Oh Boy, I’m a Yelp-er.
I went to Osha on Friday night with some old high school friends and, despite the great food and great company, had a really bad experience there. You can read my review (as well as others I will be adding shortly) here: http://gemmerzz.yelp.com
So I’ve been perusing the Yelp site and looking at reviews. It’s definitely an awesome concept and could be a great resource when planning anything from a date night to an entire vacation… but there are certainly some downfalls:
- Unfair (or one-liner) Raters: “The door was open, so I was cold all night” is not deserving of a one-star rating unless you asked your server, the host/hostess, and manager to close the door multiple times and they did not oblige. Also, what about the food and/or service in question? What useless feedback — give me back the 30 seconds of my life I wasted on you!
- Profile Photos: Every time I’ve read a really well-written review, I’ve also read the person’s profile and looked at their pictures. Why? Well, as shallow as it may seem, I’m interested in knowing whether or not the person seems like someone I could relate to or may have the same preferences as I would. Seductive, half-naked, or “kissy” pictures of yourself and I’m inclined to disregard what you have to say. Unless there is a singles section of Yelp that I have yet to stumble upon. Then I retract this feedback and encourage you to rock on with your bad selves, I guess.
- Ebonics/Slang: I can deal with the occasional “nah mean?”, but if I’m logging on to UrbanDictionary.com to translate your review, your feedback is completely meaningless to the majority.
Do you Yelp — read or review? What are your peeves?
Related posts:
this is probably a decent example of all things wrong with yelpers. i’m sure i can find more.
http://trinamui.yelp.com
i just stumbled upon it because her review was on a REVIEW OF THE DAY. the profile picture is ridiculous: red lace bustier top with her f’ing finger by her mouth, giving a coy look to the camera. VOMIT. and then she goes and writes a review about Asian people??!! the featured review was of Little Shanghai Restaurant, where she wrote that the dumplings were “more of a appatizer.” Read the review on Rouge Nightclub. Good Lord.
…i feel blood trickling down my ears.
I always read reviews before I buy or go anywhere, and my decision usually depends on what I read about it. Its great having the internet for this, I don’t know what I’d do without it! :D
@digga. ironically, she was the reason i posted! haha. the pictures really bothered me, but it wasn’t just the lingerie and the kissy/pouty faces. it was the bad choice of captions (and poor grammar) as well as the stupid pictures with her “cuppy”, her polar bear AND teddy bear. WHO DOES THAT?! (wait, don’t answer that… hahah.)
@ria. i tend to use yelp a lot when i go on vacation and i agree that it’s a great help! with the few exceptions, of course. ;)