Benji Wilson on why we rate everything

Why do we rate everything and why do we do so on a scale of one to five stars? What happens when systems designed to help us make better choices start influencing our behaviour in ways we don’t necessarily notice?

Episode Summary My guest is Benji Wilson, a journalist, TV critic and author of Rate This Book. Benji’s day job involves rating other people’s work, but when his children pointed out that Rotten Tomatoes was also rating him, it prompted him to investigate the ratings culture that surrounds us. In our conversation, we explore where ratings came from, why the five-star system became dominant and the psychology that makes us pay attention to the opinions of people we’ve never met.

We discuss social proof and the wisdom of crowds, why we often use ratings to avoid making bad decisions rather than to identify the very best option, and what happens when reviews are fake, manipulated or simply unfair.

We also explore the consequences of moving from rating products and services to rating people, including Uber drivers, hospitality workers and doctors, and why a single negative review can have significant consequences.Benji also explains how ratings might have applications in places we wouldn’t necessarily expect, including workplace appraisals and even democracy, where alternative voting systems use ratings to allow people to express more nuanced preferences.

And, appropriately for someone who has written a book called Rate This Book, we discuss what it feels like when the ratings are turned back on you — including why an anonymous three-star review might actually be more useful than a perfect five-star score.

Guest Profile Benji is a journalist, author and TV critic. His book, Rate This Book, explores how ratings and reviews came to dominate modern life, the psychology that makes them work and what happens when the systems designed to help us make choices begin shaping those choices themselves.

Links Benji's website — more about Benji and his work. Rate This Book — How Star Ratings Took Over the World, published by New Modern Arcade. Rate This Book audiobook — read by Benji Wilson. AI-Generated Timestamped Summary

00:00 — Introduction: why we rate everything 01:45 — Benji’s life as a TV critic and discovering that Rotten Tomatoes was also rating him. 03:30 — Where ratings came from, from our instinct to rank things to the emergence of star ratings. 08:30 — The psychology of ratings: prospect theory, avoiding bad decisions and why we rely on other people’s opinions. 10:15 — Why five stars became the dominant rating system. 16:00 — Experts versus crowds, social proof and why thousands of reviews can feel so persuasive. 20:00 — Fake reviews, manipulated ratings and why critical thinking still matters. 25:00 — What happens when we move from rating products to rating people — and the real-world consequences of negative reviews. 29:30 — Reputation management, review blackmail and whether ratings platforms need greater regulation. 33:30 — Ratings and democracy: could STAR voting offer a less binary way of choosing politicians?38:30 — Workplace appraisals, reciprocal ratings and what happens when a numerical score overwhelms everything else. 43:00 — Uber and how our relationship with rating systems changes over time. 44:30 — What it feels like to have Rate This Book rated — including Benji’s mysterious three-star review. 47:30 — Why three stars may be our most natural — and least useful — rating. 52:30 — How writing the book changed Benji’s own behaviour and why trusted personal recommendations can beat aggregated reviews. 56:30 — Why companies really want our ratings and the commercial incentives behind endless requests for feedback. 01:01:00 — Amazon Vine, gamification and how rating systems can influence the people doing the rating. 01:02:30 — Where to find Benji and Rate This Book, plus the inevitable invitation to rate both the book and the podcast.