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Ask HN: Token incentive system to fix fake reviews

2 points by agaase19 ↗ HN
I wonder if there is a way we can build a token staking mechanism around how people review a product (or almost anything online). Right now, it's kind of weird that you almost get nothing as an incentive for reviewing a product which means you cannot efficiently weigh one person's review from another. A token incentive system that keeps building your reputation over time can lead to a much better review system:

1. You receive tokens when you do an activity which helps people in some way (more people buy the same product, people find your review helpful etc)

2. Over time, you collect tokens which act as your reputation and also unlocks other privileges (e.g you are the first to review new products, you can validate other reviews etc)

3. If someone leaves a bad review (identified by inactivity on the product, a group of people reporting it, or a pro reviewer validating it); you lose your tokens and as such your reputation.

4. Over time, the tokens you have could actually translate to actual rewards which could be a share of revenue from the platform, new product promotions etc.

Would love to hear your thoughts on what could work/not work in a system like this.

4 comments

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verdverm
directly monetizing the review process will only lead to more bad actors

see Amazon's problem with fake reviews, there is a financial incentive in the system already

agaase19
That's a fair observation but do you think the problem is that incentives were not designed properly for the system to flourish. I mean, right now the incentives on Amazon are not technically incentives. You are straight up paid for a review or you hire your friends/family to do the same. If you can clearly incentivize good behavior, maybe everyone could make money and the system will still be less fraud prone.
verdverm
Bad actors are incentivized without needing direct payments by using fake reviews. They actually put money in because they can get more out. If you start paying for reviews, I would expect this to get worse. While fraud is partially a financial problem, it's really more of a moderation problem, which Amazon does not seem to have the incentive to fix properly. It's also a cat & mouse game.

Bringing cryptos and tokens to the problem is not going to fix this. The best and most helpful reviews are by truly happy customers who need no financial incentive.

You might also look into the sponsored "product reviews" by "content creators" and how they are, more often than not, fluff and praise for money. If you give an honest review for a bad product, you hurt you ability to get future sponsorships.