Tinder, Democracy, and Reviews

Nowadays, internet reputation is crucial for businesses. According to some studies, reviews in websites like Google are one of the most important factors that determine if people want to do business with a company (second only to family and friends’ recommendations). Are reviews  a good decision-making procedure for people? There is not a straight answer.

Think about a democracy, where people have the opportunity to participate in the election of their leaders. Democracies are not perfect, but many agree on their superiority over other forms of government, like a monarchies or an oligarchies. I believe this fact rest on the merit factor introduced by a democratic organization. In real democracies, leaders are selected based on criteria reflecting their skills and ideas, instead of their lineage or social status.

Reviews, like democracies, are good (not perfect) because they introduce an element of merit in the decision-making process of the consumer. A restaurant with good reviews is doing something right, and the consumer makes a smart decision by choosing it, other things being equal, over low-rated alternatives. We have to be on the look for those who want to take away from us the benefits of a democratic consumer system in favor of personal benefits. Now, some are in the business of selling positive reviews. Countries where politicians win the elections thanks to vote buying are a good template for pondering the consequences of this.

But, is it invariably okay to follow the crowd? Maybe not. In this 8-Bit Philosophy video from Wisecrack, dating app Tinder is analyzed.

According to the video, Tinder is killing love because, among other things, it is taking the element of surprise out of dating. This means that people can pick what kind of features they are looking for (e.g., blond, tall, athletic, in his or her 20s, college-educated, etc.) in a potential partner and only interact with that kind of people. The possibility of falling in love with someone you could have not imagined is out of the picture as the alternatives that do not match your current preferences are excluded in advance.

Consumer behavior that closely follows Google Reviews (and reviews in general) can be problematic in a similar way to app dating. The point in both cases is that by looking at reality through a filter we might completely dismiss alternatives that could be valuable. By guiding your behavior based on reviews, a few negative ratings can make sure you won’t get into a businesses relationship that might actually surprise you, in a positive sense (just as looking exclusively for certain physical or demographic qualities can prevent you from getting into a relationship with your, unbeknownst to you, perfect match).

So, what should we do? It seems that we have to use reviews smartly by not relying on them all the time. We will make mistakes for sure but, more likely than not, eventually stumble upon something that makes up for them.