The San Jose Mercury News this week ran a story this week discussing the growing popularity of user review sites.
San Francisco-based Yelp.com. boasts its review count is up to 2.3 million and growing. Other sites that feature user reviews include TripAdvisor.com., Citysearch.com., epionions.com., Drugstore.com., Hotels.com., Netflix.com. and Angieslist.com., which is a subscription-based site.
Navigating the world of online user reviews - San Jose Mercury News
Personally, I wonder about a lot of these reviews. How many of the Amazon book reviews are written by the authors or the their friends. If an author can’t get at least one glowing review from their mother, then …. Incidentally, my mom thinks this blog is great.
The ethics of writing online user reviews (like writing anywhere) is pretty simple–Tell the Whole Truth. The implementation of this principle can be tricky because the context is tricky (it is not clear how sites or individuals make money), the accountability is less (it is a more anonymous setting), and the authors have less experience (non journalists like me are putting our thoughts online).
Here are some simple ethical guidelines for those writing online user reviews.
- Do not lie. If you think a product is mediocre, don’t say it’s great. Be truthful about your experiences.
- Do not deceive by omission. If you think the camera sucks at taking pictures, but has a pretty case. Saying “this is a great looking camera” and that’s it leaves a misleading impression. This is not a clever way of “being nice and ethical at the same time. It is deception, the same as lying.
- Be transparent about potential conflicts of interest. If you are being paid to do the review, are the author of the book, are the mother of the author, have an investment in the company making the product, or have any association that may create a motivational bias, be transparent about it. Often people closest to a product or service have the best information. A potential motivational bias should not preclude you from creating a review.
Sometimes it may be difficult for those close to a product to tell if they have a motivational bias or if they have been deceptive in a review. We are all too good at rationalizations and fooling ourselves. Here are some simple tests to apply to your next review:
- Other-shoe test: How would you feel if someone else wrote this review and you were going to use it as part of your decision-making process?
- Loved-one test: Would you change the review if you discovered that your sister, mother or another loved one were going to rely on it?
When your writing involves information beyond your own personal experiences, the ethics get slightly more complicated–for example, issues of plagiarism and fact checking become a bigger issue. For those interested in diving deeper on this subject, The Society of Professional Journalists has created a Code of Ethics. Happy online reviewing.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Tags: ethics, clint korver, ethics for the real world, online reviews, yelp, computer ethics, online ethics
