Seeing Stars

In 2016, an iPhone app called Peeple caught the attention of the internet when it launched with the promise to be, well, “Yelp for people.” The idea was that just like your local coffee shop, local people – your neighbors, friends, a guy you went on a date with once – should also be personally subjected to crowdsourced reviews. The public reacted with disbelief and anger to this obviously terrible idea, and Peeple soon disappeared, first from the App Store, then from the world. But businesses – and their employees – already live in a version of the hell that would have been Peeple, with reviews and ratings playing the role of a demon to whom you’ve sold your soul: vital to your success, instrumental in your failure.