4 ms·

Anti-vaxxers are weaponizing Yelp to punish bars that require vaccine proof

19 points by threatofrain 5y ago

cratermoon 5y ago
previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27483718 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27483718
premium-komodo 5y ago
I think you mean to say, Yelp users are sharing information, and patrons are choosing to go to different establishments that cater better to their desires. That was the idea of Yelp, was it not? Not seeing the problem.
- mrandish 5y ago
  Yeah, I too fail to see the problem. I'm fully vaxxed and am not at all opposed to vaccines. In fact, I believe in vaccines so much, I don't care if anyone else is vaxxed or not - because my vaccine works. On the other hand, I am opposed to nosy ass businesses and would definitely appreciate knowing which establishments are gonna waste my time with that crap so I can avoid them.
  - eesmith 5y ago
    Your vaccine works now. Why do you believe it will work for the rest of your life? While it works against the main COVID-19 variants, it might not work against some evolutionary accessible variant. New variants require a non-immune host population for natural evolution to occur. The more people with COVID-19, the more likely there will be some mutation that affects vaccinated people. This is why the flu shot doesn't carry life-time immunity against influenza. Therefore, even if I'm only using egotistical reasoning, my understanding of how vaccines work make me care that others also get vaccinated - it reduces my future chance of health problems.
- didibus 5y ago
  The article mentions the bad reviews come from people that aren't even from the city where the bar is located, a lot of them are even from Europe, so not even from the same country.
- robbrown451 5y ago
  The idea of Yelp is that people who actually have actually been customers rate the business. Hopefully you can understand how this sort of thing is not in the spirit of sincere, useful and fair reviews.
prepend 5y ago
I’m vaccinated and I would not like a bar that “requires” vaccine proof. I’m not sharing my medical file with a bar and the little card that I got with my vaccination is not meaningful proof. There’s no public Heath guidance to check for vaccination, so this is just bars trying to be overzealous.
- robbrown451 5y ago
  "the little card that I got with my vaccination is not meaningful proof." It's more meaningful than using the honor system. And it's not your "medical file" a lot more than your driver's license is. It tells one significant detail about your medical history, and that is it. I prefer bars where I know I am safe, and one where there are people like yourself who claim to be vaccinated but resist showing proof, don't make me feel safe.
  - Gibbon1 5y ago
    I think vaccination status barely rises to the status of 'medical file'. If you have hemorrhoids that's no ones business. If you're going around spreading covid that is other peoples business. And they have a total right to protect themselves from you.
  - tdfx 5y ago
    > It's more meaningful than using the honor system. It is the honor system. Anyone who wants a blank CDC vaccination card doesn't have to look far to find one. Requiring them as proof for anything is just a bureaucratic checkbox.
    - robbrown451 5y ago
      And so is a drivers license, since you can get fake id's. That doesn't make it the honor system, except to people who are unable to see shades of gray.
      - tdfx 5y ago
        It's ironic you would accuse someone of being unable to see "shades of gray" and then compare the security features of a piece of slightly rigid paper with the CDC logo on it to a state driver's license with holograms, an identity verification process, and multiple fraud detection features.
bsder 5y ago
Why should a bar be upset about this? Anti-vaxxers as a group tend to be stupid, entitled shitheads. Dumping a bunch of entitled shitheads onto my competitor seems like an awesome plan. We had a waitress crying today because she was so happy to see us again instead of the idiots she's been seeing the last two months.
- robbrown451 5y ago
  Most of the people that will now be going to the competitor aren't the anti-vaxxers themselves, but just people who use Yelp and pick ones from the first page, or by just scanning over the ratings. Call them lazy, sure, but there is nothing about them that would make them bad customers.
aaron695 5y ago
Google marks business on race and sex so I feel like reviews have officially become political. I guess Google isn't lying (Not sure how they measure your blackness) and these reviewers perhaps are, so that's a difference. I guess if you are honest and say it's one star for their policy then it's a fair review under the new rules. WHO is still against discrimination based on Covid vaccine passports I believe.
betwixthewires 5y ago
They're not weaponizing Yelp, they're using Yelp as it was intended to be used.

