Yelp is one of the most respected review sites online. You can review or read reviews of businesses from all walks of life. Can you, or would you, review the Federal Government on Yelp?
That’s what Yelp wants you to do, and so do federal agencies. Not only that, federal agencies can respond back to you, creating a dialogue. Yelp’s Public Policy VP Luther Lowe embraces this new venture, believing this dialogue could make our democracy better. This concept isn’t necessarily a new one. US Post Offices are reviewed all the time. There have been members of the US Congress that have been reviewed for years, by their own choice. Now, Lowe is taking it one step further. He says reviewing government service agencies will be under special rules and regulations because Yelp doesn’t want government agencies giving each other high marks and pats on the back. These review sites will start slowly and subtly. There’s not going to be any symbol saying this is a federal agency or a Congressman’s picture smiling back at you. They’ll still know if their business has been reviewed or claimed when they hit the link, “Work here? Claim this business.”
I believe Yelp and federal agencies mean well. But have you read the statistics lately? From what I’ve been reading, people have less faith in their federal government than ever before. Then when you read about complaints of certain agencies like the NSA and TSA, the numbers get even worse. I can see why they’re using subtle techniques here. Something tells me the reviews will be beyond negative. I hope I’m wrong. But many Americans are so angry and disillusioned with their government, society, and media today that there’s no telling what will come out of this. So what do you think of Yelp’s experiment? Will it bridge the gap or is it too much too soon?