Does "Angie's List" Lead to Watchtower Defeat?

by metatron 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  There is a subtle change taking place especially in US society - and I think that the new "Angie's List" phenomena is one of the best examples. We all have a desperate need for information we can rely on -while we are being bombarded with claims and advertising.

  What is happening, by default, is that "word of mouth" testimony about goods and services is becoming dominant. This seems counterintuitive when you consider how much analysis and reviewing we already have. However, so much of this information is just hype or spin or flat out lying that people are turning to the basics of listening to what a friend or trusted acquaintance tells them is true. Thus, the contractor who messed up your kitchen may find himself out of work because of a bad reputation amplified by the internet.

  Ford and others found out that "lemon" cars could generate huge problems with sales and quality representations. Eventually, US car manufacturers were forced to improve quality after lying didn't work.

  Take the above and consider: how does the Watchtower organization expect to survive when so much "word of mouth" testimony has turned negative as regards boring meetings, Witness family breakdown, wreckage of extended families, child molestation, and countless other problems?

  That's us, our own "Angie's List" about Jehovah's Witnesses.

  metatron
• 

  WTWizard

  This is a problem the religion is going to have to face. It is the same with any product that one might find.

  For instance, I have checked reviews on numerous products that I have bought. Some were trashing the product--I have checked reviews for Giant Rincon bicycles, and some have stated that the tires wore out after only a few miles, parts came loose or busted after a week of normal use, or that the bicycle was a piece of crap. Other reviews of the same product state that it was an excellent value (my own experience is that, for a $400 bicycle, that it is about what I expect. It is not great--the front suspension was too loose, the seat post was 100 cm too short, and the disc brakes slightly rubbed). But the bicycle has done a respectable job during its first year, with no signs of major problems. But, some will see those trash reviews and look for another bicycle (until they see the trash reviews that one got, too).

  Another product that I have seen trashed online was Insignia TVs. The complaints are that the sound goes dead, or that the set goes off, after only a few months (and that Best Buy, which sells the sets, doesn't stand behind the warranties). I got one before reading those reviews, but mine has had no serious problems (though it is still too new to find out whether any will develop). It could also be that these TVs are unusually sensitive to power surges, since there are other reviewers that have had their Insignia sets working perfectly for several years. You are going to find bad reviews--I have even found bad review comments on Panasonic products, and even L.L.Beans products (even those where most of the comments were positive).

  What is going to make things miserable for the witlesses is that virtually all the comments that make sense are negative. Unlike the products mentioned above, it isn't just a few people that have had very bad experiences with the products. Most people have had very bad experiences, and the ones that give positive reviews don't seem to have any substances aside stock arguments. And most of the negative reviews were not one particular weakness (the control chip on the TVs, for instance)--it is the whole religion that sucks.

  Even more important, with a Giant Rincon bicycle, if you get a bad one, nothing stops you from getting a GT, Specialized, or Schwinn next time. If your Insignia TV conks out 4 months after you buy it, next time you can get a Sony or Panasonic. (Incidentally, Toshiba makes Insignia products.) But, if you join the Jehovah's Witlesses and they turn out to have major problems, it is much harder to drop out. Getting a bad TV or bicycle only wastes the money you spend on it--getting a bad religion can lead to continual hounding, a ruined life and lost opportunity, and possibly even being physically or emotionally dragged back into it even after it did not work for you.
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  sir82

  Yep.

  And the WT shoots itself in the foot by forbidding its members to place pro-WT sites on the internet. So there are the 2 or 3 "official" WT sites, and a few hundred (and growing) negative sites.

  Of course the general public doen't know about this WT edict. So their experience is, "hmm, 99% negative....maybe I'll pass."

  If I were going to buy a car, I'd pass on the model that had a 99% negative rating. Likewise with the handful of people looking to change their religion.

  It really is quite astounding that the WT just doesn't get it.
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  Heaven

  It really is quite astounding that the WT just doesn't get it.

  The WTS needs to implement the following 5 Step Program:

  Step 1: Pull head out of arse.

  Step 2: Accept you have issues.

  Step 3: Ask for help and identify issues.

  Step 4: Put plan together to fix issues.

  Step 5: Implement Plan.

  I really don't think they can even accomplish Step 1 and therefore, they will never get to Step 5.
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  daniel-p

  The implication in your argument, of course, is that people choose their religion the same way they choose which bicycle or TV to buy.

  I'd say that people are, in general, being more consumer-savvy with more important matters like religion, but that most people still do not make those choices in a purely cerebral fashion.