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DontDateHimGirl.com is a website launched in July 2005, which provides a forum for women to discuss their dating experiences, and controversially, anonymously post profiles of men who they contend cheated or abused them. In a New York Times article, the site's founder Tasha Joseph likened it to a "dating credit report" for women.

Membership to the site is offered to anyone with an email address. Members are able to anonymously post the name, photograph and description of a man they claim they dated. The site's terms of use requests that postings not contain anything untrue or defamatory however, no information is checked for veracity prior to publication.

The site's owner suggests that men can rebut postings made about them by logging on to the site and creating an account to post their comments, or directly contacting the authors of the postings made about them through a link that appears on each posting.

In July 2010, the site issued a press release that it would be removing the "database of alleged cads" to refocus on "putting out quality content such as articles, videos and podcasts that help women learn to date better, forming content partnerships and creating engaging mobile platforms.” However, as of May 2011, the database is still available to be accessed.

Controversies

The site has received criticism as a "reputation management system" which provides a venue for anonymously posting false, malicious or fraudulent profiles of men without an adequate means to to correct them.

In 2006, Todd Hollis, a Pennsylvania attorney, filed a suit against the website owner as well as two alleged posters and five unidentified women for various claims posted about him which he asserted were false and defamatory. The lawsuit was initially dismissed in Pennsylvania for a lack of personal jurisdiction. The Electronic Freedom Foundation issued an amicus curiae brief in support of the site, arguing its owners were shielded from suits by the Communications Decency Act of 1996's Section 230. In 2007, Hollis filed a second lawsuit in federal court in Florida which was settled with respect to the site operators in June 2008.

A September 2006 article in the Miami New Times elaborated on a fabricated profile created to demonstrate that the "website is dangerous." The New Times investigated a number of profiles and found claims made were on on the whole, fallacious. One profile the New Times uncovered supposedly of a philandering ex-boyfriend was actually a gay man who had spurned a woman's advances.

In an August 2007 feature, ABC News referred to DontDateHimGirl as a "revenge site." On the same day, the O'Reilly Factor referenced DontDateHimGirl as a "hate site."

While it was announced in July 2010 that the profiles of the men on the site would be removed, as of May 2011, the database can still be accessed through the site's "cheater view" and "posts" directory which are linked extensively on other sites.

Spin-off projects

On DontDateHimGirl's Blogger page, in December 2005, the owner announced preparations for a second site aimed at men called "DontDateHerMan.com" to be launched on Valentine's Day 2006. The following year, she posted that, "we've decided not to launch DontDateHerMan.com after getting a flurry of e-mails from women denouncing my intention to create a site for men to post the pictures and profiles of women who have cheated on them." She related that emails condemned launching such a possible site as a "travesty to the sisterhood" in which "women will just be humiliated by guys."

In 2010, Tasha Cunningham debuted a book based on the site called DontDateHimGirl.com Presents: So the Bastard Broke Your Heart, Now What? published by Polka Dot Press.

Following on the site's success, with her husband, attorney Courtney Cunningham, the founder has gone onto launch a communications consulting firm The Cunningham Group in 2008, where she is noted as the "owner of several successful websites and is called upon to provide expert advice about PR, social media and online marketing". She is similarly referred to as "an acknowledged expert on social media," who has "appeared on CNN, MSNBC and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times."

See also

• Online reputation management
• Cyber-bullying
• Cyberstalking

References

1. ^ Olbermann, Keith (September 30, 2005). "Cheating men caught online". MSNBC.
2. Alvarez, Lizette (2006-02-16). "(Name Here) Is a Liar and a Cheat". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-03-08. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. "Terms of Use". DontDateHimGirl.com. 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
4. "DontDateHimGirl.com Set to Remove Postings of Alleged Cheaters from Site in 30 Days" (Press release). Businesswire.com. July 19, 2010.
5. Tracey, Joe. "Reputation Management Systems, like "Don't Date Him Girl" Have Several Flaws to Work Out". OnlineDatingMagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
6. ^ "Hollis v Cunningham". Citizen Media Law Project. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 11 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
7. "Cases:DontDateHimGirl.com". Electronic Freedom Foundation. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
8. Green, Joanne (September 14, 2006). "Blind Date, Tasha Joseph's Website shows fiction is stranger than truth". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2011-03-08. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
9. "Internet Revenge Sites Challenge the Theory 'No Press Is Bad Press'". ABC News. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
10. O'Reilly, Bill (host); Ham, Mary Katharine (guest) (2007-08-08). The O'Reilly Factor (Television production). FOX News Channel. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
11. "Example: Jude Law Post". DontDateHimGirl.com. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
12. "DontDateHimGirl.com/Cheater_View Google links". Google search. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
13. "MR. ERB SPEAKS! DONTDATEHERMAN.COM LAUNCHES & OUR CHEATERS OF THE DAY!". DontDateHimGirl.blogspot.com. 21. Archived from the original on 2006-02-19. Retrieved 10 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
14. "BACK AGAIN, AVERAGE GUY SAYS & SUNNY DAYS!". DontDateHimGirl.blogspot.com. 20. Archived from the original on 2006-06-28. Retrieved 10 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
15. "Adams Media".
16. "Tasha Cunningham". TheCunninghamGroup.com. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
17. "Social Media". TheCunninghamGroup.com. Retrieved 2011-05-20.

External links

• Tom Leykis radio interview with Tasha Cunningham
• Tasha Cunningham Interview (05/08)
• Forget Finding Mr. Right, Just Lose Mr. Wrong - Toronto Globe and Mail

• Sexuality and computers
• Women's websites