Knee story - Part 2
If you're booking a weekend
getaway, buying a new microwave, or trying to find the best barbecue grill in
the neighbourhood, you may first check a few online reviews on your smart phone
or laptop and then take your decision. I guess we don’t wait to find our
answers we look up online instantly, these online ratings are an example.
We don’t want to remember things in fact we
have stopped memorising anything , be it a password or a phone number. I
remember before my first mobile phone I could easily remember phone numbers of
my friends and relatives easily making more than 30. Not just that but also
their birthdays and much similar information that I don't feel the need for anymore. My
smartphone has certainly made me dumber in the memory department if not
elsewhere. I was talking to a colleague the other day while he was going
through presentations sent by students for evaluation. Did see that they lacked
originality, the reason is not that they are not imaginative, these days people
don’t want to spend time working around things, no one wants to reinvent the
wheel. What you get as a result is an add-on of
what has already been attempted. But who knows while trying they may come up
with something that can actually save the planet! Some great inventions and
discoveries have been accidents just like some smart people may have been a
result of an accident!
Influence of online reviews
We for sure know that one
shouldn't believe every review he or she reads. Yet nearly 80 percent of
consumers trust online review sites as much as personal recommendations,
according to a study by BrightLocal, and almost 75 percent say positive reviews
make them trust a business more.
Only about 25 percent believe
information available on rating sites is unfair, based on another survey by
Maritz Research. As you might predict, both studies found older baby boomers
are less trusting of online review sites than the younger consumers, the
internet generation who have grown with their smartphones and Google Baba. Instantly
logging on, reading and valuing reviews as well as contributing to the sites
with their opinions.
My take
I have never really cared about
reviews as I feel they are personal opinions of people and a lot depends on
their own personalities and liking. Movies are a classic example, what one
raves about and the critics giving a 5 star rating may be one of the worst that
you have been exposed to. Whereas the one film that you loved thoroughly hardly managed
to get a single star. Ratings are there for almost everything, you name a
business there is a rating for it. Not just businesses but a corporate office
may be rated too. There are many rating sites mushrooming but the bigger
players are more trusted such as the Tripadvisor, Zomato or the Glassdoor. When
you travel you should make your own memories, the destination is not as exciting
as the journey itself. People’s views are helpful but they should not be a
deciding factor. People have herd mentality, one thought might result in a
biased opinion. I also have learnt that
there are paid reviews, what’s their sanctity then? You must try things and
make your own reviews, if reviews are to be used they should be used as
references and one must read a few references before coming to a conclusion
good or bad.
I recently wrote about my experience with orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Mahesh Maheshwari. While at his clinic on my second visit being extremely happy
with the treatment and positivity I got from him; we had a little chat as there
wasn’t another patient after me. I discussed my concerns, he had read my blog
too and he thanked me for the positive words I had for him. I told him that it
wasn’t a rating or a review it was my own experience and I felt that it could
help someone somewhere just like I had read a couple of similar experiences. Those
stories helped me cope better with my injury, the recovery looked very hopeful. He
said a few things that justified my reservations about online reviews.
Reading my blog he said, “I am
obliged. I passed my 12th in 1982 and was a meritorious student. It was
possible for me to enter any profession. I chose to become doctor. Today I
think it was a correct decision. I have 3 businesses listed on Google. If
possible please put reviews in them. Some of the patients did not pay my fees
and posted negative reviews. Nowadays good doctors and teachers don't get their
deserved due respect”.
Infact hearing this I learnt even
doctors were reviewed and people used these reviews as references. Everyone
must use a second or third opinion if there’s a need, that’s taken. Sometimes a
review should not point the sour grapes. To review someone needs a lot of
maturity, one has to be impartial and should know how to critique. It’s easier
to criticise someone but critiquing is an acquired skill. I told Dr. Maheshwari that he brought in so
much of experience and the way he spoke told me that he knew his job well,
where did the reviews come into picture? I have been in the people’s industry
for more than two decades and can understand people to some extent.
Dr. Maheshwari did agree with my
take on the reviews and he added, “More than experience and professional
qualifications, I am happy to say that I have been honest and advise my patients
whatever I am likely to advise my family members. I empathise with my patients. Whenever a special
request comes for concession from the needy I never refuse. In last 25 years have treated more than 1 lakh patients and many families still approach me
with full faith. This has been the most fulfilling part of my career. Unfortunately
I am not competent to satisfy all!”
A point of view can be a
dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.
~Marshall McLuhan
Probably he was referring to the
negative reviews; I understood where he was coming from. During our chat I told
him what I did and how training, learning and empowering others was something
close to my heart and I did programs towards this personal mission. He told me
that if I found someone who really needed his help but was poor or under
privileged, I could refer the person to him and he’d certainly look after the
treatment. I loved what he said and was thankful to him; it’s an empowerment
when you can be of help to someone. It made me wonder whether reviews made an
individual or was a person more of a whole lot of other smaller essential
elements that added to his personality. It is said that the average man's opinions are generally of more value to himself than to anyone else. Nothing can replace you as a person;
each one has his own vitality that cannot be replicated. Reviews and ratings won't add up to making that personality!
I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!
~Theodore Roosevelt
PS Pictures are taken from Google, with due credits!
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