Dangers of social media searches for businesses

Should you use social media to search for a reliable product or service? In a nutshell – no. There’s nothing reliable about social media searches for businesses, and the likelihood is that the information you access will be heavily biased, for a variety of reasons. Let’s delve into some of these below.

Social media reviews are neither independent, not objective

Many businesses boast a full five stars on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. And yet, these five stars are subject to heavy bias. Consider that friends and relatives of the business in question are often asked to leave positive reviews to show their support.

Some businesses will go as far as to create fake profiles so that they can drop in a few good reviews themselves. Others still offer payment or services in exchange for these reviews. This is the exact opposite of how the TriedandTested team carries out reviews.

Scam alert! How real is the business being presented?

Ever found the perfect service provider on a social media platform, the kind that looks too good to be true…. Only to discover that it was, indeed, too good to be true.

Not all brands that have a social media presence are legit. Some are there just to gather your data; others to take your money and scram; others still will return sub-standard services or products in exchange for your hard-earned money. Very often, there’s no way of getting compensation. By contrast, all businesses listed on TriedandTested are verified by a team of experts.

Social media listings are dictated by the algorithm

Social media algorithms have a lot to answer for. They promote quantity over quality, paid posts over genuine reviews and popularity over authenticity. In short, you can’t trust social media to give you an accurate and full picture.

You may think that the business that keeps coming up on top of your search has earned its top position thanks to a strong reputation. This is not the way social media works: businesses who snatch the number 1 spot do so either because they’ve paid for it, or because the algorithm has decided that it aligns with your interests.

TriedandTested search filters, on the other hand, put you in control, resulting in a curated list of businesses that actually fit your needs.

Negative comments?  Just click delete

There’s a good reason why most businesses you find listed on social media only appear to have outstanding compliments on the comments section. All the bad ones get deleted. And, while you can’t really blame a brand for carrying out damage control, this means that you don’t get a true picture of that business’s standard of service.

On TriedandTested, we don’t try to hide any negative elements related to a business. We use them to decide whether that business should be listed with our recommendation. If the answer is ‘no’, it’s not going to pop up anywhere on your feed.

Does this mean anything you find on social media is evil?

Of course not. There are plenty of honest businesses on social media. The trick is not to trust platforms like Facebook or Instagram with making the decision for you. Spotted a business you’re interested in? Head over to TriedandTested to get the full story – you may even find something better.