Reviews (for anything, really) are a form of blogging. However, when we read them, we rarely know the tastes and preferences of the people writing the reviews. Sure, there are some more well-known bloggers, but when you look at some random product, you don't really know how reliable 3 or 4 ratings from random strangers are, right? When it comes to Manhattan food, seamlessweb is a great tool. That said, I often find myself seeking out new places that have 4 stars. I find five stars is rarely accurate and less than four seems risky. However, I don't necessarily know if that's right of me, nor do I know who's making these ratings. I know we can assume that a high quantity of positive ratings is statistically good, but has anyone found the star count on seamlessweb to accurately portray the quality of the food or delivery experience? I sorta feel like it's a shot in the dark.
Thanks for playing,
Eric
1 comment:
I think Yelp tried to address this issue by the "friending aspect" as well as the Elite Yelp status. I definitely pay attention to some Yelpers over others, not necessarily friends in real life, but the ones whose Yelps seem most accurate. Also, I trust Elite Yelpers more.
I am sure that Seamless could do this, but it might take more investment than is worth it -- don't people just cross reference with Yelp anyway?
Also, I'd like to point out that the biggest problem with reviews is that people rarely review anything that is mediocre. They more often post negative reviews and if they are in a good mood, positive ones.
I like the idea of reviewers that have a certain angle. I, for example, and much better at telling you what a restaurant will feel like or what kind of event it is good for, rather than what the food is like.
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