Blogger Objectivity
posted by philip in Wine Industry
Tim Elliot over at Winecast has started an interesting post on whether people involved in the wine industry, particularly bloggers, can be impartial when giving reviews.
As I said in my response on his site, I think this would make the subject of a great theoretical debate. However, I wouldn’t want it to ever be more than that. Just as financial analysts offer investment advice on companies their employers hold investments in, people in the wine trade should be allowed (and encouraged) to express their views on wines. So long as there is proper disclosure of any potential conflicts, it should be left up to the individual reader to decide whether to discount the advice, based on the source.
We make these decisions numerous times each day: you ask the waiter at lunch which special he prefers, the taxi driver which route across town is the quickest, or a vendor which product is best suited to your company. None of these people are truly able to give an impartial response, they are all incentivized to push the dish thats unsold, the route that will rack up the biggest fare, or the product with the highest sales commission.
Its ok, though. We already know that. As humans we’ve experienced this our entire adult life and we’re innately able to take their words, see the biases and ultimately make our own decisions.
Its the same with wine reviews. I know Tim works for a Napa winery, I still want to hear which wines he likes.
I agree. I think Tim is objective despite working for a winery. I hope he still keeps sharing his thoughts about wine.
Inertia - Powering the Wine Revolution
—Paul Mabray - CEO
it seems to me that the best way to eliminate for sure the possibility of bias is to provide a number of trusted opinions. any false (or contrary) opinions will, at very least, be exposed as going against the popular opinion.
perhaps one’s opinion is a different one merely because he/she has different tastes? given a large enough community, another similar community member might illuminate this nuance as well.
this model also allows the opinions of professionals to be given a greater weight. it is the type of system and community we talk about creating for snooth. i think its a good goal.