Yelping together update, or Do you need a tinfoil hat to think Yelp is a bit sketch?

On the ride home, it occurred to me that the argument I made about Yelp was both simpler and more complicated than I realized. On one hand, the legal fiction of corporation as individual clouds the issue of if a corporation, all by itself, can be said to "conspire." It struck me that it's fair to say that the employees of a corporation can be said to conspire, as in "company X conspired to conceal flaws in its products." It seems possible, though a quick search for a recent likely culprit, Toyota, revealed instead more evidence of a conspiracy theory involving the Obama administration and GM's "jihad against Toyota."

But the phrase "conspiracy theory," the one repeatedly invoked by Yelp, is the crux. To call something a "conspiracy theory" is not only to suggest that it is false, but that its author is socially maladjusted. It is easier to dismiss a "conspiracy theory" involving Yelp than it is to dismiss, say "allegations of extortion," or "allegations of blackmail," which is closer to the actual substance of the complaints about Yelp.

Comments

[Marco]

Nominally speaking, they named it Yelp for a reason.