[Tango-L] Aus International TangoFest - negative feedback

[Jay Rabe]

My personal preference is that names should be used. Criticism, whether valid or not, is important market information, and it's one of the only ways tango consumers can evaluate potential teachers. In this forum it often happens that when one list member posts a negative review, other members who have had positive experiences will post with their counter examples. In this way readers of the list get all sides of the story and can make up their own minds as to who's biased, who had a bad experience because of other factors, etc. This is what being an informed consumer is all about, and the internet lists like this one are a perfect way to facilitate that. To filter posts to be "fair" or PC pollutes the process IMO and denies a voice to those who had a genuine bad experience, and in the process it withholds information that might be completely valid in helping other members make informed decisions.

No one has ever suggested withholding names when someone has positive feedback. If you withhold names when you have a negative comment, the result is the list becomes just another biased collection of marketing hype.

I don't want the government or business establishments or members of this list to manipulate information. I want to make my own decisions and judgments about the validity of any given piece of data. But if the information is withheld, I can't do that. The promise of the internet is that it flattens the field and has the potential to so widely distribute information that everyone can make more informed choices. There are undoubtedly messy problems at times, but if the doors are open, sooner or later the Truth will out. Filtering or withholding information only clouds the issues and corrupts the process.

     J




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