I’m sitting and writing this article, drinking coffee, which I’ve become addicted to in the most indecent way. The coffee shop makes coffee from twenty signature blends, each of which has a story and reasons why you should drink this particular blend today. Amazing experience and taste. But I would never have tried it if I had checked the choice with the popular Yelp service here and its copies in the USA and Russia. The establishment has a number of stars that can describe it as “a so-so little place, only go if you are in a hurry and have no choice.” Have you ever thought about the person, the collective image of homo-potribiticus, who writes these reviews? Have you ever wondered why on earth we started believing these people? Here's my favorite iced coffee with mint – trust me, it's delicious. This is what the review scribblers write.
Those. you understand that mint coffee and the establishment as a whole are rated 3* by the person who bought this coffee, although he… doesn’t like fresh mint! This seems funny, but it’s not – this person somehow influences your choice if you rely on services like Yelp.
It’s worth saying that I’m a rather picky person about service, “always something dissatisfied” (that’s what my friends and those who have known me for a long time say :). But in San Francisco I did not have a single comment about the service. At all. I read the reviews – everything is terrible, everything is gone!
The same story with “tips” on Foursquare. I’m checking in at the MUNI subway in the city, and then something comes out at me like: “I hate MUNI. May those who work here be damned. It smells terrible, it’s awfully loud, everything is terrible!” It is worth saying that the metro runs by the minute, there are always places to sit, even at rush hour, everything is clear there and it is not that expensive (compared to Moscow, for example). How sorry I am that I can’t take this commentator for a ride in a Kiev minibus from Troeshchina or on a commuter train in Moscow, push him into the subway in Tokyo, or drive him through the summer heat on a bus without air conditioning and with the windows permanently sealed. Everything is bad, we rely on the voice of the crowd?
I also saw a comment on another coffee shop that sounded almost like this: “It’s sunny today in SF, that’s so rare! The heavens were kind, and I decided to go have a coffee at a coffee shop nearby. But today I was greeted with an evil grin by overcooked grains and strange-tasting cream. Oh, heavens, if only you knew that the sun was summoned by you today in vain. All in vain! The day ends with sadness before it even begins…” o_O You understand that this is also part of the review and part of the collective rating in which we believe.
Let's go to Yandex:
Is the restaurant good or bad?
Remember the rule – a good review will leave 2 out of 10, and a bad review – 8 out of 10? And we rely on this irrational bundle of negativity?
On the Internet, the fight against such commentators and services is just beginning. I highly recommend that you watch the Real Actors Read Yelp project – in it, real actors read reviews from ordinary commentators on Yelp with feeling and balance. This is very funny and shocking in its absurdity, but this is reality, which influences our choices more and more!
Here the guy ate deliciously and was pleased, but the manager did not want to listen to his compliment – 1 *! Damn, he's just busy being a manager!
And here the young lady is happy with everything, but at the checkout she was given one piece of candy, not a handful – 3*.
And here the waiter didn’t please with the flowers – get 2* and no tip, you brat!< /p>
Now tell yourself, will you continue to trust your entertainment, your food and your leisure time to the opinion of such people? Think for yourself, choose, experiment and don’t let others think for you, otherwise they’ll give you one piece of candy instead of a handful! 🙂
By the way, this mechanic of negative dumping in services like Yelp works exactly the same on social networks. If you haven’t read it, then you’re welcome.
Thanks to Anatoly Ulyanov for the inspiration.
