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Positive Social Media Peeple.

“Character is destiny.”

This is the ironic tagline for Peeple, a new app that wants to be the “Yelp for people” allowing anyone to rate you “professionally, personally and romantically.”

The Washington Post calls it “terrifying.”

Their Twitter and Facebook accounts have closed.

And, they have upset Brian Solis. Who?

.@peepleforpeople threatening someone is a crime. FYI every page you delete is still cached on the net. #peeple pic.twitter.com/JFyt4joc2p

— Brian Solis (@briansolis) October 3, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Reference: http://www.briansolis.com/2015/10/new-peeple-app-represent-people-stop-app-released/

Yes, I’ve been “Peeple watching”.

So, what’s it all about?

Peeple co-founder Julia Cordray said the Peeple app aims to create “online village of positivity where you can go on and be rated by the people that know you.”

A person can rate another from 1 – 5.

You can see how it could go wrong. Right?

Julia Cordray took to LinkedIn to explain how she plans to make Peeple a ‘100 percent positive’ app as she has now changed direction/tact:

“You will NOT be on our platform without your explicit permission. There is no 48 hour waiting period to remove negative comments. There is no way to even make negative comments. Simply stated, if you don’t explicitly say “approve recommendation”, it will not be visible on our platform.”

So essentially, it’s a network of only positive testimonials about you. Who needs this? Meeeee… but hang on, what’s the point of scouring through a person’s profile to read vetted comments about how wonderful they are? How would it help you to spend time researching people this way? How would it help me? It’s sounding very LinkedIn and Klout related. Perhaps? Or not.

Julia Cordray’s background is recruitment – but I get a sense of innocence when it comes to social media understandings.

Her company: http://www.mycareerfox.com/

Her response: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/julia-cordray-ceo-peeple-creating-worlds-largest-app-julia-cordray?trk=prof-post

And: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOjB-JN2sQU

Our reactions?

Always looks on the bright side of life? Sure. But “too much positive thinking can actually be a sign of a mood disorder” says people like Mark Banschick, M.D., a psychiatrist.

And another coaching psychologist, Associate Professor Anthony Grant, says the term “positive thinking” is poorly defined and often misunderstood. For many people it means saying daily affirmations, focusing on the good in every situation and putting on a happy face, even when it’s the last thing we feel like doing. Hey, even I love my #socialgood campaigns. But Grant warns “trying to be permanently optimistic about life is highly unrealistic and generally makes you worse off in the long run.”

Some levels of negativity might be good for us.

One study found that people in negative moods can produce better-quality and more persuasive arguments than people in a positive mood. Negative moods can also improve memory and mental accuracy.

Balance. That’s what I say.

100% positive does not cover all aspects of our lives – so running from a truth is simply just as bad, as not. We do expect constructive critism. Compliments, challenges and constructive feedback is what makes the world a better place – as is a healthy does of collaboration and engagement.

We won’t know how popular Peeple will be until the app’s launch, which is scheduled for November.

Good luck with that.