[null0ranje]

I’m not sure that this is something that scales. Online reviews seems to attract only the worst in mass media (e.g., gamed reviews, complaint box for influencers who don’t get “VIP” treatment).

The traditional restaurant reviewer filled this role much better. His role as a trusted arbiter was closer to what people want from a site like Yelp, but it’s very labor intensive and obviously doesn’t scale.

[etrautmann]

But then reviews are heavily biased by the taste of a tiny reviewer pool, which prevents breakout surprises and new ideas etc.

[ghaff]

I'm honestly not sure how big a problem that was. If anything, critics tend towards the the new and unusual because they're bored. The problem is much more that no one is willing to pay for them.