In the ongoing dialogue about the pros and cons of how involvedto get in the social media revolution comes a real monkey wrench:Unvarnished.

In case you haven't already heard, Unvarnished, which is currently in beta testing, is anew social networking site that will allow “people rating” — fromthe sounds of it, kind of like LinkedIn on crack cocaine.

Actually, from the description, Unvarnished seems to moreclosely resemble sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, except what's being ranked (or ranked on)isn't a company, it's you. Yes, Unvarnished allows anonymousreviewers to take potshots, not at your business, but you as abusiness professional.

From the Getunvarnished.com site:

Unvarnished reviews help you get the inside scoop on otherbusiness professionals, providing candid assessments of coworkers,potential hires, business partners, and more.

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By contributing Unvarnished reviews, you can share yourknowledge of other professionals, giving credit where credit isdue, and valuable feedback where needed.

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Lastly, your own Unvarnished profile, which you may createyourself or claim one that has been created for you, helps you takecontrol of and build your own professional reputation. Getrecognition for your accomplishments and actively manage yourcareer growth.

Doesn't sound so scary — except that the reviews are “revieweridentities are hidden from reviews,” and your own profile caneither be created by you, or someone who is reviewing you. Whenthis is the case, you can “claim your profile,” and “actively buildand manage” your professional reputation. Unfortunately, this seemsto primarily consist of defending yourself against anonymous slingsand arrows tossed by virtually anyone who chooses to do so.

And although there appears to be a set of review guidelines(reviews should be “business based,” “well written” and“honest”), these seem more like suggestions than rules.There doesn't appear to be any moderation system, something that'sin place on even the weirdest of message boards. And with 400,000professional profiles already loaded into the Unvarnished system,your name might already be up there.

The hue and cry has already gone up over the implications ofUnvarnished. Seems to me it would be a legal nightmare (or dream,depending on what side you're coming from), including claims ofdefamation, privacy violations and libel, not to mention EPL suitsif an Unvarnished review results in hiring, firing or jobdiscrimination issues. A recent Chicago Tribune article quotes Unvarnished developer PeterKazanjy as calling his brainchild “big and scary,” and a Harvardpundit describing it as empowering “hate, exclusion andpolarization.”

Granted, some of the fluffy recommendations on LinkedIn, mostsolicited by the recipients, should be taken with a grain of salt.But rating a fellow human being isn't the same as giving one starto a lousy restaurant or complaining about the dirty sheets at achain motel. No matter how much Unvarnished may claim it's onlyrating “professionalism,” the personal aspect is bound to leakin.

In the cutthroat business of insurance, where policies areconstantly being shopped and switched, a couple of unsubstantiatedbad reviews for an insurance agent can make or break a business.And unless you just started doing business yesterday, you're boundto have a couple of complaints somewhere in your professionalhistory.

I'd love to hear what you think about this latest wrinkle insocial media. Does Unvarnished scare you?