Peeple is the new-and-improved professional Tinder-LinkedIn hybrid that’s got the Editorial Board scratching their heads.
According to CNN Money, Peeple is a new social media app that will rate people in three different categories: personal, professional and dating.
We understand the value of rating the quality of a person, but only in very select and singular situations.
Namely, when looking for people professionally and determining if meeting someone online is safe.
But we’ve already got apps and resources for that.
While professional and dating relationships are a component of Peeple’s rating system, its entire premise is users can give each other reviews, either negative or positive, and a rating from one to five, according to the Guardian.
The problem is there’s very little a user given a negative review could do to change it, and these negative reviews very easily could damage personal and private relationships.
So, in the end, we can’t help but feel this is the new-and-improved professional bullying application.
Peeple received backlash from the anti-bullying movement, and the Guardian reported the app would most likely be removed from the line-up of new apps set to be released.
But whether or not Peeple comes onto the market, it forced us to take a step back and look at the way we use social media.
Services like LinkedIn and background check sites for apps like Tinder are entirely necessary.
If a company hires a bad or unqualified candidate, it becomes a huge liability and said bad candidate could either slow their company down or even become a danger to co-workers.
And dating safety is pretty obvious — date-rape is still a massive problem here in the United States and people need to protect themselves.
But that doesn’t translate to friendship.
The entire point of a friendship is it doesn’t remain static, and two different people can have very different experiences while dealing with the same friend.
One can feel like the two are only acquaintances, another may feel like the person is like a member of their family.
People interact with each other differently when they are encountering each other socially, versus in the workplace or in the dating world.
To give a permanent rating to a friend or acquaintance can prevent that individual from having a healthy social life and turns Peeple into a competitive and toxic arena where bullying happens and people get hurt.
The best way to determine if we like someone is to meet them and figure it out for ourselves.
And there’s just no app for that.
