Peeple, the innovative people-rating application that lets users rate and review anyone, has finally launched its highly anticipated debut. The app's founders, Julia Cordray and Nicole McCullough, aim to present a more positive image with gestures towards anti-bullying measures and settings for hiding unwanted recommendations. However, concerns remain about the company's plan to profit from selling access to hidden negative reviews.
The Calgary-based startup, outsourced its development to Y Media Labs, is often described as a "Yelp for humans." With Peeple, users can sign up to leave reviews of anyone they know – from co-workers and bosses to exes and friends or even local service professionals. McCullough's LinkedIn profile reveals that she was inspired to create Peeple as a means of vetting people, like contractors, babysitters, or neighbors.
Peeple's differentiator is its venture into the personal space, unlike services rating professionals and businesses, such as Google's business reviews, Yelp, ZocDoc, Angie's List, and others. It was unclear if the founders were genuinely naive about the potential problems this app could incite or if they were cleverly playing up the "all press is good press" angle to encourage viral buzz.
Controversy Surrounds Peeple's Launch
The company has faced backlash since its unveiling, with The Washington Post describing it as "terrifying," given that users couldn't opt out of being reviewed. Despite this, the founders claim they've made several changes in response to concerns about bullying, threats, and abuse on the platform.
However, some issues persist. Peeple's website allows users to write recommendations for anyone who's not on the app and then invite them to join. This means that even if someone isn't participating, others can still leave reviews, which might not be public but exist in a digital format on the company's servers.
Truth License: A Paid Subscription
The concerning aspect of Peeple is its consideration of offering access to these hidden negative reviews as a paid subscription, dubbed the "Truth License." This feature would allow paying users to read any review written about someone, regardless of whether they published it on their profile. Or, in other words, Peeple plans to profit from selling access to everyone's negative reviews.
Co-founder Cordray clarified that the Truth License is not currently live but is being considered as a future feature alongside other in-app purchases like search credits, gifts, and personality testing.
Weak Anti-Bullying Measures
Peeple's terms prohibit various forms of bullying and abuse, but they're hard to read and only linked within the app itself. The company doesn't seem to have a solid plan to proactively prevent cyberbullying through its service. Its terms state that once content is published, it may not be removed.
In practice, it appears that Peeple won't actively police users on the platform. If someone reported bullying or abuse, the company would supposedly take action, but it's unclear what this action would entail.
As an innovative app startup idea, Peeple has sparked controversy and raised concerns about its potential impact on online interactions. While it aims to present a more positive image with anti-bullying measures, its plan to profit from selling access to negative reviews raises red flags.