New Website Is Like LinkedIn, but Nastier

A new website intended to cut through the universal positivity of networks like LinkedIn with some real information on the job performance of potential employees or former managers has bloggers talking apocalypse. Unvarnished, which is now in beta testing, allows users to claim their profiles and comment on other comments, but they can’t remove negative reviews. “The idea is to create a place, not where people only give F-minuses,” the founder tells the Chicago Tribune.

“People can feel comfortable to give B-pluses or A-minuses,” Peter Kazanjy continues. “Reviews then actually mean something.” Bull, cries the blogosphere. Unvarnished crosses “the anonymous pompous idiocy of Yelp with the overserious 'professional'ism of LinkedIn,” writes Ryan Tate at Gawker. “It's a way to vent extremely bitchy accusations over matters expressly labeled as Very Serious, i.e. one's career.” Evelyn Rusli puts it more succinctly at TechCrunch: “A clean, well-lighted place for defamation.” (More Unvarnished stories.)