Social Web sites face transparency questions
PostedbyChris BenjamininInternetonMar 22nd, 2009 | 0 commentsYelp.com prides itself on being a site where people can write reviews about pretty much anything and connect with similarly critical peers. Yet as the site grows, some of the businesses scrutinized on Yelp are turning the tables and griping about the company itself.
The complaints highlight an irony for Web sites that stimulate online communities and let users speak their minds. As the sites make the world more transparent, giving people the power to discuss everything from a great pizza to a bad date, the sites’ own transparency is often questionable, as consumers and businesses struggle to understand how they operate.
This tug of war has become increasingly public with the explosive popularity of social Web sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, as well as niche sites like Yelp, which has more than 5 million reviews on establishments in dozens of cities.
Properly balancing the interests of various constituencies — and retaining their loyalty, perhaps through improved channels of communications — will prove key to whether the sites can grow into vibrant, moneymaking operations for years to come…
See the full article at Yahoo News.
Related posts:
Social Web sites face transparency questions
PostedbyChris BenjamininInternetonMar 22nd, 2009 | 0 commentsYelp.com prides itself on being a site where people can write reviews about pretty much anything and connect with similarly critical peers. Yet as the site grows, some of the businesses scrutinized on Yelp are turning the tables and griping about the company itself.
The complaints highlight an irony for Web sites that stimulate online communities and let users speak their minds. As the sites make the world more transparent, giving people the power to discuss everything from a great pizza to a bad date, the sites’ own transparency is often questionable, as consumers and businesses struggle to understand how they operate.
This tug of war has become increasingly public with the explosive popularity of social Web sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, as well as niche sites like Yelp, which has more than 5 million reviews on establishments in dozens of cities.
Properly balancing the interests of various constituencies — and retaining their loyalty, perhaps through improved channels of communications — will prove key to whether the sites can grow into vibrant, moneymaking operations for years to come…
See the full article at Yahoo News.
Related posts:
