"There is literally no way that this could go wrong" Topic

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It's as if they've never heard of spoof amazon reviews, random negative trip advisor posts or cyber-bullying.

The misspelling of that is, of course, ironically deliberate….

So rate me higher for humour.

What could possibly go wrong?

Except for the many ways that I can think of that this could go wrong, I completely agree with you!

I'm going to rate everybody responsible for this idea as "completely clueless."

To add someone new to the site's database, you must have their mobile phone number. Positive reviews post immediately; reviews of two stars or fewer are sent to the subject's private inbox, from which point you have 48 hours to "work it out with the user": "If you cannot turn a negative into a positive the comment will go live and then you can publicly defend yourself."

I would love to get one of these notifications and ignore it, then sue for libel. Why would I have an obligation to respond to a comment that someone made about me? If you're going to make the comment, you have the obligations associated with it.

It is a great platform for phishing, though. "Hey, XYZ number that I looked up online, ABC number that I looked up online says you're a . Click here to fix it."

I don't see why everyone thinks this is going to be a giant train wreck… oh wait, yes I do.

In some ways this is a potentially useful application and a logical extension of other things we're already doing on the internet. In other ways, what on Earth were they thinking?

"48 hours to work it out", so now we have another way to extort each other.

"Defend yourself publicly" sure. If lawsuits are where twelve impartial people decide who has the better lawyer, this is an upgrade where the better writer of "reviews" can push people around. Some people are better and worse at fighting with text.

So, yes, we're about to get a bunch of cynically amusing news stories out of this, but have a sympathetic thought for all the people who are about to have their lives trashed.

Would it not be fair to say that there is nothing new hear, only a concentrated form of precisely what does *not* work the internet?

I plan to aim for straight 1s across the board.

Also, if they need a cell phone number to do this, but the cell phone in question is a work one – and in our jurisdiction there are laws against workplace harassment, which compel companies to protect their staff – how will companies handle this?

Lots and lots of work for the lawyers working it all out.

How do they know you even supplied the real phone number???

4 out of 5 dentists recommend it.

I'd guess I give my phone number when I sign up. If you want to review me, you have to give this same number.

Of course, if I don't like you I give your phone number to fifty of my friends and say, "this guys a jerk, get'em." So, not much of a security step, imho.

If nothing else, GamerGate, Sick Puppies, and the Bring-Back-Legends people show that there's a lot of malice out there. It makes the world a worse place. This "service" seems like it will empower the negative people, no matter how positive the creators hope will be.

I'm sorry if I'm a little cynical about human nature, but it only takes a very few people to ruin things for everyone.

When I was back in Denver recently I plugged a friends name into an internet search to make sure I remembered his address – I was heading there for an evening of gaming.

Was rather surprised to see on of the results of the name search come up with a 'rating.'

Hadn't realized this sort of thing was out there…

How do they know you even supplied the real phone number???

It said they were going to text the target … er … recipient of the review if it were negative. I wonder if they will ban using burner phones?

I'd guess I give my phone number when I sign up.

This was the big problem (I mean, some people will be jerks or think they're funny, but that happens regardless) that I saw. You don't sign up to be rated.

Isn't this what happened to the Krell?

I'm not on Facebook and don't want to be, so does that mean people can libel me and I have no way of responding?

@mandt2 – Now I'll never be able to watch Forbidden Planet again without thinking of the Krell civilisation being destroyed by internet trolling!