Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Building a free/libre platform for reviews

[Aaron Wolf]

Hi Erik,

Just writing to cheer you on. A truly FLO review system that doesn't
have a conflict-of-interest in being used to advertise or to be a
network-effect keeping people on one platform like Amazon… this would be
a super valuable thing if it succeeds.

If I could use it and publish my reviews under copyleft terms, i.e.
CC-BY-SA, I would be writing LOTS of reviews for it.

I think besides the work of moderating it (you do know that Yelp is
*full* of illegitimate paid reviews, right?), the other challenge would
be getting items to review to be listed to easily find so people don't
have to add them (and likely see far more accidental redundant listings
than Amazon even). Do you consider two editions of a book to be totally
different products to review? Obviously two colors of the same product
should be similar. What about two locations of the same business? Etc.
This is *not* an easy undertaking. It would be a massive challenge.

I suppose things like https://openlibrary.org and Open Street Map would
be good data sources…

Cheers,
Aaron Wolf
co-founder, Snowdrift.coop

On 05/26/2016 10:58 AM, Erik Moeller wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> Reviews are pretty ubiquitous on the web, whether through dedicated
> platforms like Yelp or Goodreads, or as part of transactions like on
> shopping sites or in apps. What they tend to have in common:
> 
> 1) The platforms are proprietary.
> 2) Users give the platforms the right to use the reviews, but nobody else.
> 
> I think we can do better, and I don’t think I need to convince this
> particular audience of the merits of free/libre code or culture.
> 
> As you may remember, I’m the maintainer of https://freeyourstuff.cc/
> which already lets you export reviews from a few popular platforms.
> But it’s not itself a review platform, nor is it limited to reviews.
> (I’m currently looking into exporting Quora answers, for example.)
> 
> While continuing to improve FYS, I’m going to start shifting some of
> my time to building a free/libre (code & information) platform for
> open reviews. I’d love to hear from folks:
> 
> - Are there existing efforts you’re aware of that I should seek out?
> - Are there things you’d like to review/find reviews for that you’re
> currently not able to? (For example, I haven’t seen a popular platform
> for reviewing free/libre software, yet.)
> - Would you like to be involved in some way (tester/reviewer,
> developer, designer, documenter, what have you)? Shoot me a note
> off-list.
> 
> My current strategy is to build a minimal platform with the following
> core characteristics:
> 
> - Reviews for arbitrary "types" of things, excluding human beings
> (unless they are sole proprietors of a business that is being
> reviewed)
> - Relevant descriptive data for those types, ideally with
> sync-features to external free information sources like Wikidata or
> OpenStreetMap
> - "Actions” that can be associated with a type (e.g., book a table at
> a restaurant, download a piece of software, call a business)
> - "Teams" you can join to collaborate on, e.g., finding the best
> vegetarian restaurants in an area. Each team can have its own rules of
> engagement.
> 
> There will be no advertising, and the focus will be on creating a
> culture of high quality, trustworthy information. No external vendor
> (e.g., booking services) will receive preferential treatment. If it
> takes off enough to justify a legal entity, it will be a nonprofit.
> 
> This can only work if it reaches a critical mass of users, so I hope
> some of you are excited about such a thing or even helping to create
> it. :) Looking forward to hearing from folks!
> 
> Warmly,
> 
> Erik
>