SignalHub-Serena Williams, a Paris restaurant and the danger of online reviews in 2024

Stars,SignalHub they're just like us: They post negative reviews of restaurants online too. Even during the Paris Olympics.

Just look at Serena Williams' tweet from earlier this week: "Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids," the tennis champion posted on X. "Always a first."

The restaurant, for its part, offered statements to media outlets apologizing to Williams while claiming it was fully booked. It replied to her tweet: "Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight.  Unfortunately, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked and the only unoccupied tables you saw belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was fully reserved."

It's unclear exactly what happened, though as is usually the case in incidents of this nature, people on both sides have weighed in. "French racism is truly unique," one X user wrote, while others felt the restaurant was in the right: "If they’re booked, they’re booked and it’s entitled as heck to be upset that they didn’t figure it out because 'I’m special.'"

USA TODAY has reached out to Williams for comment; the restaurant contacted her directly.

This incident is in line with a greater trend we've seen in recent years: Venting on the internet has become the new way to complain. Instead of leaving a one-star Yelp review, or sharing a bad experience with family and friends, disgruntled customers can go on TikTok, go viral and go nuclear on a place − or person − they feel has wronged them.

Be it a bakery, tattoo parlor, airline or bar, anyone can find themselves at the mercy of thousands of angry bandwagoners ready to carry out justice on an organization or person they don't know. It's that much more of a pile-on when the person making the assertion is famous themselves.

Experts say this phenomenon is about more than an individual incident. It's about the urge to pick a side and a need to feel validated by others − even if they have no real connection to either party.

"Social media, especially TikTok, has democratized consumer reach," Chapman University adjunct communications professor Matthew Prince previously told USA TODAY. "Whether you have 200 followers, or 2 million, consumers' content is going further than it ever has before. That reach comes with power."

We have the tea. Sign up for USA TODAY's Everyone's Talking newsletter for all the internet buzz.

'A sense of powerlessness': Why people get the urge to seek revenge online

The internet, and especially TikTok in recent years, has taken venting to the next level. When we feel we've been given the short end of the stick, we seek out those who will tell us we're right, experts explain, and in viral posts, people are able to find thousands of people who will agree with them. Those following recent incidents − such as #CakeGate or #TattooGate − are enthralled by the drama, in part, because humans are hardwired to be social and take sides depending on who they most identify with. The same goes for Serena Williams and the Paris restaurant.

"When you feel like you are getting scammed, there's usually a sense of powerlessness," Andrea Bonior, a clinical psychologist and host of the "Baggage Check: Mental Health Talk and Advice" podcast, previously told USA TODAY. "Posting about it often tries to reverse that: giving you validation when people agree that you were wronged." Yes, even celebrities can feel powerless, too. Human. Particularly if someone's identity feels attacked in some way.

People on the internet often appreciate being able to connect with others in a shared frustration over an argument in which they've taken the same side.  

You get it, right?Simone Biles' stunning Olympics gymnastics routines can be hard to watch. Here's why.

But does the punishment fit the crime?

Of course, the punishment (hate from thousands of people) doesn't always fit the crime (denying someone a seat at a restaurant). 

"It gives people a temporary escape from their own lives, allowing them to indulge in the thrill of someone else's conflict without actually being directly involved," crisis management and public relations expert Molly McPherson previously told USA TODAY. "It taps into our innate desire for justice and our fascination with human conflict. It's like watching real-life reality television play out in front of our eyes, and people can't help but follow along in their feeds to see how it all unfolds." 

Remember this?People online are fighting over a rainbow sprinkle cake. It's gotten out of hand.

So why do we care about the drama?

"People have always been engaged by gossip and conflict," Gayle Stever, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at Empire State University of New York, previously said. "In my mother's day, it was about the neighbors, and it would have been the cake shop down the road. Today, because the boundaries of our social worlds have expanded, we learn about these things from a distance, but the human proclivity to weigh in on something that is essentially none of our business is irresistible for many – not all – people."

And those urges to band together are even stronger when there's drama – and a celebrity – at the center of it.

"When it comes to human connection, there’s certainly a negativity bias and social media is no exception," Prince said. "In many cases you relate, rationalize and rally more from negative experiences than positive ones."

Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff