chisel

Everyone used to tie their money to gold. Not anymore.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/04/27/135604828/why-we-left-the-gold-standard

https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2017/november/why-us-no-longer-follows-gold-standard

Reddit. Unfortunately it’s defunct beyond repair now, but back in the day it was a nice place to discuss all sorts of topics with knowledgeable and like-minded folk.

By “first-party” here, I mean sites that make the product they’re selling. Like I wouldn’t trust the reviews on Samsung’s website for a Samsung phone. Amazon is separate enough that the conflict of interest isn’t really there, but Amazon reviews are so targeted by illegitimate reviews that they’re not S-tier trustworthy.

I never trust reviews on first-party sites. However, reviews on other sites can be very helpful. Maybe not yelp lol.

Is leaving a review really free labor? I view it more as community building. Nobody has reviews shoved down their throat without asking, they are sought out and helpful for the consumer. And so sellers like reviews because consumers like reviews and it makes them more likely to patronize their business.

I enjoy leaving good reviews. Helps my fellow humans find quality things that I enjoyed and helps the business I like make more things I like. It’s a win win win situation. This is especially true for small business, many of which live or die on reviews.