Final Review of Yelp

First of all, "Thank you" to the many kind, decent people who have read my reviews.

That said, I am seriously considering closing my account and encourage others to as well.

It is clear to me that Yelp does not respect users who are independent-minded and unwilling to fit into its "food - booze (drink till you puke) - entertainment" mold.  

A marketplace of ideas does exist.  Yelp is afraid of ideas.  It is the status quo:  Consume!  Consume!  Consume!   It is also a clever way for the CEO to earn untold millions--and for the Yelp "Elite," aka the PC Vice Squad, to party all night on the crumbs.  10,000's of writers and 99% get $0.  A gigantic legal marketing scam.

Yelp does not tolerate diversity.  It promotes group think.  And it waves "violations of the TOS (Terms of Service)," without specifying which ones, in order to retaliate against those who criticize its soulless greed, Byzantine secrecy, Kafka-esque arbitrariness, and its double, nay, quadruple standards.

For the past 10 days, every other day I have had at least one review removed, including ones 3 years old.  A few people have been stalking me, rummaging through my past reviews, warning me not to post new reviews, and harassing me in "Talk."

(I like the way Yelp tells you your review has been deleted.  When you try to reply, "noreply@yelp.com" pops up).

In fact, Yelp allows its "Elite," some of whom I unhappily suspect are as semi-literate, to viciously attack and abuse others in its Talk forum:

"I...uh...Think you have issues with being white and are

allowing yourself to become a racist, bigot who is off

her fucking rocker. Take your meds or whatever you need

to do to stop blaming other people for your insecurities."

and

"I don't think you all understand, SHE's the minority here

being treated unfairly. She's clueless and playing the

victim card. I do take pleasure in showing people how

stupid they are. And if you think you've been "beaten

down" with words, grow the fuck up and look what you

write."

and

"
The whole 'it's not me it's ALL IF YOU' stance is both

lazy and delusional."

"I'm still not quite sure whether you're a troll, a

nutter, or some combination of the two."

It takes courage to smack someone when you're 1, they(the Yelp command corps) are 10.

I felt as if I had been gang-banged, which makes sense considering who and what these people idolize and imitate.

Yelp condones cyber-bullying.  Someone well placed warned me "they will now go after you."

* * * * *

I question the integrity of these Yelp Elite.  One comment, since removed, about "nailing [me, my reviews] to trees," was chilling.

There was an element of glee on their part--as if they had seen "Carrie" way too many times. Jeering at others is cheap fun.

These are the actions of childhood cowards who grew up to become, sexually speaking, adults.

As a child, after being beaten up for the upteenth time, I resolved to stand up to bullies. Telling the truth makes me stronger, not weaker.

As a person of color who lived through the '60's Civil Rights movement and was beaten up repeatedly by African-Americans and has been called racial slurs by both whites and blacks, I don't need a bunch of spoiled, ignorant white kids to tell me what racism is and how it feels.

It is not delusional to have deep memories embedded of fists punching and legs kicking you in your face, stomach, chest, side, back.

The hate they felt reading my reviews is their own.

I was forthright with my frustration at the hypocrisy and cowardice of government, civic organizations, and media to acknowledge rampant crime and other destructive behaviors among urban blacks and at the lame rationalizations ("racism").   I spoke of my own personal experience.

My reviews must have elicited something deep inside them that they could not accept.

The people who call others "racist bigots" are often the most bigoted of all.

* How dare I be so racist to tell the truth?


* * * * *

The reason given for the removal of my reviews was:  "not a primary consumer experience."   As if the marketplace of ideas--and we ultimately "buy" them through advertising and taxes--did not exist.

The reviews--which I worked many hours to write--are lost forever, as the Yelp "support" team deleted them forever.   (It is the user's content, but unless one knows that Yelp is about to delete a review, the user has no idea that s/he must immediately go to the site to save a copy).

* * * * *

James Paroline, Danny Vega, Tuba Man, Manish Melwani, you did not die in vain.  We have shown the cowardice--we could not find the conscience--of this city.

Oh, sorry, Yelp, I  digressed and philosophized.  Not part of "the primary consumer experience."

Let's hope that someone else comes up with a better vision of a review site "by and for" ordinary citizens.


* Speaking of which, more threats, physical or otherwise, could be grounds for legal action.