They have a great conversation about Groupon, growth strategies of internet companies, and how they are currently expanding.
Showing posts with label Thrillist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thrillist. Show all posts
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Should we really trust online content?
I was very impressed with the success of Thrillist and the talk we had in class. How could you not be? reaching 8 figure revenues and profitability after 4 years in business is very impressive.
The one thing I was less impressed with was the site's ethical standards and control over its writers. We repeatedly asked the founder about that, and I found his answers to be quite evasive. To be honest, it's not the end of the world in Thrillist's case. The worst case scenario is basically a writer receiving some payment in exchange for a favorable review, which would lead to one mediocre night out for a reader that followed the recommendation.
Nevertheless, the general idea bothers me. Should I trust the stuff I read online? I'm always suspicious of gushing Yelp reviews, but should I trust Thrillist? or even Techcrunch?
This story from a few weeks back is just one example of what I believe to be a very common issue. Thrillist's founder may have said that he trusts all writers are honest and that editors are able to monitor them, but I remain unconvinced. Let's not forget that a minute later he spoke about the non-compensation perks of the job, which apparently include "Sleeping with PR girls."
Again, no biggie when discussing Thrillist. The issue is that branded content overall is a hot topic in advertising now, be it in TV or online. My fear is that soon we won't be able to tell the difference anymore.
Jonathan Shulman
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