If you have ever browsed through the pages of a consumer reviews website, you have probably noticed how radically the online world of lay reviewing has transformed the way restaurants are reviewed. The internet has created new communities and networks that revolve around reviews. This allows consumers to find the best services or products. The sites also make use of sophisticated filters to help users browse through different criteria. Can websites verify reviews' authenticity?
These platforms may claim to encourage democracy, but they are expensive and require a lot of editorial resources. They rely heavily on strong personalities to produce large amounts of content. These websites must also ensure that reviews are based upon actual consumption experiences. They should also be able to control the homogeneous rating system.
Consumer review websites seek to accomplish this by bringing together a wide range of consumers to create an overall assessment of restaurants. The average score of the reviews is then used to rank the scores. They are a two-fold democratic ambition.
Participation platforms should encourage ratings generation in order for this to happen. They have to be responsible for the publication and algorithmic scoring individual ratings. They will also need to facilitate the production and associating of different ratings.
These strategies can be a boon for website managers as they could help to create a more democratic restaurant industry. On the one hand, these sites will be able to increase the number of restaurants reviewed. Andererseits, these sites will enable businesses to respond positively to negative reviews.
Whatever strategy the website uses, the goal is to increase the quality of restaurant selections. Aside from providing the most accurate information, they can also be considered an important extension of the traditional taste-making process.
The consumer reviews website is an important extension of the participative process started by printed guides. However, these guides have a very selective logic and most restaurants are not included. Reviews that are anonymously written will not always be based on actual eating experience. There is always a chance of deceptive or misleading reviews. If a site uses algorithms for selecting its participants and producing their reviews, the results can be less distorted.
Sites like Nomao & Dismoiou show algorithmic egalitarianism. A restaurant is given an average score between one and five in this system. It is then given a median rating. These ratings are then added to the average score from other restaurants to determine the overall score.