2024/09/25 by Giulio Giacomo Cantone, Venera Tomaselli, Valeria Mazzeo · 7 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Criminology #Ideology #Law #Media Influence and Politics #Media Studies and Communication #Media studies #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Social Media and Politics #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11135-024-01981-z
published in Quality & Quantity 59(S1), 315-341 (Springer Science+Business Media)
openalex publication_date 2024/09/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract A review bomb is a surge in online reviews, coordinated by a group of people willing to manipulate public opinions. This is a study on a prominent case of review bombing (n = 51,120) of the video game The Last of Us Part II, challenging the assumption that review bombing should be framed solely as misinformation. The impact of fake reviews is substantially small. Ideology-driven ratings associated with a conservative ideology are followed by a grassroots counter-bombing from progressives, aimed at mitigating the effects of the negative ratings. These factions are very similar in other metrics. Preventive measures are proposed.