What, in your opinion, should the rules be for YouTube Reviews?


Recently, the OCD Hifi channel posted a David vs. Goliath takedown of Constellation. He does not own the unit, has none to handle personally, and bases his critique upon his examination of publicly available photos and their website patter. His video reads Constellation the riot act for their paltry construction and then questions their chutzpah for putting lipstick on a pig and suckering people in. He then contrasts the Constellation by comparing it to Jeff Rowland’s stuff, which his dealership carries.

Personally, I don’t own Constellation nor would I pay $55k for an amp. But I’m wondering what folks here — with intimate knowledge of the differences between seeing photos and handling gear -- think about this kind of takedown.

I’m imagining a spectrum of argument, pro and con this video.

On one end of the spectrum, one might argue for the OCD guy — "Look," one might say, "this is just such an easy target that all he’s doing is calling out a scam based on evidence that is so obvious that anyone could see it. OCD has Constellation dead to rights and he just bothered to make it interesting with a video. He doesn’t need better evidence to do such an obvious takedown. This is called "market correction"." Or words to that effect.

On the other end, one might say, "A channel with 11k subscribers had some duty of due diligence. A take-no-prisoners critique of a product requires that he at least have one to listen to, open up, etc. His willingness to draw a contrast with his own line of products is more than a convenient point of comparison of his video — it’s the main point, however disguised. What this amounts to is an unfair takedown of a product and company to help boost his own sales."

Or maybe there are takes in between?

In short, here I’m wondering about these questions:

"What kind of evidence is necessary for a public-facing critique?"
"What are the responsibilities of a public-facing review?"
"What kinds of reviews are appropriate for dealers to do?"

Be interested to hear from those in the industry, consumers, or reviewers on this question.

128x128hilde45

@artemus_5 . Jethro get over it girl. I did not have your ignorant rants removed. I was and or am amused by your backwoods thinking. 
 

No safe space girl. Come hit me with your My Pillow wearing your My Slippers. 

What does the Transcriptor in What Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and brains in a Maytag have in common?

Rules? Why?

Are we not all responsible and intelligent enough to make our own decisions and sniff out poor or unqualified reviews? Does anyone really make a decision about a product from a single review?

Not only YouTube, you could say the same about any review, no matter the platform used.

@bkeske Ok, maybe not rules. Norms? 

Are we not all responsible and intelligent enough to make our own decisions and sniff out poor or unqualified reviews? 

I guess I'd ask it this way, then -- If you were a reviewer, what norms would you obey in order to make it responsible, as you define that word? 

 

The fact that the OCD hifi guy sells competing gear immediately makes his "takedowns" completely lacking in integrity. If viewers can't figure that out it's on them. And guys lets just stop with the politics now please it's nothing to do with this subject.