Via Benjamas Deekam
When something new is introduced into society, whether a new tech product or film release, we seek context before deciding if we want to invest time or money in it. Nowadays, there’s an easy process to find that context online. All you need to do is pick up your smartphone, search the product in Google, YouTube, Reddit, or even TikTok, and choose a plethora of reviews made by so-called “reviewers.” You can find out everything some stranger online thought about the new iPhone, or how thousands of people rated the third Avatar movie out of five stars, and form your own opinion based on their experience.
We live in a culture that values immediacy and relatability over expertise. Why wait to read a carefully argued review when you can scroll through 50 TikToks already saying the product is “mid” in under a minute?
While these still count as reviews and often have valid opinions, they are not the best way for people to get familiar with the product they are interested in. There is a significant difference between a good review and a bad review. That difference has nothing to do with whether the product is praised or criticized, but rather with how thoughtfully, clearly, and usefully the review itself is written. The average person simply does not have everything it takes to form a professional analysis online.
Context and proper vocabulary are crucial elements that most of these “reviewers” lack. A TikTok video of an influencer criticizing a high-profile restaurant is nowhere near as articulate as the review of a professional food critic. The influencer’s criticism might range from "it's missing flavor" to "the texture is off," but they don’t possess the proper culinary education needed to dive into the specific details or understand what they are missing. While the general public opinion is important, it is undeniably restricted and flawed.
When it comes to online influencers, their reviews are also often compromised by an additional motive: the need to cater to social media algorithms in order to gain exposure. This leads them to include words or phrases in the review that they know will help increase the reach of their video, but that have nothing to do with the product they are reviewing, or what they actually feel about it. Eventually, the viewers are handed a lengthy review with not enough details and too many keywords, which prevent them from deriving any substantial value.
Via Maya Holt
The critic, on the other hand, has one job and one job only: provide a well-informed, educated review about what is in front of them. They study their fields, understand history and craft, and know how to articulate why something succeeds or fails beyond personal taste. They have enough information to pinpoint the reason they enjoy or don’t enjoy the product, and the proper skill to articulate that information into concise words. Additionally, it’s already their job to criticize, so they are not driven by the need for attention. At the end of the day, they are professionally qualified to do the job they were hired to do, and that is what’s actually needed to form a good review.
Via Getty Images
It doesn’t help that when many people think of professional critics, they imagine the grumpy, scary-looking man from Ratatouille who always has something bad to say. Critics have a reputation of being too pretentious or needlessly negative, which drives more and more people away from the blog of an expert food critic and closer to the YouTube video of an influencer with millions of subscribers. While it’s true that the internet has seen its fair share of harsh critics, fair and just ones are also out there, and they deserve to be heard.
Criticism, the thoughtful and researched kind, shouldn’t be overlooked. In an era of the internet where every opinion demands to be heard, and many people use their platform to gain the most attention, professional critics are a valuable gem that is getting left behind. The result is a landscape where criticism is undervalued, underpaid, and increasingly invisible, even though it’s never been more needed.
The solution, however, is not to prevent people from sharing their opinions and reviews online; that is the last thing we need. It’s crucial we all have an outlet to practice how we form our analysis, and it is often genuinely fun to do so. We need to find a middle ground that ensures that those who are qualified to review a product are being heard and appreciated, alongside the general public’s opinion and basic input.
But that is just my personal opinion. What do I actually know?
