list and invite people who deserved to be invited. We feel that it's more fair now. Anyone can create an account and interact with (hype, comment, fan) the people that inspire them. And if they're up for it, they can also put their best foot forward and build up their own audience on LOOKBOOK.nu.

Does this mean LB will always crash?

Not at all. Fingers crossed, but we believe that our servers are in great shape and will be able to support the continued growth and development of our community!

What was wrong with letting people hype and comment via Twitter, Facebook, & Tumblr? Why does everyone need to become a full member?

We believe that everyone who is interested in fashion and photography should have the opportunity to inspire and be inspired by others on LOOKBOOK.nu. Our "connect" members who were previously logging in with Twitter, FB, etc. couldn't even "fan" their favorite users and get updated with new looks. They also couldn't have a profile to keep track of their hypes, much less post and document their daily looks. While we believe that to be featured in our gallery is a privilege that must be earned by reputation, everyone should have the right to be a part of the community.

LB was special because it was exclusive. Now it's going to be totally different and this sucks!

Actually, we believe that LB won't change very noticeably at all. We will still feature awe-inspiring looks from amazing people all over the world. We will still have a passionate community working hard to ensure that quality stays high and that the community is spam-free, safe and fun. We will have more members and more activity, but that just means that the talented people of LB will be able to grow their audiences and get more exposure for themselves, their blogs, and their work. We fully believe that giving everyone the opportunity to have a profile will make LB a more vibrant place.

Have we left something out? Please leave a comment and let us know!

UPDATE 8/29: Thanks for reading and hearing us out guys. Here's a few answers to some of the questions and concerns that were brought up by some of you in the comments:

What's the exact difference between "moderate" and "strict" on the Karma Filter?

Oops! Sorry we didn't address this earlier. The "moderate" setting is simply the old Karma Filter "on" setting, while "strict" is a new setting we added for those who feel that the Karma Filter needs to be more selective. On "strict" only looks which have been posted by high-rep members AND looks from all members that have gained significant hype will be shown.

Only having popular members on the NEW page is rather unfair. We all clearly love fashion...and we all deserve a right to be seen, new or old.

If we displayed looks by every single member on the NEW page, everyone would suffer from not getting seen! So many looks are now added that if the NEW page showed every single look posted, your look would be lucky to get a few glances before it got pushed down beyond the first page. While we agree that every one deserves the chance to shine, having your look displayed on the NEW page of LOOKBOOK.nu--a gallery that is viewed by hundreds of thousands of people every day--is a privilege that needs to be earned, not a right that is just given away. Members who have proven themselves and worked hard to build up their reputation on the site deserve to be protected from getting pushed down the NEW page at an unreasonably fast rate by new members. Contrary to what some may think, it's not about "popularity." It's about inspiration. If your style can inspire others, you deserve more exposure. This is and has always been our simple belief.

I think the new changes to LB are really unfair. The NEW page is basically another HOT page. How is anyone supposed to get hypes if their new posts are not featured on the New Page?

As we already outlined, there are many ways you can promote yourself and your looks as a new member (without being too spammy and coming off as a "hype whore" by asking people to check out your looks on every single comment). Be active in the community. Fan people. Leave meaningful and specific compliments--or even constructive feedback and respectful opinions--on the looks you find interesting. Make friends with users who have been around longer and are more experienced. Promote your new LB profile and your new looks on your blog, Tumblr, and social networks by sharing or adding a LB widget. All of these are ways to connect with new and old LB members who could potentially give you karma and help build your reputation. Not only does this system reward people who genuinely want to be a part of the community, it also makes sure that obscene looks, fake (impostor) looks, and trolls are not automatically included in the LB gallery.

How much karma exactly do you need to get in order to be included on the NEW page?

Currently it only takes one hype from a member with a "trusted" reputation to make the look visible.

Now that anyone can join, I feel uncomfortable that [unwanted people] can join and look and comment at my looks.

