In an essay for the Walrus about the pervasiveness of “fake reviews” online, Timothy Caulfield describes something he calls “the opinion economy,” which, he argues, “is built on our desire for a beacon of clarity and certainty in our fantastically chaotic information ecosystem.” Caulfield has a capacious definition of fake:
Yes, the entire premise of Caulfield is ludicrous. Yelp has long been demonstrating how it can monetize reviews by simply showing good or bad ones first, depending on the business' payment status. You don't need fake reviews to manipulate customers or businesses as a platform owner.
The fake reviews Caulfield focuses on are simply tactics used by businesses on a platform to compete with each other; these businesses are still subject to the same Doctorow-ian enshittification dynamic.
Yes, the entire premise of Caulfield is ludicrous. Yelp has long been demonstrating how it can monetize reviews by simply showing good or bad ones first, depending on the business' payment status. You don't need fake reviews to manipulate customers or businesses as a platform owner.
The fake reviews Caulfield focuses on are simply tactics used by businesses on a platform to compete with each other; these businesses are still subject to the same Doctorow-ian enshittification dynamic.