From elevator pitches to movie descriptions to tinder profiles, we all love having our information in neat little boxes. It makes the world easier to navigate when we can scan for keywords that activate our interests. It makes it easier for us to gauge our expectations when we look around and explore.

But when it comes to describing ourselves, those tight little boxes aren’t a quick, easy read. Suddenly they’re constricting. How do we sum ourselves up in a way that is witty, honest, appealing and makes people want to get to know us?

How would you feel if a casual acquaintance had the ability to write your social media posts? And not your PR representative or some agent for whatever services you offer; just ordinary people around you. And imagine if it wasn’t social media but just a page. All about you. Written by others.

This is the premise of the app Peeple, created by two best friends to serve some purpose that escapes me. I happened upon it in an article online, and my initial frown of, “Is that seriously a thing?” only grew into a grimace. Peeple’s function is similar to that of Yelp, except instead of rating businesses, you get to rate people – specifically on a personal, professional and dating spectrum.

And to be honest, I can kind of get behind part of the basic concept. I am a big proponent of the saying, “A good man can brag about himself, but a great man has others brag for him.” In some ways, Peeple fits that bill. But the rest of the app’s flaws gape open in such a way that any minor appreciation means next to nothing.

Sure, social media can be a lot of, “Look at me! I like having fun,” which at this point is one of the most banal and uninteresting things one can say in an online environment that is inherently social. You use social media to connect with friends, and here’s a picture to prove that you are doing just that. Plus, we can all use some honesty. People aren’t particularly inclined to own up to their so-called “baggage” openly. But whatever baggage people perceive in others should NOT be called out publicly.

Maybe you’ve had a bad day for whatever reason and have been forced into a social interaction that you want no part of. The person is clearly engaging with you and your attempts at polite laughter fall through. It becomes obvious to both you and your companion that you don’t care for the conversation. Now imagine if that person left a nasty remark on your Peeple page. Something along the lines of, “Seems approachable but is standoffish during conversation!”

We all have moments in our lives that we are not proud of, and it is incredibly stupid and unwarranted to even have the idea that those moments would follow us around in any way besides in the minds of those who were immediately involved.

There are people who I don’t know very well but avoid because of things that my friends have told me about them. Now imagine that immature practice applied on a massive scale. I know that Peeple would not be strictly hateful and damaging comments, but it would be harmful gossip that was permanently available.

I know that I already overthink many of my social interactions. If there’s a hint of awkwardness in a conversation, my brain goes into overdrive trying to think of a way to ease the tension that only I might see. But even if the conversation doesn’t end well, I rest easy knowing it probably wasn’t that big of a deal, and that next time things will be easier.

The importance of self-discovery and improvement might be aided by Peeple, but it can also be very damaging. Suddenly you might be known as “that guy that did that thing” or maybe you’re showered with praise and you let it go to your head.

Even though we are our own biggest critics, that doesn’t mean that hearing it from someone else is going to make things any better.

Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.