My Thoughts on Comments

In this blog post I will analyze four, two credible and two not credible, comments left on an article talking about how the bad press that Uber experienced, caused some of their customers to return to using traditional taxicabs for transportation. 

Good Comments

"After a spater of bad press for Uber, some turn back to traditonal taxicabs."

Fear and Anxiety or Fantasy and Wish?

This particular comment seems to be expressing a little bit of fear. However, this fear isn’t fear for himself rather its fear for the company. He seems to really believe in the company and is more worried for how the company is being perceived in a negative way, when its offering what he believes is a good service. This fear is seen through the slight annoyed tone when he describes the generalizations. All the facts and statistics he provides shows that he really believes in what he is talking about, and how ill-perceived this company is with all the bad press.

Beliefs and Values?

I think this commentator, Too Tall Tech, believes in logic and statistics, from all the stats and evidence he is providing. He seems generally upset that a good company’s reputation is being tarnished by bad press when the numbers show that the company’s drivers are better than cabs. I think he believes that good work should be rewarded, and I think he believes that the company is not getting all the credit it deserves.

Why is this commentator credible?

From all the statistics that is provided in the comment, it appears that Too Tall Tech has formed his  conclusions based on evidence, not necessarily just emotions. Also, his tone throughout the whole  comment stays relatively calm, although towards the end it picks up on the annoyance and sarcasm a  little.

"After a spate of bad press for Uber, some turn back to traditional taxicabs."

Fear and Anxiety or Fantasy and Wish?

This commentator seems to be expressing more of a fantasy in describing his experience with Uber. In his description of Uber, he has lots of praise for the company and he is more direct and to the point. Whereas in describing his experience with taxi cabs in NYC, there is a lot more adjectives to describe the negatives of the taxis. There is a annoyed almost exasperated tone in the comment. And these difference between the two experiences makes the Uber description almost fantasy-like in contrast to the less than pleasant taxi ride.

Beliefs and Values?

I think Rob Walker believes that as a customer, he has the right to be treated with respect as he is paying for the service. I think he values cleanliness and that he is getting the best service for his money. I think he values these qualities as these are the complaints that he had when talking about the NYC cabs.

Why is this commentator credible?

Rob seemed to be a credible commentator on the Uber experience as he has been a customer for more than a year. Therefore, he has repeated experience and he liked the service enough to keep using it. However, I do believe his assessment of the NYC cabs is a little biased because he enjoys Uber.

   Non Credible Comments 

"After a spate of bad press for Uber, some turn back to traditional taxicabs."

Fear and Anxiety or Fantasy and Wish?

Timages113, the commentator seems to be expressing some anxiety in the amount and type of bad press that Uber has to deal with. This particular commentator seems slightly exasperated by the claims in the article, and the first sentence of the essay immediately attacks the writer.

Beliefs and Values?

I think Timages113 like the commentators above values evidence. As the lack of evidence in the article is what Timages113 comments on and is unhappy with.

Why is this commentator not credible?

Timages113 seems like an untrustworthy commentator because he resorts to immediately insulting the author of the article. Also, the content of his comment focuses only on disagreeing with the article, but he fails to supply any evidence or support as to why he disagrees with the article.

"After a spate of bad press for Uber, some turn back to traditional taxicabs."

Fear and Anxiety or Fantasy and Wish?

I think Chauncy is expressing a wish or fantasy to deal with his discontent with Uber. He seems to be expressing a fantasy because of the irrelevance of his comment. He uses a career in a completely different field to emphasize his disbelief in the drivers’ ability.

Beliefs and Values?

The beliefs of Chauncy are difficult to pinpoint because of the vagueness of his comment. However, it seems like Chauncy values people who are skilled in the position that they work in, as that appears to be what he is unsatisfied with.

Why is this commentator not credible?

Chauncy Williams appears like a not credible commentator because his comment is supported by no facts, he mentions nothing of the content of the article, and the only opinion he presents is directly insulting other people, in particular the Uber drivers.  

Reflection 
After reading Morgan and Isabel's post I think I have added more ways to evaluate comments. Morgan's commentators seemed to express incredibly strong emotion, and telling if their emotional is rational or not is very important in deciding how reliable to source is.

Isabel's not credible commentators had long, fantasy-like tales and I think like Morgan said in her rationales, these fantasies were fictitious and added to the unreliability of the comment.