Who Have You Wronged? The new app that allows people to rate you as a person

A new app, Peeple is currently in beta testing and it’s meant to be launched in a few weeks. Recently, this new project has sparked controversy and debate in multiple circles. The app itself is meant to act as a “Yelp for people,” say the founders, Julia Condray and Nicole McCullough, which allows anyone with a smartphone to rate people in their life. The app will “allow users to rate people they know on three categories: personal, professional, and dating,” which many have already criticized for it’s potential social consequences, including but not limited to online bullying and harassment (Garcia).

Besides critics, some have other social and economic concerns about the app, as Chris Chuter can attest to. Chuter is the creator of Peeple, a very successful business that won $150,000 in a British entrepreneurship competition this year. Does the name sound familiar? Although these two products are vastly different, the branding and marketing of Chuter’s invention has suffered greatly because of the new and highly controversial Peeple. Social media has taken over this positive business development and swallowed it with negative comments and hatred.

This has sparked great controversy, with backlash from Internet, including user-generated content. If you go to YouTube, there are hundreds of critics with negative videos, especially from the LGBT community and anti-cyber bullying supporters. The company recently responded to these complaints in their own Facebook post, defending their actions. In the comments of this post, there are thousands of angry consumers opposing the company, with thousands of likes on their comments, criticizing the founder’s intentions, naivety, and privilege.

Well-known comedian John Oliver even discussed the app on his show, Last Week Tonight

 However, the founders of Peeple refuse to acknowledge any problematic features with their own brand. They’ve released a statement in a CNN interview, saying, “we want to clarify, that this is not a judging website. We don’t want to judge in the sense of being mean… we want to be given the opportunity to prove to you that the world is predominantly good, filled with people that absolutely love you and want to lift you up.” They’ve even gone so far as to put the tagline of the website as “Join the positive revolution.” These founders are taking an optimistic approach to human nature, technology, and how people use the Internet as a social tool. They are under the impression that the Internet and social media is a good tool, used for all to access information of positive and important messages, that will promote democracy because of it's widely accessible technology. 

Now- what are the downsides to such an invention that allows you to rate people on a five-point scale, like they were products? This type of participatory culture has the potential for huge social impacts. Let us assume, in the future, this app was used by a large variety of people, and it was normalized as a tool. An old acquaintance or disgruntled coworker could ruin your average amount of stars, with nasty comments and therefore have the potential to ruin previous or future relationships. When people have the ability to rate you without consent, it can create huge problems; especially assuming people may base their opinions off of you from this app. It may even make people become more judgmental and isolated from others. As Walter Benjamin argues, technology can equate to a loss in ritual and “authentic” experiences. For example, if you can access information online, there is less of a need to see the real, original information in person. This can lead to a loss in tradition, culture, and aura. If we feel like we can pre-judge people before we know them, will we take the same chance to know them, or will our confirmation bias create a predestination paradox, where we see what we already believe to be there? Would people go out on dates if they felt like they already knew the person? Or would we fulfill Harry Grant Dart’s prediction that technology would ultimately alienate us, although we feel more connected?

Let us examine technological determinism versus social constructionism. Does this app allow for negativity in society, or does this technology simply bring to light the judgment already prevalent in the world? Of course, the answer depends on your own personal viewpoint. The truth? No one may ever truly know; my personal best guess is that it is a mixture of both. But one thing is for sure; apps like Peeple examine the relationship between society and technology in new media and convergence culture, and force us to think about the social consequences of modern technological inventions.