Thursday, April 15, 2010

Unvarnished: Yelp for individuals

You, as a person, are up for review on the new Unvarnished website. You are able to be reviewed by just about anybody on Unvarnished, though the site is currently in beta testing. Unvarnished could definitely be useful, but it could also end up being a pain to handle. Denying you the best personal loan rates will, at least, hopefully not become a way that Unvarnished gets used.

Unvarnished bills itself as reputation management

Individuals are asked to post “unvarnished” reviews of one another. As a business tool, Unvarnished claims that it helps you “get recognition for your accomplishments and actively manage your career growth”. Any user can post a review, and any user can create their own profile. It appears that Unvarnished uses Facebook profiles to “verify” identity – which means if you’ve no Facebook profile, you cannot post or claim Unvarnished profiles. This link to Facebook seems to make Unvarnished more legitimate, but faking Facebook is much easier than faking a payday loan company.

Unvarnished isn’t without problems

The problem with Unvarnished will most likely be something similar to other review websites. A review website could be incredibly helpful in making decisions. However, there are always two sides to every story. Bad reviews will supposedly be kept in check with a community system. Unfortunately, unhappy people are much more likely to speak out than unhappy people. The reviews might be unvarnished, however they might also be very skewed.

Should I get an Unvarnished account?

Yes, reviews on Unvarnished could be very skewed. And yes, Unvarnished could provide a real pain some days. Besides these things, most professionals should get an Unvarnished account. It is important to know what other people have to say about you. Unvarnished is one more destination to keep an eye out for feedback, and respond if you need to. Most especially in a difficult job market, keeping a close eye on your reputation on places like Unvarnished is important.



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