In a new app, users will be able to rate people, much like one would rate a restaurant, car, spa or hair salon. Peeple co-founder and CEO Julia Cordray described the original vision for the app as a safe place for people to manage their online reputation and easily investigate other people’s characters. The app was critically received upon its announcement in September 2015. Objections were made to the proposed five-star rating system, user inability to delete reviews, potential for bullying, and generally to the assignment of value in such a way to a person.
The released app, as revised by its founders, will not feature the initially suggested five-star rating system. Instead, users will have a “recommendation score” based on every recommendation received. To post reviews, users will have to be 21 and older and will be required to authenticate with both Facebook and a PIN number sent to their cellphones. Users will have the option to block or report other users and deactivate their own profile. Deactivation will remove any activity by the user and any content written about the user. A “Nearby” function will also be featured, which will allows users to check the highest scored people in a given category within a 10-mile radius.
Peeple’s co-founder Cordray has stated in unequivocal terms: “I’m still building the app and I’m not going away”. The app was initially due to launch in November 2015, but still has yet to be released.
Kim Lachcance Shandrow, ‘Yelp For People’ Co-Founder: Your Hate Only Fuels My Resolve to Launch Peeple, ENTREPREUNER (Nov. 6, 2015), http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252542
Caitlin Dewey, Everyone you know will be able to rate you on the terrifying ‘Yelp for people’ – whether you want them to or not, THE WASHINGTON POST (Sep. 30,2015), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/09/30/everyone-you-know-will-be-able-to-rate-you-on-the-terrifying-yelp-for-people-whether-you-want-them-to-or-not/