In the new online world, everyone will have a smudge, wrote the Toronto Star April 16 in a story about getUnvarnished, a new social Web site that allows unflattering comments about its members to stand as written. Reviewers’ identities are kept anonymous so they can speak without fear of retribution.

Professor Steve Bailey, director of the York-Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture, says the genre’s anonymity can lead to hostility and bad humour.

But should Unvarnished be unsuccessful, other “reputational commentary” platforms will just take its place, Bailey says. “I don’t think this is a trend that’s going away,” Bailey says. “I think that one of the things that’s interesting...the legal system isn’t really equipped to deal with this sort of phenomenon, it’s playing catch-up with the technological changes.”

Republished courtesy of YFile– York University’s daily e-bulletin.