When in doubt...

By Anna V.

 

The readings for this week made me start thinking about online reviews, and if they really can be relied on.  I know that if I can’t see an item in person, I rely much more heavily on online reviews before I purchase it. If there is a photo attached to the review of the item, even better! Why yes, I would like to read actual reviews of what that dress looks like, if it needed to be hemmed, and if what you ordered was what actually arrived. Do I want to see how that ottoman looks in your living room? Absolutely! And I want to see how much stuff you can fit in it and still have the lid close!

So how do we know that we can actually trust the reviews we read?  Penn State’s article delves into this topic.

The next question, then, is how can we tell if a review is fake?  NPR explores this further in their article. So, what can we do? Can we trust that the online reviews we are reading are accurate and reliable? Or should we go with our gut feeling?  This article from the BBC looks more closely at that.

Comments

  1. Samantha MatherneNovember 7, 2023 at 7:17 PM

    For clothing, I often check reviews of customers who say they are the same size, weight, and height as me. The strange thing is, like you point out, without a photo to go with that review, how do I know they really are close to my measurements? Even then, how do I know that the picture is of the reviewer? I don't. You're right. We put a lot of trust in online reviews. I know I do, especially in Goodreads reviews, unless I'm convinced I'll love the book no matter what. I guess another good question is why can we trust ourselves more about some goods and services without depending on reviews than we can trust ourselves about others.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ellen DooleyNovember 7, 2023 at 8:52 PM

    Clothing or accessories are tricky one if it seems like the reviews are fine and then all of the sudden someone comes in with a completely negative review. At that point, I scroll around a bit more to look for context, and then try to figure out if there is a pattern. I feel like I can usually spot a fake review, in part, as NPR pointed out, when I'm concentrating more on the negative ones. The NPR coverage of the subject was fascinating, and it was a good segue to going with the gut feeling.

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