The new beta site Unvarnished is causing quite the stir. It describes itself as “an online resource for building, managing, and researching professional reputation, using community-contributed, professional reviews.” What that means is anyone can anonymously critique how you handle yourself professionally — your skill, productivity, relationships, and integrity. The site claims it will foster candid but fair reviews that “maintain a helpful, business-focused approach” by allowing Unvarnished users to rate each other’s critiques, so each person has a “Reviewer Authority score.” Individuals can create their own profile or claim one that has already been built for them by someone who has reviewed them; either way, they cannot delete reviews — they only have the opportunity to respond to them.
What do you think the chances are of people using this site the way it was intended — to check out professional contacts and potential hires — as opposed to as a means for trashing professional competitors and personal enemies? Will you play, or will you not engage? As a professional blogger who’s read her fair show of anonymous comments, I plan to stay away. And yet, I know how hard it’ll be not to peek. Great. Now I’m already hating Unvarnished for making me feel like I’ll have to.
I personally think there’s too much information out there.
what I want to know is what will stop people who don’t even know you making BS reviews about you?
If they don’t know you, Nerwin, how & why would they bother to make “BS Reviews” about you? I’m going to assume there will be positive postings as well as negative ones. Read/write with open mind.
Exactly they way I feel Mandi, I see law suits in the future with the term “slander” coming up alot. Don’t want to participate? Not a problem, someone that hates you will just create your profile for you so that they can then go and trash it.
…I think you mean “libel,” not “slander.” Sorry.
Holy S— Thats what I was just thinking! Scary
This site can’t be used to rate your professional life because basing hiring decisions on this is ILLEGAL. I think the real value in rating people anonymously is in your PERSONAL life not your professional life. That’s why DirtyPhoneBook.com is so entertaining. It’s gossip that’s actually real.
But you know, its obvious Unvarnished.com is a trap. Making you login with your facebook account is how they mine their data and its not really anonymous to do so because facebook knows who logs in with them too.
Just curious as to why basing hiring decisions of this is illegal?
It’s “illegal” because it’s unreasonable to hire based on anonymous, unverifiable information. You can do it, but it will open you up to civil liability.
and how would you ever know that the hiring manager based the decision on it. you won’t. you’ll get some other excuse like we found someone more suitable for the position.
I wouldn’t touch it with a 10′ pole. There is already WAY too much out there and I doubt this site will be used as intended.
i truly hope not
it just seem like a another myspace or facebook, but for making “business” relationships instead of social relationships.
i agree with Wayne: libel will be this site’s worst enemy (but how can you claim libel if the critiques are anonymous??).
this also reminds me of stories i heard from friends: companies have people scour facebook (or myspace) for detrimental material, i.e. a blog you posted about how much work sucks or risque pics.
As someone who’s already lost jobs and good business relations with some due to distortions of the truth or outright lies, I see this as just another way for those who compete against anyone to bash the competion in advance. While I will not post about anyone else, no matter what I think of them, I will certainly be keeping an eye open for anyone posting about me and watching for lies. Legal action taken in needed. When loosing a job means losing out on hundreds, or, in the right case, hundreds of thousands in the long term, this site is opening itself up to so many legal battles.
Bruce Miller, owner of Millers Pharmacy in Union City, Mich. He is a egotisial, biggest wimp I have ever seen. He is so good to customers face, but as soon as they leave the store, he is cutting them down and it truly disgusted me. I would never work with the nerd. He is the worse boss you could ask for. He treats his employess and poor people like dirt. His wife is the same way. puts her nose in everyones business and gossips all the time.
Well, “Mary,” why don’t you quit if you feel so strongly about the guy who was good enough to give you a job in this economy. Ungreatful…that was “Bruce” at “Miller’s Pharmacy…! I’ll bet he knows you (by any name). I would!
Mary (above)… I’m aware you worked for my father (mentioned above)…. what people don’t realize is that you were a co-conspirator for robbery and as an employee, rarely showed up to work. It’s sad that in today’s day in age, you are able to get online and trash a 20+ year career individual who has done nothing but work hard and on occasion extend employment opportunities to those who don’t deserve it.
I feel very sorry for you as an ex-employee and a human being.
Sincerely,
Derrick Miller
this site is despicable. we have enough young people committing suicide over bullying via text messages and now this! It’s an outrage. Do the web masters have any idea what impact negative opinions have on people. Their work life, personal life, relationships with spouses and family. Judge and YOU will be judged! Who is anyone to judge and publish it to the world without a mechanism for vindication. Geez even under our system of law you are innocent till proven guilty by a jury of your peers. I guess not here. This site should be taken down
Ashley furniture runs a lot of scams BEWARE.
This will turn into a bullying site. Next kids will be trashing each other and more kids will kill themselves and we wonder why. This makes me sick to think what will show up on this site in the future.
Can any website really be truly anonymous these days? Extremely doubtful! Grow up sheeple.