|
I love reviews!
Whether it's TripAdvisor, or Amazon, or Goodreads. I peek at reviews before booking, buying, reading.
Of course there is plenty of noise, bias, ignorance. But you can filter lots of it out. The good news is that someone who is not very bright will write in a manner that makes it easy to spot. And someone who is intelligent will, similarly, stand out.
Plus... there is plenty of value in aggregation. Both within and across users.
If I am reading Tripadvisor and someone says that a hotel is dirty, I take it with a grain of salt. If multiple users say it, I start believing it is likely to be a problem. If half of the reviews mention the place is dirty, I won't book it.
If someone who likes some of my favorite authors praises a new book, I will look into it. If a user whose favorite books are Twilight and somefreakingshadesofsomething raves about a new book, I will probably stay away from it. There is plenty of information in reviews, even between the lines. You just have to filter it and process it. Sometimes it's not worth the time, I can see that... But I like the trend.
By the way, I recently stumbled upon am article in the Gazettino, a small Italian newspaper, saying that the Italian consumer agency is suing Tripadvisor for hurting the name of some national hotels (and, by the way, I know a handful of those places and the bad reviews are very warranted...). The result is that Tripadvisor has recently stated they will likely pull down all posts and listings of Italian establishments. I think that stinks.
I like reviews.
|