I am pretty sure that we have all used the social networking site Yelp to get reviews of a certain place, or object, or just something you needed to see feedback on before you use it. Although it seems very helpful at times, there is also a downside to using these reviews. Downsides such as: false reviews, different perceptions and tastes vary by the people giving the reviews, and/or people’s ignorance to what what the specific “Yelped” item is really suppose to do. Journalist Lee Siegel of the NY times wrote an article about the social networking site Yelp. He criticizes how the information on this site can lead you down dangerous roads when it comes to trusting the reviews. In his article he illustrates a few bad experiences with this site including this one taken from the article, “Not long ago, a friend of mine, a dear man with exquisite taste, took me to dinner at Momofuku Má Pêche in Midtown Manhattan.If I had the same experience with a gastroenterologist I had chosen based on glowing Yelp evaluations as I did at Momofuku, I would be checking myself into the emergency room. My monkfish — a special favorite of the Yelp hordes — tasted like a pencil eraser. It was also so cold that it could not be described as cooked. It was deceased.” In this sense, we see that the reviews and feedback about this so called great dinner happened to be a handful of nonsense. I have some friends that use this site for almost everything, but i do not feel that i have to use it since i like to try things myself then ask questions later.
The article is very interesting and i find it funny as well. Here is the link> Go the Same Way, or Go the Wrong Way
- How do you feel about Yelp in general?
- Does this site help feed the “Filter Bubble?” or not?
This was a very interesting article, but I completely disagree with the author. He has somehow tried to shoehorn Yelp into supporting his argument about how we are all information conformists on the web. Clearly, he is totally unfamiliar with Yelp. First, who actually bases decisions on a total Yelp score? Experienced Yelp users know that you need to read all of the bad reviews of an establishment, because the criteria they have been judged poorly about may be something you don’t care about. For example, many places get slammed for having a cash only policy, not accepting reservations, or for taking five minutes to get a drink order filled. These things for me do not detract from a restaurant experience one bit. Another mistake the author made was using one example, Momofuku Ma Peche. In general Yelp is extremely accurate. I have almost never had an experience where my opinion is drastically different from Yelpers with similar criteria as myself. Lastly, Yelp has changed the restaurant industry. Now, restaurants know that one horrible service, or one case of food poisoning will result in reviews that every single prospective customer can see. I’ll continue to be a loyal Yelp user, although I do think it is fun to try a new place and look it up afterward from time to time.
From what your saying makes it sound like this journalist is out of his mind. So i really guess that the critique is based on the individuals thoughts which is true since different people have different minds and thoughts and opinions. With your positive feedback of the media Yelp, i would be willing to actually use it’s services to find restaurants that are not of my general tastes just to taste something that is outside my comfort zone.