As I have previously confessed, I am an avid Amazon shopper and I rely heavily upon the customer reviews when I make a purchase which prompted me to think that there should be a site for reviewing friends. Before I invest myself into a full-blown friendship with someone, I would appreciate an idea of who I am opening myself up to potentially. If I don’t want to buy a product that only gets 2 stars, why would I have 2 star (or worse) friends?

Reviews of others would also equate to reviews of me too. I would be forced to face certain criticism. Yes, it could be extremely hurtful to see negative reviews of myself and I would probably feel like I need to add a note like they do on Trip Advisor to clarify or defend the negative reviewer’s criticism but couldn’t it also be helpful? Sure, lots of reviews stem from the disgruntled people of the world who wish nothing more than to smear someone or something in the most public forum possible so that would be taken into consideration, and conversely, some people like spouses or parents would give overly positive reviews which would need to be considered also.

Here are some criteria that could be used to create a rating scale: trustworthiness (would you tell this person deep, personal information?), fun factor (do you go places/do things together and enjoy them?), low maintenance (who wants a high maintenance friend?), kind (they CANNOT talk down to the waitstaff at the restaurant!) and generous spirit (this person can compliment others, is happy for others’ good fortune and is NOT jealous). Each of those criteria allows you to give a score and then the site can average the total score for the person. By breaking out each category, potential new friends can see my areas of strength as well as my shortcomings and have a baseline to know what to expect from me.

Credibility of the reviewer is a key factor to any review. Here is a tricky aspect of my plan-how would I know whether to believe a reviewer’s analysis? Maybe this is where Facebook could help out: the current system on FB shows mutual friends; on my proposed program the reviewers’ reviews and mine could be compared and we could be linked by how similar our averages are for the same people. Maybe instead of FB suggesting new friends as it currently does, it could be more like Amazon’s suggestions based on what I have previously liked? “If you gave Jane Doe a 4 star review and Jack Smith a 1 star, you will probably be great friends with Sara Black” would be the basic logic for future friend suggestions.

I obviously mean this in good humor, though for all I know there may already be such a site or application already in use that makes friendship reviews a reality (or maybe I should reach out to Google or FB and make millions!). If you’ve lived long enough to make friends you’ve likely lived long enough to have lost friends along the way. In the microcosm we all find ourselves in, sometimes a little extra guidance could go a long way to helping us look within ourselves and be better friends. After all, as much as no one wants to have a low rated friend, shouldn’t we all strive to be high rated friends?

The Real D