Soon, Yelp users can report Covid-19 security measures. What could possibly go wrong?

Yelp made a highly risky and extremely optimistic bet: The company announced that it is rolling out a feature that allows users to flag businesses for not following covid-19 security protocols, which will be reflected in the notifications on the page. of the company. Will people show themselves to be measured arbiters of justice? Yelp puts a struggling population to the test.

Yelp announced the change today in a Press release noting that “multiple user responses” from logged in Yelpers is required for a business to experience an orange question mark, indicating that “social distancing may not be enforced according to most users” and / or “staff could do not wear masks according to most users. (Really blatant violators can have both orange marks of shame.) Conversely, if enough customers praise a restaurant for its good performance, the business can get up to two green checks that say, “Social distancing enforced according to most users “and / or” staff wear masks according to most users. “

The obvious immediate observation is that it seems perfectly designed to facilitate personal blood feuds online! But then again, it’s not entirely different from what Yelp always has been.

Yelp is not totally blind to this predicament. “To prevent people from potentially playing with the system, we are not disclosing the number of responses needed,” a Yelp spokesperson said in a statement shared with Gizmodo. The company said it “has implemented cutting edge technology” to prevent potential abuse, but how this technology works remains a mystery.

The feature leads one to wonder if Yelp has seen too many complaints from companies displaying the covid-19 rules. So far, the company seems to prioritize protecting businesses from damage Opinions related to Covid-19 and authorized companies to report their own safety precautions and socially remote options. But those were the early days, when not everyone liked business owners as disturbs as clients who wear their lack of mask as a sign of honor anyway.

Yelp is still rolling out the feature, which now only shows up to a few hundred businesses. Even as it gets out of hand, Yelp’s faith in us is deeply inspiring.