There has been a lot of buzz about Peeple over the past few days – most of it focused on the personal aspects of being publicly evaluated by others. In this post, I want to focus on Peeple as it relates to your professional reputation.
When someone googles you to evaluate you, they focus on the five measures of social branding:
- Volume: How much content is there about you? A lot of content means you clearly have something to say.
- Relevance: Are the results consistent with who you are or who the searcher needs you to be?
- Purity: Can the searcher determine what content is about you versus others who share your name?
- Diversity: Is all the content text or are there videos and images to augment the words? This has become even more important thanks to blended search.
- Validation: Are your self-created entries backed up by others’ opinions?
When it comes to online ID, Peeple is in the Validation business. Peeple is not the first to provide opportunities for Validation of professionals. In fact, these opportunities existed before the internet. In those days, you would never be considered for a job without being vetted through a series of professional references (usually typed on formal paper and snail-mailed to a prospective employer). Today, Validation on the web happens through:
- Recommendations on your LinkedIn profile
- LinkedIn endorsements of skills
- Social actions of your content (likes, shares, comments, etc.)
The Peeple app (which isn’t expected to launch until later this year) takes this a step further by moving to a “crowdsourcing for people” format – essentially creating a virtual Yelp for people. It allows you to rate people you know on things like their professionalism, personality and dating prowess.
In this post, I am concerned with the professionalism aspect and its impact on your ability to get a job, get promoted, get funding for your start-up, and other crucial achievements.
Just like Yelp, Zagat and TripAdvisor, Peeple lets you rate individual people on a one- to five-star rating. And you can provide written comments about them too.
According to reports, you can’t opt out once someone puts your name in Peeple. Positive ratings post immediately. Negative ratings have a 48-hour holding period when the person being reviewed can dispute the rating. Peeple users cannot remove inaccurate reviews, but they can report things they feel are inaccurate.
Crowdsourcing already exists for some professions – HealthGrades for doctors, LawyerRatingz for lawyers, and RateMyProfessors for university professors, for example. So it is not a major stretch to see this move to other professions.
People who fear Peeple are concerned about the negative fallout of unflattering reviews. Bias could skew reviews, and some commentary could be inaccurate or completely false. Those valid concerns must be addressed, and hopefully they will be sorted out before this app is released.
But there are some really positive benefits when it comes to the workplace. This level of transparency to professionals and the organizations they work for could have a positive impact on business and careers. Organizations are already thriving in a climate of crowdsourcing through sites like GlassDoor. Peeple has the potential to become an asset to your career:
- Execs will be forced to deal with the company bully when the evidence and outpouring are so extensive
- Job seekers will be able to identify the kinds of mangers they want to work for
- Companies will be able to better hire for fit – getting the right combination of personalities into their organization
- Employees at all levels will have an opportunity to publicly acknowledge managers, employees, clients, and business partners for their outstanding contributions. Knowing and sharing your review could have a positive impact on their future success.
- Fake people will be called out. Personal branding is about authenticity. People who are not who they say they are will be unmasked.
When it comes to reviewing people, the standards for the reviewers are going to have to be strict to prevent victimization. Peeple will have to get it right and address the fact that a negative review (accurate or not) could have a debilitating impact on someone who has low self-esteem or is dealing with a crisis.
A lot more has to be learned about Peeple. And a lot of safeguards will have to be put in place. If the issues are resolved, I think the idea of Yelp Meets The Office could be an incredibly valuable tool for personal branding, adding a new level of transparency to the world of work.
What do you think?
Uncover your personal brand so you are ready for the launch of Peeple. Download my complete list of 50 eye-opening questions to ask yourself when uncovering your brand here.
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