darin3 Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 I've heard from several Austinites that it's a well-traveled site, at least locally... and when you Google a certain restaurant, store, bar, whatever, that Yelp is usually one of the first hits. I love to write, especially about something I'm really passionate about, and if I'm going to drop coin somewhere with any regularity, I become passionate about it. So I hooked up with Yelp tonight (it was easy since it imported everything from Facebook) and dropped a couple reviews in on some local joints. Anyone else frequent Yelp? Does it have an "app" where you can log in and "check in" at certain places? A buddy of mine from Baton Rouge had some sort of "app" (or just did it online through his phone) where he "checked in" to bars we went to during SXSW and got "points" for sending real-time reviews of places he was at. Thought that was pretty solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 The checkin app could also be foursquare. Big social media game right now that a ton of businesses are starting to promote specials on when you "checkin". Yelp allows you to checkin as well and write reviews. I know iPhone has apps for all these and I'm sure the droid does too but you may be SOL on a blackberry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 i've used it a little here and there, but don't know a lot about it/them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 (edited) The checkin app could also be foursquare. Big social media game right now that a ton of businesses are starting to promote specials on when you "checkin". Yelp allows you to checkin as well and write reviews. I know iPhone has apps for all these and I'm sure the droid does too but you may be SOL on a blackberry. Yelp has the check in feature as well, it seems. It does appear to be the latest and most effective consumer review site but I'm afraid that it's ultimately not different enough than other cites like it (citysearch, etc) to ultimately be any more effective. I think the biggest issue with these sites is that the take-away is somewhat marginalized because every place ultimately gets praised and panned and in a rate that seems to yield an average score of "very good". So, if you're heading to a new town and want to see where to eat, you walk away knowing that basically every place is capable of rapture and abject failure and all do each about as often. Not exactly helpful. If there's an element about Yelp that was, perhaps well-intended, but yielded an unintentional consequence it's the fact that reviewers can have fans. That would seem like a fine idea but I think leads to people grandstanding. After all, vague dissatisfaction or even being pleased but not ecstatic isn't as interesting, so I think that people end up being polarizing in their comments. So, experiences that were simply flawed are described as abjectly horrible and those that were simply pleasant end up being transcedant and life altering. Either that or they review every freaking thing out there. There's a guy out here who's even reviewed the local airport. While it only applies to restaurants (and for that matter, only those who use opentable for reservations), I think Opentable's reviews are more effective for a variety of reasons. First off, you are drawing from a much larger sample size. My new place, for instance, has already been reviewed 164 times on opentable and maybe 20 or so on yelp. This is because every person who makes a reservation through opentable is solicited via e-mail by opentable, after they honored the reservation and dined there (if you simply make a reservation but the restaurant never seats you because you no-showed or canceled you will not be asked to review). This also means that the middle is more filled out. 1) Because you might not be the type who makes a point of reviewing places but, if asked, you'll share your experience. 2) You might only be inclined to make the effort to got to a place like yelp if your experience was really worth mentioning (either because it was exceptional or awful). So, while the net still yields the same sort of "very good" average, the data seems a bit more reliable, I guess. Edited June 13, 2010 by detlef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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