Rotten Tomatoes recently found itself caught in the crossfire between online trolls and Marvel Studios/Disney, as the aforementioned group of folks tried to derail the success of “Captain Marvel” by submitting tens of thousands of fake audience ratings of the film before it was even released. What ensued was a quick change to the rules of Rotten Tomatoes, which prevented the review-bombing from taking place before the film’s release date. But all these rules served to do was delay the inevitable, as those fake ratings were submitted immediately after it was an option to do so.
Now, with an obvious flaw in the system exposed, Rotten Tomatoes is reportedly interested in changing its site even more to prevent this sort of trolling in the future.
According to THR, a spokesperson for Rotten Tomatoes said that the website is researching additional measures that could be utilized to prevent this sort of chicanery in the future. The main way that the website would prevent it from happening again is by forcing users to prove they actually watched a film before submitting an audience rating. Of course, the details are unknown as to exactly how Rotten Tomatoes intends on enforcing this change.
Dana Benson, VP of communications for Fandango, the parent company of Rotten Tomatoes, did talk about the recent controversy, saying, “We are disappointed that there was a group of people who were obviously very passionate and who had a negative opinion of the movie, whether they saw it or not.”
Proving you attended a screening of a film is really only done in a couple of ways. First, Rotten Tomatoes would have to know you bought a ticket (which still doesn’t prove you technically attended a screening). The site could force users to submit pictures of ticket stubs (which sounds absolutely terrible, just ask MoviePass) or electronically know you purchased tickets by linking with online ticket sellers (a nightmare, legally and technologically, assuredly).
The other option, which sounds ridiculous in theory (and is far easier to implement, but definitely less reliable), is to have a “Captcha”-like system, where the user would have to prove somehow they saw the film by answering a question that only someone would know if they attended a screening. You know, exactly how Carol Danvers and Nick Fury can tell if you’re a Skrull or not. It would be hilarious if this is actually the route Rotten Tomatoes takes, as it would really bring the conversation full circle.
Guess we’ll just have to wait and find out when the site announces more changes. Until then, take those audience ratings with a grain of salt, as you probably already do.