You control your comments and can delete any of them. Also, if you see anyone acting suspicious, rude or hateful, just let us know by flagging and our moderators will take the appropriate actions.

105 Comments

OPEN LB

by yuri translation missing: jp, datetime, distance_in_words, x_days ago

As of today, LOOKBOOK.nu is now an open community. An invite code is no longer necessary to register for a membership account on LOOKBOOK.nu.

This is an important change for us, and we know that this may catch many of you by surprise. Opening the site wasn't an easy decision to make, but after much consideration and discussion with members and moderators, we believe that an open LB is in the best interest of our community and everyone in it.

We would like to take a moment to address some of the concerns we've encountered while talking with our members, and also explain our reasons for transitioning to an open site for all.

"I liked this community because it was exclusive!"

If you have this feeling--we understand. When we launched, the invite-only system ensured that (most) people who joined understood our rules and purpose. However, as we've observed the site's growth over the past 2 years, we've found that as our community grew more popular, our invite-only system started to lose meaning as more and more new members gave away invites to anyone who asked, rather than being selective.

Meanwhile, many interesting and talented people who wanted to become members simply couldn't, so naturally their only way in was to apply. But the list was getting so long that it started taking forever and a day just for deserving people to get invited.

"Won't quality go down if anyone can join and post looks?"

We completely share this concern, and we're constantly doing everything we can to make sure that the quality of looks shown on the site is always high. LB will never be overtaken by low quality rules for two reasons:

1. Our Karma Filter ensures that looks from proven and more experienced members are protected from being too quickly buried by looks from unproven members who tend to break the rules and/or post lower quality photos. Only members who are active in the community, follow all the rules, and post inspiring looks with quality photos will gain reputation and become more visible. Those who break the rules will have their reputations lowered (and thus their visibility lowered as well).

2. Our community is filled with awesome volunteers who regularly flag looks that do not follow the rules. We also have moderators who are monitoring the gallery throughout the day. Your help goes a long way in making sure that our quality stays high.

So why are we opening the site up? Here are some of the reasons:

Fashion for everyone

Opening the site is consistent with our firm belief that everyone, fashion industry or not, deserves the opportunity to inspire and be inspired by others.

More exposure for talented members

LOOKBOOK.nu is home to the most diverse set of talented young people in the world. Letting more people to join the site means our members will be able to amass ever larger "fan" audiences and benefit from more traffic to their blogs. Our community has long been a launch pad for some of the hottest fashion bloggers, we want to continue to help give up-and-coming talent more exposure.

Simplicity

Before, we had 2 types of users: regular members who had been invited to join, and non-members who logged in with Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr. This was unnecessarily complicated--the former could post looks, while the latter could only hype and comment. We found that many of the non-members were actually just as active and dedicated to the community, but had no way to follow ("fan") the people they liked or create profiles to keep track of their hypes. Allowing anyone to create a profile and follow who they like simplifies the nature of our site, and we are about keeping things simple.

Conclusion

We know that the idea of invite-only membership may be missed by many of you. But we believe that despite opening up, LOOKBOOK.nu will continue to be the most vibrant street style community as well as the world's greatest collection of DIY fashion photography.

As always, your feedback is welcome. While we might not have time to respond to every email, we do reach each and every message and take your concerns to heart. Thank you for reading all that!

116 Comments

LB x NASTY GAL PARTY

by yuri translation missing: jp, datetime, distance_in_words, x_days ago

18 Comments

21MEN CONTEST WINNERS!

by yuri June 10, 2010

23 Comments

MOVING SERVERS

by yuri May 30, 2010

For some of you, surfing LB lately has probably not been very smooth and you might also have been interrupted by server errors. The reason is that we're currently in the process of doing a massive upgrade to our architecture that has been going on for a couple of days. The good news is that we'll be finished soon, and we believe the move will make LOOKBOOK.nu stabler and faster than ever!

