from Hacker News

'Please leave feedback': how constant online reviews are changing our brains

by sandebert on 4/1/25, 10:24 AM with 6 comments

• by FinnLobsien on 4/1/25, 11:20 AM

  I've come to distrust many reviews. First, it's all Goodhart's Law. I heard the average rating on Airbnb is now 4.8. If everyone in the system (guest, host, platform) is incentivized to get ratings up, ratings will go up.

  Besides, reviews aren't fungible. Why would I trust a stranger's review if I have no idea of their taste.

  It's the same on Google Maps. A friend of mine runs one of the best coffee shops and bakeries in the city I live in. She has a few bad reviews because she doesn't allow laptops and has no wifi.

  It's precisely why I love it—people are there to be around each other, not to stare at glowing glass.

  Similarly, a beloved local restaurant gets bad reviews because there's no English menu and the wait staff doesn't speak English. Again, the absence of tourists is why people love it.

  Meanwhile, the tourist traps have great reviews from gullible tourits.

  I've gone back to the local news/Reddit for recommendations. Online star ratings are meaningless.

• by graynk on 4/1/25, 5:24 PM

  I like reviews. I leave reviews. I read reviews (and not just look at the "score"). Often they are insightful. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

• by vr46 on 4/1/25, 3:47 PM

  Only two weeks ago did I use a script found as a Gist to delete all my Google reviews and attached photos, after a bad but genuine and factual review of mine, accompanied by photos as proof, was removed after the place complained. It’s bullshit all the way down.

• by RamblingCTO on 4/1/25, 3:00 PM

  I hate this phrasing. Everything we interact/read/think about/consume changes our brains. It's in constant changing. That's neutral on its own.