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Peeple is the ‘Yelp for people’ app your mother warned you about

MrKJLS

By MrKJLS
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MrKJLS

MrKJLS

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don't know where this should be posted, but I feel it should be posted here. Mod's move if required :p

 

Peeple is an app that lets users rate fellow human beings as if they were Amazon purchases. Its creators are calling it "Yelp for people," with the app letting anyone review anyone they know and assign them star ratings out of five. Reactions on social media, however, suggest the idea isn't entirely welcome, with the concept drawing comparisons with an episode of Community where a

turns the school into a Hunger Games-style dystopia ruled over by a five-star elite. Peeple, meanwhile, is simply marketing itself as a "positivity app for positive people."

 

"Peeple is an app that allows you to rate and comment about the people you interact with in your daily lives on the following three categories: personal, professional, and dating, says the company's website. "Peeple will enhance your online reputation for access to better quality networks, top job opportunities, and promote more informed decision making about people."

 

In an interview with The Washington Post, Peeple's founders, Julia Cordray and Nicole McCullough, say that a lot of thought has gone into making the app a positive experience. Anonymous reviews aren't allowed, and anyone who signs up must have a Facebook account older than 6 months and a working cell phone for verification. Users are also given 48 hours to "dispute" negative reviews of two stars or less (this means messaging the reviewer and asking them to change their mind), and anyone reported for bullying on the service will be booted off.

Inaccurate reviews can also be tagged for removal.

 

However, there's currently no way for users to opt-out of Peeple. Anyone can sign up anyone else if they have their cell number, and although only positive reviews are shown on the profiles of people who haven't signed up, members of the public can't see their reviews unless they join. It's also not clear whether negative reviews are judged to be so based only on the star rating or whether the actual content is also taken into account. If just the former, it means that users could give people extremely negative reviews but a good star rating, with the targets of these write-ups never knowing about them unless they signed up. Call it a growth hack.

 

This sort of asymmetric reviewing system has already met problems in the past when applied to real human beings. The "dating" app Lulu, for example, allowed straight women to rate men they had dated based on their romantic and sexual appeal, but was criticized for encouraging a sexist double standard. As the Post points out, the app's makers were eventually forced to change their rules, first allowing men to opt-out and then requiring that they opt-in before being rated. In a message on Peeple's Facebook page, the company says it has heard these complaints "loud and clear," but doesn't state whether it will be changing how the app works.

 

These issues haven't dimmed investors' enthusiasm though, with the Post reporting that Peeple has already been valued at $7.6 million, while a video blog that Cordray and McCullough used to document Peeple's creation reveals that they raised $250,000 in seed capital in just two weeks. The app is expected to go live on iOS devices some time "mid to late November," with a limited launch starting in San Francisco and Calgary.

 

 

A recent update to Peeple's website titled "An Ode to Courage," tacitly acknowledges some of the recent criticism of the app, stating that "innovators are often put down because people are scared and they don’t understand." The post continues, "we are bold innovators and sending big waves into motion and we will not apologize for that because we love you enough to give you this gift," and concludes: "We are a positivity app launching in November 2015. Whether you love us or our concept or not; we still welcome everyone to explore this online village of love and abundance for all."

 

Source: Peeple is the ‘Yelp for peopleâ€[emoji769] app your mother warned you about | The Verge

Edited by MrKJLS
sonofsanta

sonofsanta

Posted
Posted (edited)

ffs -_-;;

 

Fine if you want to sign up for that circle-...love (to put it politely) but don't allow people to post reviews of others who haven't opted in. That's utterly ridiculous.

 

I wonder if you could use the DPA to have your account removed? Is full name + mobile number sufficient personal information for you to request a takedown?

 

EDIT: this is really annoying me. More griping to follow.

"positivity app for positive people"

"innovators are often put down because people are scared and they don’t understand"

"we are bold innovators and sending big waves into motion and we will not apologize for that because we love you enough to give you this gift"

"we still welcome everyone to explore this online village of love and abundance for all"

 

I mean, come on. I voted Green at the last election and even I'm not naïve enough about human nature to believe all that nonsense!

 

Why can negative reviews only be disupted for 48 hours? Does this mean I need to keep an eagle eye on a site I've not signed up for and not consented to because if I don't check over the weekend someone can leave a permanent negative review against me?

Edited by sonofsanta
abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted

Absolutely ridiculous app idea... Well probably not as the controversy it's caused will probably result in a lot of downloads and a lot of users = money to the company!

 

I thought about the DPA, surely they can't keep information on anyone unless you consent to allowing them to publish it..? I'm no expert though but one would assume this is the case (or hope) apparently there is a start up company with a very similar name that are doing something that I can't remember but they've been getting loads of abuse on Twitter even though the app has nothing to do with them. The app probably won't even be called peepl as this other company already own the registered trademark for the name!

localzuk

localzuk

Posted
Posted
Absolutely ridiculous app idea... Well probably not as the controversy it's caused will probably result in a lot of downloads and a lot of users = money to the company!

 

I thought about the DPA, surely they can't keep information on anyone unless you consent to allowing them to publish it..? I'm no expert though but one would assume this is the case (or hope) apparently there is a start up company with a very similar name that are doing something that I can't remember but they've been getting loads of abuse on Twitter even though the app has nothing to do with them. The app probably won't even be called peepl as this other company already own the registered trademark for the name!

