The ability to rate things online and pass that information onto other consumers is undoubtedly one of the most useful things about the internet and mobile apps.
Whether it’s movies, books, hairdressers, restaurants, businesses or apps your experiences can guide others towards or away from that service.
However, a new start up called Peeple is taking things to a whole new level; allowing users to rate real-life human beings on a personal level.
The yet-to-launch app (which is already worth $7.6 million, according to the Washington Post) lets users dish out one-to-five star ratings for anyone they know; not for their abilities as a professional, but on the quality of their character.
Be that ex-partners, friends, colleagues, family members or anyone in between, everyone is up for judgement by their peers.
Apparently there’ll be no escape from potentially damning verdicts as as there’ll be no opportunity to opt out. Once someone puts you in the system, you’re in. So, you’ve been warned, you should probably start being nicer.
“People do so much research when they buy a car or make those kinds of decisions,” said Julia Cordray, one of the app’s founders.
“Why not do the same kind of research on other aspects of your life?”
Why not Julia? Well there’s a whole bunch of obvious reasons you shouldn’t, which would be far better served in an opinion piece than this news report.
Apparently there’s an example in Community too, but Sunny is a far better (and actually funny) show, so we’ll go with that one.
What do you make of Peeple? Are you ready for your every interaction to form part of your online rating? Share your thoughts below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
