You might have heard about that controversial app that allows users to rate people in the same way they would a new restaurant. Because why not recommend someone as a significant other or for a job in the same way you recommend your food?
Dubbed "the Yelp app for people," the app called Peeple is now open for all iOS users ... crickets.
After all the big commotion surrounding this app, now that it's available, you would think there would something, anything, going on once a new user downloads it. However, that's the problem; there's just nothing exciting on the app: no humorous rant from a scorned former bestie, or disgruntled employee going off on how much they hate their boss — in fact, there aren't even many users on the platform in the first place. It appears that all that backlash was for nothing, because this app just may wind up being a dud.
Created by Julia Cordray and Nicole McCullough, the version of Peeple that was launched changed a bit from its early concept, but enough to make the entire thing seem useless. The app was supposed to allow users (with a Facebook account) to rate other users in their personal, professional and romantic life on a scale of one to five.
Anyone could rate "Peeple," even without an account, so ex-lovers and fired employees could potentially hurt the user's reputation. Users would only be able to get rid of their negative reviews if they disputed the claims within two days.
Many people expressed privacy concerns and potential online abuse, so now, the app allows users to accept or delete every single review they receive. This makes the premise of the app seem silly, because why would anyone leave negative recommendations displayed on their profile when going after a new job, friend or date?
While the dating portion of the recommendations is not live yet, the professional and personal system ditches the number ratings for instead three options the user can select from to rate their experience: positive, neutral and negative. The user can then write a recommendation message. At least this makes the user feel less like a steak and more like a person, but it seems that all the ratings will be biased anyway.
The more recommendations the user publishes, the higher their profile will become, as indicated by the small orange circle on their profile picture. However, since none of my Facebook friends have yet to join (it appears the import Facebook friends feature is not working) and only four nearby users are on (all with zero ratings and recommendations), there really isn't much going on with Peeple.
Of course, you can leave a recommendation for someone you know who isn't on the platform yet; you just need their phone number. You can then write them a nice little recommendation, but it won't be seen by anyone until they sign up themselves after receiving an automated text informing them about the review.
Despite the co-founders' beliefs that its users during beta were positive, it appears that everyone has "no comment" about Peeple.
Peeple is now available to download for free for iOS.
