We've seen shills here, and we've got a number of shill-killers. We also have numerous false accusations of shillery, especially aimed at newer members who appear to be overly enthusiastic.
What we don't have is a system of poster reputation beyond posting count; there have been numerous instances of older members taking a like or dislike of a given SP, for various corrupt reasons (merb member eliciting free or discounted services based upon the promise of a good, or threat of a bad review).
Not much to be done in that area, except hope that overall reviews smooth out the extremes. I do wish MERB had a voting system for SPs, perhaps on a scale of 10; the average score given (always along with a review) could prove to be very handy.
Perhaps we could include a poll with each reviews, asking 'how satisfied were you with the SPs' service' and have ten answers from 1 to 10.
Recently, on another thread, someone accused me of posting legit information, and then switching to unfounded rumours. In fact, everything I wrote should be suspect. I am but one person relating my experiences, readers have no understanding of my motivations, just as I have none of others. Now, several people said the cynicism was unfounded due to my posting history, and that is fine & dandy, but we are still left with my original assertion - you don't know me, and don't know why i am saying whatever it is I am saying.
Reason i bring this up is because I just read of a judgement in England where a plastic surgery firm posted a bunch of fake positive reviews about their services, and it reminded me of MERB reviews, in part.
I think a scoring system, even my poll idea, would help, a lot. The problem, of course, is getting people to implement it, but if there is over-all positive agreement to this, I for one am willing to help start this.
What we don't have is a system of poster reputation beyond posting count; there have been numerous instances of older members taking a like or dislike of a given SP, for various corrupt reasons (merb member eliciting free or discounted services based upon the promise of a good, or threat of a bad review).
Not much to be done in that area, except hope that overall reviews smooth out the extremes. I do wish MERB had a voting system for SPs, perhaps on a scale of 10; the average score given (always along with a review) could prove to be very handy.
Perhaps we could include a poll with each reviews, asking 'how satisfied were you with the SPs' service' and have ten answers from 1 to 10.
Recently, on another thread, someone accused me of posting legit information, and then switching to unfounded rumours. In fact, everything I wrote should be suspect. I am but one person relating my experiences, readers have no understanding of my motivations, just as I have none of others. Now, several people said the cynicism was unfounded due to my posting history, and that is fine & dandy, but we are still left with my original assertion - you don't know me, and don't know why i am saying whatever it is I am saying.
Reason i bring this up is because I just read of a judgement in England where a plastic surgery firm posted a bunch of fake positive reviews about their services, and it reminded me of MERB reviews, in part.
I think a scoring system, even my poll idea, would help, a lot. The problem, of course, is getting people to implement it, but if there is over-all positive agreement to this, I for one am willing to help start this.