Nearly every single business on the face of this planet relies heavily on foot traffic when it comes to their place of business; however since the dawn of technology, each type of business has found themselves looking towards the internet to get with the times. Along with setting up their websites with whatever service they see fit, they have to make sure that there are other ways for the consumer to be able to converse with those who work for the establishment; enter, comment and review section.
One of the most influential aspects of any business online are the reviews that any one that makes a purchase can leave. If someone enjoys the aura of the establishment, the witty banter with the employees, and even the product then they are more than likely going to leave a raving review; on the other hand, if they had a not-so good experience this gives them the opportunity to air out their grievances via the review section of any business site. While this gives the realistic view for any potential consumer to see and be able to determine their own view on who they wish to purchase from, there lies a deep issue that many people are forgetting, that being the differences between a valid opinion versus someone who would rather take valuable minutes out of a day to harass a business, while trying to make themselves feel better. Those types of people are considered trolls of the internet.
Having a valid opinion regarding a business and the product that one buys is extremely important to a business, because not only is this written review valuable to any potential customer, it also shows the type of establishment that is being ran. On that note, it also shows that the person who left the review can leave a star rating, sometimes it is a 5/5, or maybe a 3/5, and unfortunately sometimes it is a 1/5.
Those who leave a 1/5 are more than likely going to have their own issues regarding whatever may have happened beyond the front doors of the business establishment; they may not have enjoyed the product that they thought they might've liked, and wished to inform others of their opinion. However, there are those who have gone into these business establishments, bought something to check it out for themselves, purchasing something that aligns with the quality of the product, and become enraged because they expected it to be better than what they paid for.
Let's look at an example of this. *Derik went to a toy store to purchase a small toy for their child to play with, the toy was marked $5, and could tell the quality of the toy was not the best, but this was all he had to purchase something for his child's enjoyment. Later that same day, Derik's son is playing with the toy, within mere minutes the toy was broken; enraged, Derik went to the toy store's website leaving a 1/5 star for the review, and proceeded to leave a review that was a direct hit at the business establishment that sold the product, harassing the company as a whole regarding their business and product selection. Instead of leaving a valid opinion regarding only the product itself and to find another product of better quality at the same price, Derik believes that it is best to make a written attack against the business that merely sold the product and pricing it based on not only how much they purchased it for, but also the quality of it.
After leaving a review Derik finds himself going across the internet to other places where the product is being sold to leave a similar scathing review towards the business that he bought it from, directing all of his anger at the comment section who continued to praise the business establishment, employees, and products, by calling them all "fakes".
This becomes a form of a harassment. While harassment online is a very serious matter, there is only so much a business can do to protect their image; they can ban the person from entering their establishment and commenting on their sites, however, it does not necessarily mean that the troll will go back under the bridge.
There are always going to be people out in the world who believe that certain products, businesses, etc. deserve so much praise just because they did not have a pleasant experience with the product itself. As the old saying goes, "you get what you paid for." If you purchase something for five dollars, you cannot expect it to be worth a million dollars, no matter what you think; nor should you make other people who thoroughly enjoy the product or business itself feel guilty for enjoying their experiences. While 75% of the effect of the product you buy is based on the reviews of others, the business, etc., it is also what you put into it as well; if it the cost is on the lower end of the spectrum, it isn't going to be the next best thing, it is going to be a good product with quality issues that just needing trimming to make it better. If it is on the higher end of the price range, then it is more than valid to have an opinion about the product if it isn't up to par with what it should be.
* This example is a work of fiction. The names in the example are used only as a creative perspective.