Beyond the Reviewer: Why Write a Review?

Have you ever thought about who the person is behind an online review? Who they are, why they think and why they take the time to write reviews? Well, I was curious too, so I decided to find out. I took to Yelp and started asking around to see if there was someone willing to answer some questions for me. Not only did I find someone within minutes of asking, but she is a Yelp “Elite” reviewer — which of course, at the time, I had no idea what that meant. Since this was a completely random person from the internet, I decided not to push the boundaries and ask them to meet in person, instead I asked to conduct an interview via email, and send a few questions her way. Her name is Aubree Peterson, and not only did she answer every question I had for her, but she took the time to answer each question thoroughly and thoughtfully — for me, a complete stranger to her. Honestly, the world needs more people like Aubree. Here’s what she said…

Q: Are you from Fort Collins? If so, what is your favorite thing about it?

A: I’m originally from Southern California, near LA. I actually just moved to CO this past August to start a Master’s program at CSU. So far, my favorite thing about Fort Collins would definitely be the people. In general, people are more friendly and easy going here.

Q: What do you think sets Fort Collins aside from other places in Colorado?

A: Obviously I’ve only lived here a pretty short amount of time, but, from what I’ve seen so far, I think that the college, CSU, probably brings a large amount of cultural diversity to Fort Collins that other towns might not have.

Q: How long have you been a Yelp reviewer, and why’d you start?

A: Around 4 years now (since 2014). I’ve used yelp, mainly as a place to find restaurants, for a while now -much longer than I’ve been writing reviews. But, I started writing reviews because sometimes my opinion of places didn’t match those of the other reviewers on the site. So, I wanted to get my voice out there and support places I loved or warn others away from places that disappointed me.

Q: It says on your Yelp profile you’re an “Elite,” what does that mean?

A: “Elite” means that you’ve applied for, or been nominated for, and “accepted” to be a Yelp elite member. Yelp seems to be pretty vague about what qualifications are necessary to become an elite member, but, basically, the more you use their site, and the more features you use on the site, the higher likelihood you’ll have of becoming an elite member. The “perks” of being elite is that you’ll get invited to events or parties that Yelp throws in your community (here our “community” is Denver). These events are “exclusive” and sometimes include free yelp swag, free food/drink, discounted or free access to places like gyms, etc. What’s interesting, though, is that I think, in general, people here, in Colorado, don’t seem to use Yelp as much as in CA (specifically, LA). It’s pretty huge in LA, and, because a lot people in LA seem like they live on Yelp, I’d never have had a chance to be an elite member in LA (with the frequency of how often I use the site). But, in CO, I had a chance. So, I applied this year and got accepted. Lol. Personally, I just was curious about it, so I gave it a shot.

Q: Do you write reviews anywhere else online?

A: No, because, like I said above, Yelp is the main review site where I’m from.

Q: Have you only written reviews pertaining to businesses in the Fort Collins area? If not, where else?

A: I pretty much write reviews wherever I go. One of the main reasons I write reviews is to support businesses I like, or that I think are doing a good job, so I try to support good businesses wherever I am (i.e. local, day trips, vacations, etc.)

Q: Do you think online reviews are useful? Why or why not?

A: I do. I’ve found a lot of good places (restaurants/businesses) that I might not have otherwise found without online reviews. But, I try to take them with a grain of salt too. I wouldn’t just avoid a place strictly because of the reviews, but I might give it a second thought…

Q: What do you think is the biggest benefit AND downfall of online reviews?

A: Benefit: same answer as above, I like finding new and interesting places (especially when I’m new to the area). Downfalls: People can be unfair or overly dramatic about certain things and that could really hurt the business. Especially since the online platform, and the anonymity that comes with it, makes it much easier to be mean or unfair to others.

Q: What leads you to writing a review about a business, good or bad?

A: So, I look for things like quality of food, portions vs price, how good was the service, how good did the food taste, do I feel like I would come back, did I enjoy my experience there, did I feel like what I paid for the experience was worth it. It’s also pretty important to me that a restaurant is clean/sanitary. I try to be pretty fair though. I mean, I feel like you should adjust your expectations for when you go to a place like Taco Bell vs a nice steak house or something…

Q: Do you think people are more motivated to write a good or a bad review and Why?

A: I think it’s both. I’m sure people or more likely to write about the extremes of opinions. Like if they loved or hated a place vs if the place was just ok.

Q: What is the biggest problem you see with other online reviews you read?

A: Again, I think it’s just fairness. People can get overly dramatic and give a one star for no good reason, but they forget, or they don’t think about the possible repercussions. Often, especially in a town like Fort Collins, local restaurants and businesses are run by local people/families not giant corporations. So, if their business goes under, it will ruin their lives and, ultimately, negatively affect the community. I think it’s important to be honest, and don’t give good stars if the place didn’t earn it, but be fair about it.

Q: What do you think is key to writing a strong review?

A: I try to think about what information I’d want to know about the place if I’d never been there before, and then I try to answer those questions for people. I also try to be specific since I might care about something more or less than someone else. So, if “x” is the reason I thought the place should have 3 stars, I try to relate “x” to people so that they can make a decision about whether or not they care about “x.”

Q: Have businesses reached out to you in the past to try and correct bad experiences you’ve reviewed about? If so, did that change your opinion about the location?

A: Most of the time businesses will reach out and say “thanks” for good reviews. But, once I actually had the manager of a business reach out to me about a negative review so that they could reprimand the employee who influenced the bad review. This is another example of the “power” reviewers can have on other people’s lives. In that case, I really didn’t know the employee’s name, but, even if I did, I don’t know if I’d tell the manager because I don’t think I’d like to be the reason someone got fired. It did make me feel a little better about the place since the manager seemed to want to right the wrong. But, ultimately, I don’t think I’ll go back.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for those thinking about writing an online review?

A: Just be honest and fair. Think about what you’d want to know about a place, or what you’d tell a friend about the place who’d never been there.

Q: Do you have any advice for those that consume online reviews?

A: I try to read a few reviews before deciding my opinion. I also try to ignore the 1 stars or 5 stars unless they give a very compelling argument for their rating. Ultimately, though, if a place you really want to try has mediocre reviews, you should probably still give it a try anyway to make up your own mind about it.

Aubree, a huge shout out to you for helping me out! Thank you so much for answering all of my questions! Thanks to you, we all have a little more insight to the other side of an online review.