Thanks for your patience and for bearing with us for this brief period of turbulence. Happy lookbooking!

37 Comments

PIMP YOUR BLOG W/ LB WIDGETS!

by yuri May 25, 2010

We just added a bunch of new badges and banners you can use to spice up your blog and show your love for the coolest fashion community on the internets!

Check them out here: LB WIDGETS

9 Comments

LB IN 中文! 

by yuri May 13, 2010

We have just added Chinese in both Simplified (简体) and Traditional (繁體) to our language options, which can be accessed by clicking the flag icon in the top left corner.

The translations are still in beta, so if you are a native speaker and have feedback or are willing to help us improve our translations, let us know!

Eventually we hope to have LOOKBOOK.nu available in several different world languages. We are just starting with Asian languages because these are the countries where membership is most under-represented! Europeans, please bear with us in English for now!

11 Comments

BLOG YOUR LOOKS W/ HYPE WIDGETS!

by yuri May 6, 2010

UPDATE: You can now HYPE directly from a hype widget!

We're happy to introduce a new feature for all the bloggers out there (which is practically all of you!)

Whenever you post a new look, you now will be taken to our "hype widget" page where you can grab the copy-and-paste embed code that lets you show off your look on your blog.

"Hype widgets" show your look photo and a hype button (with a real-time hype counter) underneath, or you customize it to show just your look, or just the hype button. Here's an example of what it looks like, using Megan's supercute look:

To access the "hype widget" page of any of your looks, simply click the embed ("< >") icon on the left side of the photo.



35 Comments

21MEN CONTEST

by yuri April 14, 2010

We recently introduced a new contest sponsored by Forever 21's 21MEN and for those of you who are interested in participating, please take note of these updates and clarifications:

First, the contest is unfortunately only open to U.S. residents. We know this sucks because our community is so international, but due to legal restrictions the sponsor has decided to only be selecting winners from within the United States.

Second, the sponsor is judging contest entries based on style, creativity, and the incorporation of one or more items from 21MEN. No purchase is required to enter, but to be considered to win your look needs to have at least one properly tagged item from 21MEN.

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone who is entering!

14 Comments

NEW 'HIDE HYPED' FEATURE + SEARCH UPGRADE

by yuri April 8, 2010

We recently made some small updates to the site that you might want to take note of!

First, we made our search page much better by allowing you to browse by multiple brands, patterns, materials, colors, locations, countries, etc. at once. (Before, you could only choose one at a time.) Not only that but the search is a lot "smarter" in that once you click one filter, it will only show you the remaining filters that will actually give you the most results.

For example if you check LEATHER for materials, it would show you that the top category matching leather is JACKETS. Leather jackets...who knew!

Other nifty searches include FLORAL DRESSES and DENIM JACKETS but of course you can play around with the many different combinations yourself and see the amazing library of looks that our community has created.

Second, we added a "hide hyped looks" filter to the HOT page that does exactly what you would guess it does. When the filter is turned on, the HOT page will no longer show you looks that you have already hyped. This way the HOT page will be more dynamic and more likely to show you up and coming looks that you haven't noticed yet!

As always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated. We have more little tweaks in store so stay tuned!

22 Comments

HYPE IS NOW FOR SALE!

by yuri April 1, 2010

UPDATE 4/2: April Fools everyone! As most of you guessed..we weren't serious about actually giving away hype for money. If you thought we were serious...well...you should know us better! Hope you all had a fun day :)

Have you ever wanted to be on the HOT page but were unable to get enough HYPE?

We are pleased to announce that you can now purchase HYPE points for any look for just $1 USD per HYPE!

You may purchase 500, 1000, or even 2000 HYPE for any of your looks, which will add instant "HOT"-ness to your look.

To pay, just use the Paypal button below:

How much HYPE?

+500 HYPE $500.00 +1000 HYPE $1,000.00 +2000 HYPE $2,000.00

Look URL:

145 Comments