Movie reviews. Hotel reviews. Electronics reviews. It seems you cannot make a decision on anything these days without finding out what others think about it first. It’s no wonder these Internet communities—where Web users can be influenced positively or negatively—are about as successful as word-of-mouth in driving sales for a particular product or service. Nevertheless, how accurate is the information posted on these sites?
According to an October 2008 Rubicon Consulting study, most (90 percent, in fact) of the visitors to these sites are “lurkers,” people that read or observe what’s going on but don’t make contributions. Merely nine percent make an occasional comment, post a review or offer advice. That means that one percent of those who access a Web community account for most of the contributions. One percent!
A frequent visitor to metromix.com (and self-proclaimed “lurker”), I decided to test the accuracy of this Web community’s reviews. All it took was a simple search of El Jardin Café to solidify (in my mind) this study’s theory of participation inequality, which says one percent of users remarks don’t translate to the opinion of the masses.
Case Study: Restaurant Review
El Jardin Café
2.6/5 stars
While I won’t be joining the cast of Top Chef anytime soon, I know good food and good service, and my El Jardin experience (just days ago) was nothing short of a 4.8. However, the low rating wasn’t the only surprise. User reviews read, “Average All Around,” “Terrible Food, Terrible Margaritas,” and harshest of all, “AVOID THIS PLACE!!!” But, wait. Me, my friends…we rave about this neighborhood gem.
So, this begs the question:
Will I add a review in hopes of increasing El Jardin’s “star power”? Probably not. Like I said, I’m simply a lurker.
Please feel free peruse and provide feedback anywhere possible. If you like what you see… *send to a friend.
