let new people to the site know that the reviews here are mostly negative.
The idea for a site where people can freely express their experiences for potential renters to see sounds great! That's why I came here. However, after searching through some apartments, I found that the majority of the reviews always seem to be overwhelmingly negative. It's very rare to find an apartment complex with more than a 50% approval rating.
It makes sense that people who have had an extreme experience are more likely to post a review of their apartment. Anger seems to be a stronger motivator than satisfaction. Out of curiosity I looked at the reviews for the apartments I've lived in for 2 years, and sure enough I found very harsh and condemning reviews that don't at all describe me or my roommates' experiences.
I don't claim to know for sure, but I strongly suspect people exaggerate at least some of the claims they make. In their emotionally-charged state, they tend to leave completely destructive criticisms of about the staff with no suggestions for improvements. I know there are bad places to live out there, but I find it hard to believe that nearly EVERY apartment complex on this site is actually as bad as the ratings and reviews make it seem.
I'm not saying Apartment Ratings should censor their members. But I think it should be fair toward the people who are new to the site and to the apartment complexes for that matter. I DON'T BELEIVE THIS SITE ACCURATELY REPRESENTS THE APARTMENTS IT LISTS; IT IS STRONGLY BIASED TOWARDS THE NEGATIVE AND SHOULD BE ADVERTISED AS SUCH. All I'm asking for is a short comment stating this tendency (I really don't think anyone can deny it, but I'm sorry if I am mistaken) so that people will not be turned off of apartments they may actually enjoy.