 

American I believe app - DPA doesn't apply. They only really have to face our laws if they have a presence in the EU.

MrKJLS

MrKJLS

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

 

It was oh so predictable.

The founder of new slander-app Peeple has been surprised to discover people slandering her online.

Julia Cordray, of Calgary, Canada, landed herself and her company a ton of publicity this week, appearing everywhere from the Washington Post to ABC News, talking about how the app – due to be launched next month – would enable people to rate others.

"The Peeple app allows us to better choose who we hire, do business with, date, become our neighbors, roommates, landlords/tenants, and teach our children," the company pitches. Cordray and co-founder Nicole McCullough feel it is a "positivity app for positive people."

Except of course it took the rest of the world about two seconds to figure out that filtering the world to only include those with positive feelings was not exactly realistic, and all the app was likely to do was invite an endless stream of abuse, bullying, and stalking.

Right on cue, the internet popped up to make that point.

"One of my clients is a counsellor and your app is probably going to allow him to retire from the droves of people that are about to get their lives destroyed by your app. To be honest it is going to be pretty interesting to see how much of a legal disaster this turns into, might be a lesson for everyone else," wrote one poster on the company's Facebook page.

Another: "We get that there may be folks out there who also think this is just a grand idea, but surely SURELY you can appreciate the ground-swell of hundreds of thousands of people who think this is just an appalling idea?? Doesn't it make you stop and think?"

The, ahem, feedback continued:

This is not Yelp for people. This is a harassment tool for abusers. You can talk about all the planned safeguards you want, but abusers live to game systems, and you're handing them the biggest present they could ever hope for, guaranteed.

And these are the polite posts.

Both the company's social media accounts and the personal accounts of the founders have been hit hard. It didn't take long for Peeple's positivity to fizzle out. Cordray whined:

Bullying IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING and that is what are [sic] app is NOT. You are the reason we have an app.

Both founders have been deleting critical and aggressive comments and tweets as fast as they can all day – and failing miserably.

In one now-deleted Facebook post, Cordray asked: "Anyone know how to prevent people from posting on the comments on a company Facebook page? I know how to prevent people from posting on our page just not commenting on our posts."

And of course that was then picked up and sent around the internet on in a kind of Mexican Wave of irony.

 

All this prompted another Facebook poster to make an interesting observation: "If you can't keep up with this page how in the hell are you going to be able to moderate this monstrosity once it is nationwide?"

Meanwhile Cordray is repeatedly pleading with people to "get the facts" about how the app would work and the controls in place, despairing when people make baseless accusations which others then take as fact. The irony is so overwhelming that some commenters' heads are clearly fit to burst.

Of course, one of the "controls" on the app is that people need to know an individual's mobile phone number in order to open a profile on someone. Unfortunately, you can't stop someone from opening a profile using your own number, which, again, rather predictably, has led to people trying to track down Cordray's and McCullough's numbers.It wasn't long before people were posting Cordray's personal details online – seemingly culled from the Whois information for domain names she owns. Just to highlight how out of control these things can get, one heavily quoted tweet providing her phone number and home address actually provided the wrong information.

We called the number – it went to voicemail for "Amy." Who is Amy? Who knows? Who cares? Amy, that's who, who will now have to deal with a barrage of abusive callers for no good reason.

Meanwhile, the company's website at ForThePeeple.com has fallen over.

And so the internet self-corrected itself once again. ®

 

Updated to add

 

Cordray has posted a long message on her ForThePeeple.com website. We'll just leave it here for you to marvel.

An Ode to Courage: Innovators are often put down because people are scared and they don’t understand. We are bold innovators and sending big waves into motion and we will not apologize for that because we love you enough to give you this gift. We know you are amazing, special, and unique individuals and most likely would never shout that from the rooftops. The people who know you will though…they choose to be around you and in your life and support you even when you don’t like yourself. We have come so far as a society but in a digital world we are becoming so disconnected and lonely. You deserve better and to have more abundance, joy, and real authentic connections. You deserve to make better decisions with more information to protect your children and your biggest assets. You have worked so hard to get the reputation you have among the people that know you. As innovators we want to make your life better and have the opportunity to prove how great it feels to be loved by so many in a public space. We are a positivity app launching in November 2015. Whether you love us or our concept or not; we still welcome everyone to explore this online village of love and abundance for all.

 

Source: Woman makes app that lets people rate and review you, Yelp-style. Now SHE'S upset people are 'reviewing' her • The Register

 

Posted here for the lazy people like me :p

Edited by MrKJLS
Formatting Updates
sonofsanta

sonofsanta

Posted
Posted

Looks like some of the uproar has sunk in:

 

Cordray went on to admit that the company’s original policies, which allowed anyone to review anyone else, “were ill conceived”...

 

First, the platform is 100 percent opt in—other people will not be able to create a profile on your behalf and especially not without your permission.

 

And second, users will be able to review all content posted about them with the option to reject any content that they deem unacceptable—for any reason.

 

Source: Peeple, the unreleased app the Internet loves to hate, pushes forward | Ars Technica

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