19 points by threatofrain 5y ago

previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27483718 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27483718

I think you mean to say, Yelp users are sharing information, and patrons are choosing to go to different establishments that cater better to their desires. That was the idea of Yelp, was it not? Not seeing the problem.

mrandish 5y ago
Yeah, I too fail to see the problem. I'm fully vaxxed and am not at all opposed to vaccines. In fact, I believe in vaccines so much, I don't care if anyone else is vaxxed or not - because my vaccine works. On the other hand, I am opposed to nosy ass businesses and would definitely appreciate knowing which establishments are gonna waste my time with that crap so I can avoid them.
- eesmith 5y ago
  Your vaccine works now. Why do you believe it will work for the rest of your life? While it works against the main COVID-19 variants, it might not work against some evolutionary accessible variant. New variants require a non-immune host population for natural evolution to occur. The more people with COVID-19, the more likely there will be some mutation that affects vaccinated people. This is why the flu shot doesn't carry life-time immunity against influenza. Therefore, even if I'm only using egotistical reasoning, my understanding of how vaccines work make me care that others also get vaccinated - it reduces my future chance of health problems.
didibus 5y ago
The article mentions the bad reviews come from people that aren't even from the city where the bar is located, a lot of them are even from Europe, so not even from the same country.
robbrown451 5y ago
The idea of Yelp is that people who actually have actually been customers rate the business. Hopefully you can understand how this sort of thing is not in the spirit of sincere, useful and fair reviews.

prepend 5y ago

I’m vaccinated and I would not like a bar that “requires” vaccine proof. I’m not sharing my medical file with a bar and the little card that I got with my vaccination is not meaningful proof. There’s no public Heath guidance to check for vaccination, so this is just bars trying to be overzealous.

robbrown451 5y ago
"the little card that I got with my vaccination is not meaningful proof." It's more meaningful than using the honor system. And it's not your "medical file" a lot more than your driver's license is. It tells one significant detail about your medical history, and that is it. I prefer bars where I know I am safe, and one where there are people like yourself who claim to be vaccinated but resist showing proof, don't make me feel safe.
- Gibbon1 5y ago
  I think vaccination status barely rises to the status of 'medical file'. If you have hemorrhoids that's no ones business. If you're going around spreading covid that is other peoples business. And they have a total right to protect themselves from you.
- tdfx 5y ago
  > It's more meaningful than using the honor system. It is the honor system. Anyone who wants a blank CDC vaccination card doesn't have to look far to find one. Requiring them as proof for anything is just a bureaucratic checkbox.
  - robbrown451 5y ago
    And so is a drivers license, since you can get fake id's. That doesn't make it the honor system, except to people who are unable to see shades of gray.
    - tdfx 5y ago
      It's ironic you would accuse someone of being unable to see "shades of gray" and then compare the security features of a piece of slightly rigid paper with the CDC logo on it to a state driver's license with holograms, an identity verification process, and multiple fraud detection features.

bsder 5y ago

Why should a bar be upset about this? Anti-vaxxers as a group tend to be stupid, entitled shitheads. Dumping a bunch of entitled shitheads onto my competitor seems like an awesome plan. We had a waitress crying today because she was so happy to see us again instead of the idiots she's been seeing the last two months.

robbrown451 5y ago
Most of the people that will now be going to the competitor aren't the anti-vaxxers themselves, but just people who use Yelp and pick ones from the first page, or by just scanning over the ratings. Call them lazy, sure, but there is nothing about them that would make them bad customers.

aaron695 5y ago

Google marks business on race and sex so I feel like reviews have officially become political. I guess Google isn't lying (Not sure how they measure your blackness) and these reviewers perhaps are, so that's a difference. I guess if you are honest and say it's one star for their policy then it's a fair review under the new rules. WHO is still against discrimination based on Covid vaccine passports I believe.

betwixthewires 5y ago

They're not weaponizing Yelp, they're using Yelp as it was intended to be used.