A gripe site is a type of

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

that is dedicated to

critique Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral discourse. Although critique is frequently understood as fault finding and negative judgment, Rodolphe Gasché (2007''The honor of thinking: critique, theory, philosophy ...

or complaint about a specific subject.Rise of the gripe site
'' Prospect'' (February 2007). The subject could be a

person A person (: people or persons, depending on context) is a being who has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations suc ...

place Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Of ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

, or something else. A gripe site may aim to offer constructive criticism to the subject (like an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

), or may simply lampoon the subject. Some websites "position themselves as places where consumers can post complaints", providing coverage of "a wide range of consumer markets".Ed Perkins,
Gripe sites let you give black eyes to deserving travel suppliers
, ''The Tacoma News Tribune'' (July 9, 2006), p. E9. In addition to providing a forum for the posting of complaints, such sites may also "offer general guidelines about where to complain and how to do it", and "provide links, snail-mail addresses and even names for places and people" to whom complaints can be directed. Other gripe sites may be dedicated to a single business, and "some major suppliers do monitor gripe sites", albeit not for the benefit of those who are complaining. A 2021 report found that some companies advertising reputation management services to remove slanderous information from gripe sites were actually working in collaboration with those sites.Aaron Krolik and Kashmir Hill,
The New Blackmail
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (May 6, 2021). Companies with such a relationship, the report speculated, would charge a substantial amount to get information removed from one gripe site while facilitating the appearance of that information on another gripe site, in order to continue charging for further removals.

References

External links

cybergriping.comwebgripesites.comweeklygripe.co.ukgripes.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gripe Site Consumer protection Websites

See also

References

External links