Peeple is a
mobile application
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on des ...
that allows people to leave recommendations
for other people based on professional, personal, and romantic relationships. Initially described as a "
Yelp
Yelp Inc. is an American company that develops the Yelp.com website and the Yelp mobile app, which publish crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. It also operates Yelp Guest Manager, a table reservation service. It is headquartered in San F ...
for People",
the original announcement in October 2015 drew criticism over concerns of harassment, and its creators launched a "watered-down" version of Peeple in March 2016. Many critics have noted the similarity of the application to the "
Nosedive" episode of the British science fiction
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...
''
Black Mirror
''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fiction ...
'' as well as other fictional works about social media with themes of gender and obsession with image.
The company was founded in April 2014 by Nicole McCullough and CEO Julia Cordray.
History
The company's plans for their application were announced in September 2015, and received widespread criticism over concerns of
cyberbullying
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
and
harassment.
By late October, the service had been redesigned as "
opt-in
Opt-in email is a term used when someone is not initially added to an emailing list and is instead given the option to join the emailing list. Typically, this is some sort of mailing list, newsletter, or advertising. Opt-out emails do not ask ...
", so that people could only be rated if they had registered with the service.
Users would also have the option to veto reviews they disliked,
with negative reviews never becoming visible without the subject's permission. The initial beta version was tested by 10,000 users.
Peeple was officially released on March 7, 2016.
The launched application was described by the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' as "friendlier" and more "watered-down" than the version described in 2015, lacking a star-rating system and allowing users to choose which comments appear on their profiles.
See also
*
Reputation management
Reputation management, originally a public relations term, refers to the influencing, controlling, enhancing, or concealing of an individual's or group's reputation. The growth of the internet and social media led to growth of reputation manage ...
*
Recommender system
A recommender system, or a recommendation system (sometimes replacing 'system' with a synonym such as platform or engine), is a subclass of information filtering system that provide suggestions for items that are most pertinent to a particular ...
*
Impression management
Impression management is a conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction.Sanaria, A. D. (2016). ...
*
Rating site
A review site is a website on which reviews can be posted about people, businesses, products, or services. These sites may use Web 2.0 techniques to gather reviews from site users or may employ professional writers to author reviews on the topic ...
*
Review site
A review site is a website on which reviews can be posted about people, businesses, products, or services. These sites may use Web 2.0 techniques to gather reviews from site users or may employ professional writers to author reviews on the topic ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Peeple official website
Mobile social software
Recommender systems
2016 software