Rating communities
Rating Communities are online communities where the web's most insecure users gather to rate each other based on participants' appearance, and sometimes their taste in music or other preferences. This frequently leads to disputes that end up violating LJ TOS and providing content for LJ Drama
New applicants are asked to fill out arduous applications, are judged by current accepted members, and then accepted or rejected for important reasons such as wearing the right color of MAC cosmetics, being ana, or liking the band Modest Mouse. A common format of rating communities involves "applicants" posting their pictures, which are voted on by members with "yes" or "no." This voting process determines who is allowed membership and voting rights, and who is ugly and banished. After a member is voted upon, an accepted or rejected image macro is bestowed upon the user and they display it with pride, often in their userinfo page.
Originated with the less-interactive Hot or Not web sites.
Major ratings communities received much criticism with the creation of Exalted my Ass, a major source of LJ Drama itself.
Popular Rating Communities
LiveJournal is home to at least 10,000 rating communities. Here are some of the more interesting ones.
Nonuglies
One of the first rating communities, 
nonuglies was founded by then-internet celebrity LiveJournal user bigexpy (now suspended). Moderated by a number of other internet celebrities, including un_popular, the community became famous for its selectiveness, cliquishness, and the general bitchitude of its members. It can be almost solely credited for the hordes of spinoff nonugly communities, including nonuglyteens, nonuglygays, nonuglygeniuses and many more. Almost every rating community on LiveJournal is based on the nonuglies model.
Suspended after bigexpy reposted pictures of rejected applicants. Its follower, the_exalted, was deleted after pedophile drama involving its maintainer, 321go. Currently incarnated as newnonuglies, run by original_copy, and described as yet another place for 16 year old girls to post naked pictures.
Atraktiv
Atraktiv is a rating community on LiveJournal that operates using a slightly different format than most, requiring applicants to challenge one of 50(?) semi-permanent members to a battle of looks, where only the hottest (or most socially prominent on LJ) can remain.
This originally started as a joke between the creators to see just how pathetic people are. Eventually one of the Mods started "internet relationships" with multiple members/rejected applicants and somehow managed to invite a handful of them to his home in California and doing the nasty. One woman was rumored to be an amputee. Eventually all the camwhores gossiped enough and found out they were being screwed over. The other mods were informed of what a creep he was and shut the community down.
The Exalted
The Exalted was a popular rating community on LiveJournal.
The creation of Exalted my Ass brought heavy criticism to members, both on their looks and lives in general. Much of the criticism was directed at Exalted maintainer 321go, including accusations of pedophilia.
In a desperate attempt to save the community, 321go attempted to make the community private, with a separate community for applications. This was to allow members a place to post pictures without being criticized by the very watchful Exalted my Ass members. The attempt failed, and members and applicants alike continued to be criticized until 321go closed and deleted the community.
Nonuglygeeks
As stated by Ratherberucking, 'There's something so beautifully circuitous about combatting real world isolation and rejection by seeking self validation and acceptance from the faceless minions of cyberland and then, once in possession of the validation so desperately sought, taking it and turning it into a tight little cyber clique to wield rejection and elitism over others, thus perpetuating the cycle, leading to more inferiority complexes and, dare I hope it, more rating communities. It's fascinating, really.'
Nonuglygeeks and commonly other nonugly communities have an inferiority complex. "Little man syndrome" if you will.
Examples
- smokeandreason on classic elitism
- Apparently elgorgo's "I listen to bebop and drink Guinness while writing short stories about alien conspiracies and lesbians." is not considered geeky enough.
- Complete with physical threats, "p.s. to the member that was mentioned by ratherberucking that mods a community that mocks our members, when I find you, I will politely remove you from the community. No skin off my back, none off yours. Just know, I will break your face if I ever meet you. I am violent and love seeing people bleed."
List of Banned Applications
- Ratherberucking - banned for pointing out grammatical errors in user app and reclaiming the word "cunt".
- Girlvinyl - banned for commenting
- Elgorgo - banned by assosciation
- _Gobo_ - banned for reasons unknown
- JessicaLeigh - banned because they like banning.
- lol I was never banned —quasidan 20:28, 16 Jan 2006 (UTC)