Comments on: Micro Reviews, good, bad, ugly? http://mirepoix.org/2009/06/30/micro-reviews-good-bad-ugly/ a contumacious chef's culinary curmudgeonry Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:19:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1-alpha By: Don http://mirepoix.org/2009/06/30/micro-reviews-good-bad-ugly/comment-page-1/#comment-351 Don Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:37:26 +0000 http://chezgeek.com/?p=837#comment-351 From my point of view, comments on twitter about a restaurant should not be considered reviews, but they do have an impact on people's perceptions on a restaurant. Yes, there are thousands of people on twitter. Many food-related tweeps congregate around one another, so when someone says something less than positive about a restaurant, the comment will reverberate potentially to much larger audience. However, while twitter is considered micro-blogging, it is not a blog like chezgeek. Twitter conversations are fleeting, dynamic, and disappear after 2 weeks (or so) into the void. I hypothesize that the servers at Amazon simply can't persist tweets for any longer period of time and stay responsive (or economical, whichever comes first). As such, twitter is a great medium to discuss and develop ideas about a restaurant, but it is a particularly bad place for reviews. Discussions are disjointed and searching twitter conversations for restaurants is difficult unless tweeps carefully employ hashtags. True bloggers on the other hand, especially food bloggers, write in-depth pieces on restaurants and food, usually including pictures. These blogs tend to be much more permanent and are indexed by Google and Bing. Some of us food bloggers even follow a code of ethics (http://foodethics.wordpress.com) that include Food Critic Guidelines (http://www.afjonline.com/afj.aspx?pgID=887) from the Association of Food Journalists. When it comes to negative reviews, I want to read reasons why something went wrong or something is bad. Having a picture and attaching some rational thought helps. While I do peruse Yelp and the like, I take very little at face value. From my point of view, comments on twitter about a restaurant should not be considered reviews, but they do have an impact on people’s perceptions on a restaurant.

Yes, there are thousands of people on twitter. Many food-related tweeps congregate around one another, so when someone says something less than positive about a restaurant, the comment will reverberate potentially to much larger audience.

However, while twitter is considered micro-blogging, it is not a blog like chezgeek. Twitter conversations are fleeting, dynamic, and disappear after 2 weeks (or so) into the void. I hypothesize that the servers at Amazon simply can’t persist tweets for any longer period of time and stay responsive (or economical, whichever comes first). As such, twitter is a great medium to discuss and develop ideas about a restaurant, but it is a particularly bad place for reviews. Discussions are disjointed and searching twitter conversations for restaurants is difficult unless tweeps carefully employ hashtags.

True bloggers on the other hand, especially food bloggers, write in-depth pieces on restaurants and food, usually including pictures. These blogs tend to be much more permanent and are indexed by Google and Bing. Some of us food bloggers even follow a code of ethics (http://foodethics.wordpress.com) that include Food Critic Guidelines (http://www.afjonline.com/afj.aspx?pgID=887) from the Association of Food Journalists.

When it comes to negative reviews, I want to read reasons why something went wrong or something is bad. Having a picture and attaching some rational thought helps. While I do peruse Yelp and the like, I take very little at face value.

]]> By: Tom Bridge http://mirepoix.org/2009/06/30/micro-reviews-good-bad-ugly/comment-page-1/#comment-350 Tom Bridge Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:14:06 +0000 http://chezgeek.com/?p=837#comment-350 Who it comes from means more than anything else. If my friend Katie, who does the food reviews for We Love DC, tweets about a great place she tried, or tweets about the lousy service somewhere else? That means more than anything else. It's not the only source I trust, but if someone I know & trust says they're off their game, I'll steer clear a bit. Who it comes from means more than anything else. If my friend Katie, who does the food reviews for We Love DC, tweets about a great place she tried, or tweets about the lousy service somewhere else? That means more than anything else. It’s not the only source I trust, but if someone I know & trust says they’re off their game, I’ll steer clear a bit.

]]> By: Neil http://mirepoix.org/2009/06/30/micro-reviews-good-bad-ugly/comment-page-1/#comment-349 Neil Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:06:15 +0000 http://chezgeek.com/?p=837#comment-349 The opinion of my friends means quite a lot to me when looking at what restaurant to visit. I'll sometimes look at Yelp for ideas about what's in the neighborhood if I'm hankering to try something new, but I don't put much stock in the reviews on Yelp. The folks that tend to post reviews aren't representative (by and large) of what I'm expecting out of a restaurant: Good to Excellent service by FoH, and Good to Great food prepared by BoH (in that order). The opinion of my friends means quite a lot to me when looking at what restaurant to visit. I’ll sometimes look at Yelp for ideas about what’s in the neighborhood if I’m hankering to try something new, but I don’t put much stock in the reviews on Yelp. The folks that tend to post reviews aren’t representative (by and large) of what I’m expecting out of a restaurant: Good to Excellent service by FoH, and Good to Great food prepared by BoH (in that order).

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