Don’t Kill the Messenger

Since its inception, Bromography has offered opinions on dozens of eateries.  We strive to provide fair and accurate reviews which provide  potential patrons with useful information, while respecting the efforts and hard work of the business owner, even if those efforts do not result in the best restaurant.

There are many bloggers who use the anonymity of the internet to say and do things that they would not have the courage for in a face-to-face setting.   Bromography’s goal is to avoid this behavior for two important reasons.  (1) My grandmother would consider it the height of rudeness; and (2) the internet can be a dangerous weapon.  Anything posted online seems to live forever,  and finds its way to many obscure corners of the world.  Despite the fact that Bromography’s slice of the internet is minuscule, our opinions are disbursed and syndicated through Yelp, Urbanspoon, Trusted Opinion, Foodbuzz, CitySearch, MenuPages, Facebook, Twitter,  rss feeds, email subscriptions and several dozen other websites.  It is very easy for bloggers  (and restaurant owners) to spread unfair statements with no way to pull them back.

Recently, a restaurant review posted on Bromography came to the attention of the owners of the establishment.  They were not happy and reacted, in my opinion, rather excessively.  The owners visited several of the websites which syndicate Bromography; flagged the review as “offensive” or “objectionable”; and requested that the review be removed.  It is difficult to determine exactly how many syndicating websites were contacted as Bromography may not have been notified by all.  (I am not aware of any site removing the review.)  Bromography’s review is not the only less-than-positive review on the web, so I was puzzled by the intense reaction.  I do not believe that anything on our site can be considered “offensive” or “objectionable.”  It is entirely possible that this may be the owners’ standard response to any negative mention of their establishment.  I may never understand the thinking behind these actions, but I must confess that I am now much more in sympathy with the more strident and pointed critical reviews of this restaurant.

I have not removed  or changed a single  word of the review in question, but I did visit the restaurant and spoke with the owner directly.  I made some suggestions which I hope they and other owners take.  First, an email or blog comment is  a better way to start a dialogue about  a negative review. Second,  keep things in perspective.  A review is only one opinion in a world full of opinions.  Finally, investing more effort into providing exceptional food and service is a better use of time and energy than a spiteful online campaign when fighting a review.  The word of mouth spread by satisfied patrons has more power than any website.