California Democrat Gives Yelp Good Reviews – Roll Call

You go to a great sushi place and you want the whole world to know how fantastic its spicy tuna roll is? You post it onYelp.

If a constituent of one California Democrat has a delightful time touring the Capitol through his office, they can post that on Yelp, too.

Rep. Mark Takanoset up his Yelp page in April 2014 to connect with the people he represents.

I wanted feedback from my constituents on the work that Im doing, hesaid.

Yelpershave posted photographs and reviews on the three-term congressmans page, often about how they were able to tour the Capitol.

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And Takano reads the comments.

The feedback helps us improve the experience, he said. Yelp is a great platform for constituent feedback, which is made richer with photos and personal experiences.

The Riverside, California, nativeadded that its also nice to hear good news.

I also like reading the positive feedback on my staff, who are the first people my constituents see when they come in the office, he said.

Users are able to call the congressmans office or get directions to it throughYelp. When they use these features, its recorded in the Yelp activity feed.

Takanos efforts have receivedgood reviews from Yelp.

We think that Congressman Takanos office has done a great job of incorporating a lot of different elements to make a great Yelp page, said Laurent Crenshaw, director of public policy at Yelp. They maintain accurate information on the page in regards to the constituent services available, have numerous pictures posted by constituents, and a great message from the representative himself.

The California Democrat is the only member of Congress with a Yelp page. Asearch of the siteshows several others likely created by constituents, but neverclaimed or updated by the member.

Takano said he is encouraging his colleagues to create a page.

Its important to reach your constituents where they are, and the ones that are looking for help with tours are on Yelp, he said.

Crenshaw said he has had numerous conversations with other congressional offices about doing the same.

Yelp is a great tool for lawmakers to receive honest feedback regarding the quality of the constituent services provided by their offices, he said. This feedback generally avoids the political criticisms and noise of other social media platforms because Yelp reviews must be about your actual experience with a place or office.

Takano said his staff informs constituents about the page through email and a card they pass outin their office.

Some reviews get buried because they either arent relevant or are from someone posting for the first time or who isnt very active, which Yelp thinks is a feature that will encouragelawmakers to join.

Generally, once offices learn that Yelps terms of service and recommendation software dont allow for reviews that dont pertain to an honest, firsthand experience, they become much more comfortable with the idea of using the platform, Crenshaw said.

Takano seems to be the best advocate to get his colleagues on board.

You never know who is going to post, and we are thrilled when a constituent interacts with the office on this platform, hesaid. It really lets me know they felt like we went the extra mile on their behalf.

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California Democrat Gives Yelp Good Reviews - Roll Call

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