Does the internet have a 1 star review problem?

A few days ago, I was in the lobby of my hotel on a Greek island. A woman was at the front desk very upset about having not been upgraded. She was yelling at the staff and causing a real scene. She left with everyone visibly shaken. Chatting with them a little after, this sounds like an all too common scene.

This morning, as promised, a 1 star rating shows up on every review platform. She claims the hotel is ugly, the staff was rude and racist, and even that someone had pushed her.

Everything about this claim is a lie. My partner and have been here 4 days and everything has been fantastic. Every single person on the staff goes out of their way to be helpful and the property is beautiful.

Looking more at their reviews online, there are a handful of 1 star reviews with some crazy claims. One even looks to have photoshopped an image to make the pool appear dirty. Almost every 1 star review mentioned not being upgraded.

I've become especially sensitive to this after listing a property on Airbnb last year. Almost all guests and reviews are wonderful, thoughtful comments about my home and it's location. But then occasionally get a 3 star review with an explanation of something like "the dryer vent had lint in it". Come on...you're staying in a cabin in the woods, not the St Regis.

As a business owner and a technologist, I feel a ton of empathy for people that have it all on the line and can be so vulnerable. How can rating systems better account for/normalize against this kind of behavior?

A rating system without contextual data will very quickly become extreme (1 star reviews or 5 star reviews).

Having the system to have contextual data (photos, comments) from both the sides – reviewed and reviewed – will be enough tools to let any independent person make a sound decision.

What you’re describing is the natural quality of community driven data. Not only do users not have critic credibility, there’s nothing to lose, they’re almost anonymous.

I can’t think of a non oppressive way to regulate unhinged ratings. On sites like here or Reddit, I’ve noticed users do a pretty consistent job of policing through karma. But I’ve also seen comments get downvoted because again, low credibility, human emotion blah blah.

It would really have to be a niche site that gate keeps reviewers. Only allow ones that've made columns about food, gained community status. Like Bon Appetit but strictly reviewers, on a larger scale. Something that proves they aren’t a chicken running around with its head cut off.

As a reviewer, I feel the pressure to leave five star reviews even when I did not have a five star experience because it seems like even just leaving a four star might hurt the venue since nothing lower than 5 is acceptable. I try to fight this urge and manage it with Google reviews, but with AirBNB it is hard since you talk directly to the owner a lot of the time and feel a sense of obligation to leave overly positive feedback.

So I don't think we have so much of a 1-star review problem, but more of a polarised review problem. Everything is either 1 star or 5 star with not much in-between.

Weight reviews based on the spread of the user's other reviews. If a user only posts negative reviews, reduce the weight of their further negative reviews. Weight reviews from well rounded users higher to discourage people from being overly negative or overly positive.

If you have a problem with every hotel you visit, it's probably you. Right now negative reviews cost nothing... if negative reviews are expected to be a minor part of your overall review pattern, you have to be selective about expressing negativity or know that your review's relevance will suffer.