|
|
Following The Leader....Mar 25 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Books
The Bottom Line Be honest about what YOU thought - and don't worry about what everyone else thinks!
I am fairly new to epinions so I'm just catching on to how things work. However, I read hundreds of opinions before I even tried to write one of my own to make sure I had the BEST concept of what a 'Very Helpful' opinion was. After careful consideration, I decided that I wasn't even going to write an opinion on a product unless I had owned it for a while or used it frequently. I mean, bottom line, how can you honestly rate something that you aren't really familiar with? After writing a few opinions of my own, and seeing how they were rated, I was kind of shocked! It seemed that whatever the first person rated the opinion, whether it be 'Very Helpful' or 'Helpful,' etc., everyone seemed to follow the leader's opinion. There were a few people in between that would rate it differently, but for the most part, I began to wonder if people REALLY even read the article, or just based their opinion on how other people had rated it! I started doing a little investigating by looking at other people's opinions and how they got rated and discovered that this is VERY COMMON behavior. I also discovered that members on each other 'webs of trust' almost ALWAYS rate each other's opinion's with 'Very Helpful,' even though the opinion was obviously not helpful, or for that matter, accurate. This type of behavior is not honest or fair. I am an epinions member that values quality in a product and in an opinion. I was very upset when I discovered that this was going on. I understand that everyone here is probably trying to make some money, but behaving in an unfair way is very unethical and it defeats the purpose of trying to help other members make QUALITY decisions about products. I will never rate an opinion based on who trusts me or who I trust and I encourage you to do the same. I value honesty more than trying to make a few cents. Therefore, every opinion I rate will be based on what I really thought. The bottom line is, if you read an opinion and have to look at how everyone else rated it before you make your own decision, then you shouldn't have rated it at all! Be honest about what YOU thought - and don't worry about what everyone else thinks!  |
| Read all comments (7)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
