Over the last two weeks, the Internet had a bit of an uproar over the announcement of a new social media app entitled Peeple. Dubbed as the “Yelp for People,” the app would allow users to rate individuals on a rating platform from 1 – 5. The fury brought about in the aftermath of the revelation was intense, especially in consideration that at the time of the announcement, there was no opt-out feature meaning that once someone uploaded your information, others were free to rate, love, trash, or harass you as a person without your consent. Despite co-founder Julia Cordray’s insistence that “Peeple is a POSITIVE ONLY APP,” many skeptics cited the realistic negative outcome of its existence. In a report by Last Week Tonight, John Oliver dissected the horrific implications of Peeple, noting that the “Internet essentially exists so that people can say viscous things about each other and we don’t need another app to facilitate that.”
Following overwhelming backlash, petitions, and a plethora of negative comment on the site’s Facebook page, Cordray has announced that the app would be revised to focus on positivity and would now would be exclusively an “opt-in” app with the users having the power to review and delete comments that did not meet with their approval. Admittedly, this in many ways defeats the uniqueness of the app. If Yelp offered the same allowances, for instance, Taco Bell would be a perfect five-star beacon of gourmet, salubrious delights. Although lacking its original novelty, perhaps the most “positive” aspect of Peeple’s nascency is its premature retreat.
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