Kuma’s Corner
Yelp
Kuma’s Corner
Most of us have opinions about things that interest us — music, TV shows, politicians — and sometimes we even express our likes and dislikes online, at sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp. Of course, some online reviews offer useful assessments of products and services, while others merely rant and rave. The helpful ones are generally those that offer a well-supported judgment, providing evidence that ranges from concrete examples to reviewer photographs. Just saying that a hotel or restaurant “sucks” isn’t enough!
In an interesting acknowledgment that not all online evaluations are created equal, many sites now also encourage visitors to rate users’ reviews, so effective evaluations rise to the top, while troll-like responses fall to the bottom. Sites may also provide an average rating and number of responses (as Yelp does), so users can tell whether the rating is based on a large number of responses and whether just a handful of bad ratings are pulling down an average score.
As you look at the Web page, consider the following:
- How do the photos contribute to your own evaluation of Kuma’s Corner, based on this Web page?
- What kinds of information or criteria are most useful to you when you’re reading an evaluation? Does Yelp feature this information, or should they include something else?
