What could possibly go wrong with an app that lets you review people? A lot, apparently.

Peeple, an app marketed as a “Yelp for people,” has been generating backlash on social media with its upcoming November launch. Even Yelp tweeted on Thursday that it had no connection with this app: “#Peeple is NOT affiliated with Yelp. Much like the Facebook privacy statuses and Big Foot, this is a myth.” Despite the criticism, Peeple has attracted venture capital funding, with company shares valued at a combined $7.6 million.

The app allows users to review their friends, co-workers, former lovers or acquaintances with star ratings and comments, but only under your real identity. You can be added to the app by any user that has your cellphone number, which is also used to verify the identify of users, but negative reviews won’t show unless you are also a user, a possible way to bring in curious users.

Peeple sidesteps the necessary skill of getting to know people, even if they turn out to be creeps, says Oscar Ybarra, a Psychology professor at the University of Michigan. “We’re becoming socially lazy,” Ybarra says. “What makes people so unique is how social we are and that we experiment a lot with our relationships.” He says the ability to learn about someone through third-party reviews gives us a “one-sided view of humanity” and inhibits us from developing resolution and negotiation skills needed to navigate the workplace and other relationships.

Read the full article "Why Peeple, the 'Yelp for people,' is a bad idea" at MSN.