Students bored of homeschooling spam Google Classroom app with one-star reviews thanks to a TikTok meme

Mary MeisenzahlApr 15, 2020, 22:12 IST

Google

Google Classroom, an online learning and submission platform used by schools, has been spammed with one-star reviews on the App Store.
Many of the reviews seem to come from students who have issues with the app, or are low-rating it in protest.
Students in China tried this method in February, giving low ratings to learning app DingTalk in an attempt to get it removed from the app store.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

More than half of the US is now under lockdown due to COVID-19 and schools across the country have turned to remote learning. Google Classroom is one online learning and submission platform some schools were already using, and it has only become more important as in-person learning is impossible for the moment. In response, students have started spamming the app with one-star reviews, 9to5Mac reported.

Here's why students are giving low ratings.

See Students bored of homeschooling spam Google Classroom app with one-star reviews thanks to a TikTok meme >>

TikTok videos tagged "#GoogleClassroom" have more than 26 million views, and many of them tell viewers to give the app a lower rating, claiming that apps with a rating lower than one star are deleted from the app store.

@joonieluvr_

let’s keep rating!! ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage ##indoorworkout ##blanketlife ##toosieslide ##TexansHelpingTexans ##freezeframe ##greenscreen ##googleclassroom

♬ original sound - raisinlippit

Although it's the number one education app in the Apple App Store and number five free app overall, it has an unusually low rating of 1.7 stars.

Google Classroom is a tool used by teachers to give assignments, collect work, and otherwise organize online learning.

Some reviews seem to point out genuine issues with the app, but others are simply using it to complain about online school in general.

Other five star reviews directly address the low ratings, telling people to stop complaining and low rating the app.

TikTok is full of videos where students complain about specific aspects of Google Classroom, like the apparently unending number of notifications.

@krystabellagad

can I sleep??? ##distancedance ##fyp ##coronatime ##coronavirus ##online ##googleclassroom

♬ next callerrrr next caller next callerrrr - baguetteoutwest

Students in China tried a similar method earlier this year, giving low ratings to the learning app DingTalk used in Chinese schools in an attempt to get it removed.

Source: Business Insider

Cookies on the Business Insider India website