How would you feel about an app like Yelp, but for people? In its original iteration, People was “a ratings platform that would let anyone post public reviews of their acquaintances. Like Yelp, Peeple planned to use a five-point scale that would permit positive and negative comments.” Peeple also was not going to permit anyone to op out – Meaning that if a victim of bullying, domestic abuse or stalking wanted out of the app, the victim would be forced to join and then “violate the app’s terms of service.”

Quite ironically, after the founder received tons of negative comments to her Facebook page and Peeple’s website, she was forced to take both down.   Since then there has been a viral position and numerous articles written about how bad of an idea the app is. Consequently, the founder has now revised her initial concept and stated that only “positivity” will be allowed on Peeple.

Although I personally think transparency is of the utmost importance, we should be careful to balance this need with the well-being of others and recognize what true transparency is. In its original conception, Peeple would have enabled the bullying and stalking that is already rampant online. Over 26% of young women report that they have been bullied or stalked online. Someone who posts anonymously online or bullies someone behind a fake screen name is not being transparent. Similarly, someone who would post on Peeple with the intent of controlling or harming another isn’t adding the value of transparency.

I think it’s different when it comes to reviews of restaurants and hotels online. It is much easier to tell if people are reviewing in jest or if the reviewer has a bias (an instance where the guest is the issue not the property).   Therefore, transparency works with services, but not necessarily regarding people. What do all of you think – should Peeple still move forward? Would there be any benefit to a site that allows you to review your peers?