New Trustpilot "Context Over Keywords" Policy: Between Accountability and Banality

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is worth one review?

One new client or user. Hundreds and thousands.

Of course, I'm referring to the positive, five-star (preferably) reviews. But what about the negative stigmatizing one-star reviews? What are we going to do about them? You can bury your head in the sand, but that's not going to solve the problem.

If you're asking me, there are two types of negative reviews. The first type is a result of someone's call for attention or laziness (unwillingness) to contact the support. In these cases, the problems are usually quickly and successfully resolved. Very often, the reviewer changes his initial negative review. It's a win-win situation for both parties. Case closed.

The second type is a completely different story. These reviewers aren't after a solution but rather after a service provider's blood. The sole purpose of these negative reviews is to hurt as much and as long as possible. I personally have nothing against these so-called "revenge reviews," if they're the act of desperation and resolution to teach some big bad company a lesson.

There's still hope for a happy ending with these revenge reviews. People eventually come to their senses and let bygones be bygones.

But what about the special kind of revenge reviews - the kamikaze reviews?

Is There A Trustpilot Onboard The Reviews Plane?

When it comes to reviews, I like to write a five-star review when it's well deserved. Here's my Hacker Noon review on SiteJabber. We can all agree that it aged well, can't we?

However, this doesn't mean that I hesitate to leave a one-star review when it's also well deserved.

You are absolutely free to qualify this one as a "revenge review." In my defense, I can say that was the least I could do. I'm not ashamed of what I wrote in my review, which was respectful and professional despite how I personally felt.

Also, I dare to say that this review can serve as a fine example of "constructive criticism." More than 35K people have viewed this review in the meantime. Needless to say that everything I wrote was true and can be easily verified.

Now, let me show you one of the finest examples of kamikaze reviews.

Wow! You nailed it, buddy. Kudos to you, whoever you are. Did I mention that I write all of my reviews while using my full name?

Why?

I told you already. I have nothing to be ashamed of. If you want to be a writer, at least what you can and should do is to be held accountable for your words. Right?

Do you want to see what the other side had to say? Audiatur et altera pars ("let the other side be heard as well"). This is one of the very first things I had to learn to get my law degree. So, goLance please state your case:

Spoiler alert! I wrote this response. But what I actually wanted to say is perfectly summarized in this meme:

"Context Over Keywords" - What's That Even Supposed To Mean?

I didn't rest my case and I demanded an official explanation from the Trustpilot team. Their "Content Integrity Team" left me speechless, literally.

I was free to highlight the most interesting parts of this "statement."

So, not only that you're lecturing, but you also have the nerve to threaten the "Noonies2020" Winner for the Most Controversial Writer of the Year. Wow! That's really something.

My initial review of Trustpilot spontaneously stretched to the full-scale story.

The Latest Credder Podcast Is A Must!

Here's a link to the latest edition of the Credder podcast that featured David Smooke.

Now, if you can find the strength to focus on what's David saying rather than to admire his new hair color experiment, you can hear quite a few interesting things about digital responsibility. There's something called "the second human reader," I just couldn't possibly agree with and support more.

Long story short, the first line of responsibility is the writer/contributor himself. Then, here comes a Hacker Noon editor to read what's to be published or rejected.

Fair enough. No paywall. No bias. No algorithms. We the people writing for other people to read or not. Fair and square. You like it - you read. You don't - you move on to the next story.

The saddest thing is that isn't the first time I'm writing about the problems with reviews. Buying Upwork Reviews: Is Your Freelancer Really a 5-Star Freelancer? This story asked some legit questions, provided solid evidence, and obviously didn't solve a single reviews-related problem.

A year later, I'm asking the same question:

If You Can't Trust Trustpilot, Then Who Can You Trust?