When you discover something new, you more often than not want to share it with your friends, families and others. There could be reasons why you want to this; either you had a good time or it was not something to rave about. Nevertheless you want people to know what to expect.
Till a few years back, there was no such common platform to share knowledge and view. However with the advent of Guides, this has changed. It has become so easy to know about a new restaurant that serves fantastic pizza around the corner than before. Few years back I have to meet someone who has been to this restaurant to know about it.
I believe it is important to share knowledge and feedback. You want people to be made aware of options what is out there. There may be a fantastic place that serves good food, but might not be suitable for families; you don’t want a family going there and then have their evening ruined because the experience wasn’t good. Hence it is important for people to be aware of this and plan better. They can only do this, when users contribute on Guides.
I also believe along with sharing view, it is also important to share as much as possible right and specific views. You have a nice time at restaurant and put a comment ‘had a fantastic dinner at xyx restaurant.’ To me this is vague: what was fantastic, was it:
- The food
- Drinks
- Cost
- Service
- Location
- All of above
Hence review should cover all aspects of a rating, why that rating. Where I’m from, most places have good food, average service and limited parking spots. So whenever I write something, I put a comment about parking so that others know what to expect. In this case, a reader knows he/she can park 300 metres away and then walk to the place.
As such I believe its important to share information. Many good reviews will also help that particular business to understand what they are good at, and where they should focus some energy. And some smart entrepreneur might be reading all reviews and will realise potential of something that is missing.
So overall I believe it is important to rate your experience and share with others. You are helping a community out there, which in turn will help you back when the need arises.