Dear Mr. Bezos, voting isn’t just for the wealthy
Does a reader of one of my novels who spends little or nothing with Amazon have any less right to express his/her opinion of my work than someone who shells out £40 per annum to the Seattle-based giant? I think not.
Amazon has been a force for good for much of its short history. Sadly, like many dominant corporations, it runs the risk of economic overreach. My fear is sparked by the recent introduction of a minimum annual spend before a customer can post reviews on its website.
Customer reviews posted online have been one of the great democratizing achievements of the internet, giving voice to millions of consumers and thus allowing others to benefit from the wisdom of crowds. One only has to consider the impact of platforms like TripAdvisor to appreciate how far we have come in enabling consumers to share their views and opinions. Until now, I would have said Amazon has made a similar positive contribution to the dissemination of real market feedback.
Recently, however, Amazon introduced a minimum annual spend—£40 in the UK and $50 in the US—before a customer is allowed to post a review of a product. This new policy appears ill-considered and is likely to have unfair—but I hope, unintended—consequences. Previously, there was no such minimum requirement. I can see no reasonable justification for the change. No doubt, Amazon would argue that it is seeking to eradicate fake reviews, seeking only genuine views from real customers. That is a fair objective, but it is one which could easily be met by only allowing reviews from what Amazon terms “verified purchasers”. After all, it knows whether a customer has bought the product.
The introduction of a minimum annual spend before being able to voice an opinion reminds me of the disenfranchisement of much of the population in the nineteenth century. For most of that century, only wealthy property-owning males were permitted to vote in the UK. The rules were amended in the Great Reform Act to allow men who paid more than £10 in rent the right to vote. That still left most of the population without a franchise. Those in power didn’t think women and lower-earning males had opinions worth counting.
Amazon’s recent changes strike me as an anachronism in this age of social media and increased transparency for consumers.
I ask Mr. Bezos to think again.
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