@abdlah, Unfortunately it's hard to avoid those people who give poor reviews. It's great that some sites let you actually report a bad review but I'm with you, I've really only had positive experiences, at least on Amazon, with the reviews. I actually enjoy reading negative reviews sometimes because those are usually the people who give out the most, from the heart, information well, because they are venting really. What's really cool with amazon is they show you up front the most popular positive review and the most popular negative review (or they used to? i'm not sure, haven't been on the site in a little while). In any case, I do like their review system.
LOL@ Mr. Roques. I would hope you take a little more caution if you were attempting to get away with cheating on the Internet, these days :). Thank goodness for privacy mode on certain browsers =P.
But seriously, I do agree. These sites know way too much about us and it certainly is a bit scary. The good ol' days of getting away with things on the Internet anonymously seem to be out the window and there's not many options around it unless you anonymize yourself and lets face it, the average user not only doesn't have the experience needed or wouldn't want to concern themselves with that 'extra work' in doing so.
I've always been scared of Amazon and Google. Mostly because they know what I'm looking for. If I have a abdominal pain, I ask Google what to do. If I buy 2 expensive diamond rings with different sizes, Amazon knows.
If now you link that to LinkedIn, you know who I am and that maybe I'm cheating on my wife or hiding something.
Customers should be verified but the reviews should be anonymous, if that makes sense. Amazon should know that you are a real person but it doesn't really need to know who you are.
I think there should be a rank system with paid moderators.
Yes, Amazon must work hard to ensure the integrity of the reviews on their site. I must say though that my experience in over a decade of using Amazon reviews to make a decision has been positive - it is the reported ability to fake that worries me.
Customer reviews have formed a basis of my buying decisions for a very long time now. So it would be a shame when we would have fake reviews being a norm.
Finding out ways to limit fake reviews would be very important, I have would have thought companies like Amazon would do a good job of controlling reviews as it is those who make a purchase who are allowed to review their purchase. Why on earth would I allow someone to pay me to lie to others about my experience when I bought something? Would it not come to haunt me someday?
For reviews to continue to play positive roles in a customer's experience, we will definitely need to find a way to protect their integrity.
Mostly yes...at some point this whole web paradigm of just passively putting things out there and letting the users build it won't cut it for many consumers who expect something more from an "anchor store". Better information, better delivery, better quality and guarantees. I think those who have been riding the back of free labor and service from users are going to have to add quality service...and that costs!
@Jabailo - reading reviews from other customers is a whole lot of work. The customer reviews on Amazon are one of their business assets, and Amazon should look at ways of ensuring the integrity of the information provided by this asset. Google expends lots of resources to ensure that their good-page / spam-page filter algorithm is working well. Amazon should invest in an algorithm that accurately filters out bogus reviews.
Actually, I sort of do this on Amazon already. If I read a review, I then look at other reviews the person has done, and try and see if they have history, or if they say the same types of things about every product and so on.
But to answer your question -- yes, as an online presense, I do want people to know exactly who I am and what I represent. I think this is the way the Web should operate...not just a bunch of nameless, faceless avatars with no history, a Facebook timeline, for example, gives people more information. At some point, I really think we need to have more web certifications...places you can link to and be validated for forms of experiences...diplomas of cybersphere.
Even then people would use different profiles like they use different ones for personal and professional use. You would not want random people swifting through your profile just to authenticate a review, would you?
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
Has China stolen a march on the West, developing an Internet architecture that is not only based on IPv6, but is also inherently secure from both internal and external attack?
Recently, the Obama administration has been of two minds where privacy rights are concerned. On one hand, you have an administration that vowed to veto CISPA and mandated open data for government websites. On the other hand, you have an increasingly out-of-control Department of Justice on a fishing expedition at AP and demanding legislation to let the FBI wiretap private, encrypted communications and levy fines if a company fails to comply.
The apartment and house sharing service, Airbnb, now requires members to verify their identities by demonstrating a presence on the web, and by either scanning a government ID or entering detailed personal details. Other enterprises should take a close look at Airbnb's verification policies.
Facebook advertising is a lightning rod. It seems neither brands nor consumers are 100 percent happy about the social media site's policies, placement, or procedures. But the real controversy about Facebook ads and promotions is over whether they work.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
