I saved an old issue of Wired (November 2009) because it has several good articles, including a column by Brendan I. Koerner, who ponders whether the same rule about work-related emails -- when you're angry, observe a cooling-off period before sending an email -- applies to online restaurant reviews.Koerner offers an amusing example. He writes:
Are you trying to alert the restaurant to a legitimate flaw -- or do you just want to rant about some gustatory affront? . . . As entertaining as those thermonuclear reviews on Yelp can be, you're morally obligated to be constructive.
Stating that a joint's baked halibut "tasted like rancid crud stewed in toilet water" is just a slam; stating that it "tasted like rancid crud due to severe oversalting," on the other hand, lets the chefs know they need to lay off the sel gris.
