BY: JESSICA BEUKER
We are obsessed with rating things. We rate restaurants, movies, hotels, our workplaces and professors. A new app will let us take the obsession even further—allowing us to rate people.
That’s right, Peeple (basically “Yelp for people”) will let you assign reviews and one-to-five star ratings to anyone you know. You can rate your exes, friends, co-workers, mailman, barista, and the creepy guy who lives in the apartment above you. The best/worst part? You can’t be removed from the site. That means that once someone adds your name to the system and rates you, you’re in there for good. Every mean thing you’ve ever done to someone is suddenly about to blow up in your face.
Currently the app is only an idea, but it has already caused an enormous amount of outrage. “If you turn what should be an Onion article into an app, you’re not a startup, you’re a sociopath,” writes one Twitter user. Another writes, “Fundamental flaw with #Peeple: The only kind of people who would want to “rate” other people are the exact people who shouldn’t be able to.”
Despite the early criticism, according to Quartz, Peeple says it’s “revolutionizing the way we’re seen in the world through our relationships.” The Facebook page insists that the app is mainly positive and that they are receiving emails from a number of interested users.
Users have to be over 21 to join the app and have a Facebook account that has been active for at least six months. They also have to be willing to review people by their real names. It doesn’t matter whether or not you join the app, anyone who has your phone number can add your name. Positive reviews will go up immediately, but negative ones will be held for 48 hours to allow time for disputes. The company met on October 1st to discuss whether they would add a feature that allows people to remove themselves or not. No word on the decision just yet.
Peeple plans to launch in November of this year, but many people think the whole idea is a hoax. According to the Facebook page, the app was created in just 90 days. The funding for the project came from a variety of investors, whom they would not give names of. CEO Julia Cordray said in an interview with Quartz that the company raised $500,000 from private investors in Calgary and the U.S.
Whether or not the app is the real deal, and whether you’re for it or against it, people are talking. This twitter user sums up the app—“Peeple: Because everyday life should be a horrifying minefield.”
Image Sources: istock.com, facebook.com
