There have been a flurry of stories lately about the reliability of websites such as TripAdvisor which use viewer-generated content to provide ratings and commentary on hotels and restaurants around the world. Leading the charge is a British company, Kwikchex, which bills itself as an Online Reputation Solution provider. It is threatening a “Group Defamation Action” against TripAdvisor on behalf of some 800 businesses who claim they have been harmed by fraudulent and defamatory posts on the site. While TripAdvisor says it has a process by which business owners can seek removal or investigation of suspected “suspicious” posts, those owners state that for the most part their complaints are ignored. On the flip side of the coin, some properties are suspected of “encouraging” positive reviews posted by employees, PR firms or local “guests” provided with incentives or freebies to do so in order to counterbalance the negative posts. I myself have consulted TripAdvisor and similar sites when traveling to a new city where I am unfamiliar with the neighborhoods and accomodations. Even when dining out locally, I may browse through reviews by patrons of restaurants I haven’t yet visited or read about in a “professional” review in the newspaper. For the most part, I find the postings helpful, but I don’t rely on any one entirely to base my choice of where to stay or eat. I suspect most folks who consult these sites are like me: Read several different comments to get a general sense of the place and note any repetition of pluses and minuses that might indicate a trend. I tend to ignore postings over a year old as irrelevant, and I also toss out the worst and the best reviews as likely not being reflective of the common experience. I personally have never posted my own review; I doubt I will unless I have a really horrible experience or an absolutely stellar one. I keep that thought in mind when I read these postings; how many of them were written by folks who like me normally wouldn’t take the time to write something unless it was on either end of the spectrum? One has to keep in mind that these reviews are subjective; what really annoys one person and leads him to rate a property as a “1” might be only a minor inconvenience to another who gives the place a “3”. When seeking suggestions of where to go or what movie to see, I may listen more to one friend than another because I know her tastes and tolerances are more similar to mine than the other. Anonymous reviews don’t allow such context, and so we must consider that fact when deciding whether or not to take their advice. I can certainly sympathize with business owners who are unfairly targeted by a vindictive guest or a competitor, but I believe for the most part consumers are savvy enough to filter out the extremes to glean some useful, albeit “take-it-with-a-grain-of-salt” advice. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor