There has been a fair bit of Internet buzz over a new app, "launching soon," called Peeple. According to its creators, it's like the restaurant-rating app, Yelp. But, this one is for people. Apparently it allows you to confirm you know a person by entering their phone number, and then allowing you to rate them as a person, based on attitude, personality, looks, and other factors. Yes, it sounds like a terrible idea.

Response to Peeple has been instant and largely condemning. Most who hear about it find it a terrible idea, and a way to give us one more way to demean people and make ourselves look better. The founders claim that one can contest poor reviews, and that it's meant for positive encouragement instead of negative.

But recent research may indicate that this is all either an elaborate hoax, or what we might call vaporware (something that never comes out). The Facebook page has been shut down, the Instagram account has gone private, and the YouTube video is offline. As Snopes points out, there's a fair bit here that doesn't quite add up.

So it's worth noting, that not all the things we get up in arms about will actually see the light of day. But, one thing remains true, it's a terrible idea in a sea of other terrible ideas. We have more than enough ways to rate people online, and certainly don't need a dedicated app for that.

- MVW