Don’t Trust the Internet (really, don’t)
According to a study, the ratings given online, on websites such as Amazon, Reddit, and Ebay, are subject to information cascades, here described as “herd effects.” In other words, the initial rating of an object online (from items for purchase to articles), specifically positive ratings, lead others to rank that object similarly, causing a cascade of ‘likes’ or positive votes which may or may not be a truthful indication of the objects quality. The findings show that when people see something popular (with many high ratings or likes) they tend to rate it highly as well. When this behavior is replicated for many individuals, an information cascade ensues. Consequently, the initial ratings by a few individuals can have an effect on many more down the road, as well as define that product’s success. Indeed, those first few opinions can put the odds in favor of a single product which may or may not be the best, but is perceived as the best because of the herd effect. Oddly, however, this is not the case for negatively rated products, perhaps because people do not feel the need to downvote unless they personally feel strongly against it, however they will upvote more liberally.
The issue here is that organizations may use this phenomenon to manipulate ratings of their own products and achieve more success. They might create fraudulent accounts, for example, and provide high ratings for themselves early on in order to create a cascade effect and influence others to rate them positively. This behavior has implication on the design side of the website side. Website designers must figure out a way to prevent fraudulent behavior and maintain honest ratings as to satisfy consumers.
Moreover, now that so much news is being diffused online, combined with the ability to share, like, and rate articles, this herding behavior can, and does, have serious effects on topics much more harmful than a customer buying one product over another. People are largely affected by the opinions of the herd. When they see something popular, they will claim to like it as well. As far as political campaigns go, for example, one candidate, with an efficient manipulation of the web, might garner more support from the easily swayable individuals solely by using the information cascades to boost his online support. These implications prove we definitely cannot trust what the Internet says.
Article: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/08/snowball-effect-skews-rating-systems