On Reviews

I find myself looking for reviews of things very often. Restaurants, music, movies, clothing brands… really any and everything. I want everything in my life to be worth the effort and worth the money. Why waste my time on a subpar experience or a bad product? I should learn from others, and it’s very likely that if other people enjoy something, then I'll like it too. This all falls apart when I remember I have never written a review myself and I don’t think I know of anyone in my life who has. Who are the people writing these reviews? And why are they writing the review? Sometimes, you spend time scrolling through reviews and see a spattering of negative takes that are very nit-picky. Some bad service here, a damaged package there. These reviews bring the average down. I know this happens a lot, but I can’t help look at the review and think “Wow, 4.2 stars isn’t as good as some other products”. Other times, I get the smell that the reviews isn't real. It feels like a paid sponsorship.…