Bloggers Take User Reviews to Task
|
Written By Reprise Media | April 28, 2005 | Share This
|
|
Who can you trust? In the online world the answer is nobody. Well, not always, but it often seems that way when you’re looking for unbiased information about a product or service.
Two bloggers are in that boat this morning. The first is rustybrick, who today posted a blog entry stating “Yahoo! Local Reviews are Biased.” […]
Who can you trust? In the online world the answer is nobody. Well, not always, but it often seems that way when you’re looking for unbiased information about a product or service.
Two bloggers are in that boat this morning. The first is rustybrick, who today posted a blog entry stating “Yahoo! Local Reviews are Biased.” Apparently he updated his firm’s Yahoo! 360 page with a 5-star rating and some words of praise, expecting a prompt rejection by the 360 editorial staff. Instead he got approval and is now marveling how such a self-serving review could get past the Yahoo! editorial staff.
The second scenario is a little different and involves Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble. He recently realized there was some heated discussion going on over the legitimacy of a Wikipedia entry on his name. The entry was ultimately put to a vote and the decision was to keep him included.
Both these stories are interesting in that they underscore the importance of (and problems inherent in) online review systems. Reviews can hold a remarkable degree of power - the words of a random book reader can be more influential in the mind of a prospective buyer than a multi-million dollar TV spot. Inaccurate, uninformed, or just plain malicious reviews can cost companies, both big and large, thousands of dollars in lost business.
But how do you police reviews? And what exactly constitutes a (as Amazon puts it) ‘helpful’ review? In an entry titled “I Love Amazon Reviews Except…” a blogger asks this question regarding a recent book review she read:
“Here’s the quandry: her review is good, in that she explains her objections to the book. It’s not good, in that she makes some pretty huge assumptions that may or may not be true. So do I say, yes, this review is helpful, or do I say the opposite? It’s reasonably well-written, but is that synonymous with “helpful”? If it promotes what I think are somewhat wrong-headed ideas, is that worthy of the “No” button?”
Wikipedia, Amazon, Craigslist and others have lately gotten more active about building in functionality that allows for community-style policing of reviews (in Craig’s case - comments & postings). But there’s still a long way to go. Right now we’ll have to supplement the sites’ systems with our own common sense. Poor grammar/spelling/punctuation, all-or-nothing mentality, repeated posts under different names written in a similar style, etc. can all be tell-tales clues that a review was biased from the start.
On a related note, what book did one Amazon reviewer say, “Frankly, I’d rather stuff wild weasels down my pants,” rather than read again? Check out this page of Amusing Amazon Reviews and find out.
Topics: Social Media |
The problems pointed out above highlight what is compelling with integrating social networking and user reviews. As opposed to the relatively anonymous reviews prevalent on sites like Amazon, reviews listed on sites like Multiply are inherently more trustworthy since you know who the reviewer is.