Unvarnished.com Stirs it Up in Beta
A new social networking site called Unvarnished still in beta mode, is aiming to build, manage and research professional reputations while letting those in the work world comment on their bosses, colleagues and associates is stirring up the pot even before it's officially launched.
Still in a test, Unvarnished.com hides the name of those commenting on a person. However, the reviewer's identity is known to those who run the site, according to Peter Kazanjyone, one of the site's co-founders. In an interview with MSNBC.com, he said only civil comments will be allowed, and that Unvarnished.com will offer a more realistic assessment of a person's strengths and weaknesses than a professional networking site such as LinkedIn.
On LinkedIn, for example, users have control over the profiles they post and the recommendations they choose to add to those profiles.
Users sign up through the service via Facebook Connect. Additionally, all content is reviewed by algorithms in order to monitor for inappropriate content. If any derogatory reviews are uncovered, Unvarnished.com says they will remove them immediately.
However, unless a person who is being reviewed is a member of the site, or knows they are being reviewed, there's little chance they would find out about the review without the assistance of a service like Google alerts or word-of-mouth.
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