Unbiased Reviews by Real People
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Unbiased Reviews by Real People
You Think You're [hidden], But You're NotMay 3, 2001 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line How to identify revenge raters, or how to successfully revenge rate if you feel the need to revenge rate.
Most of us who spent any appreciable amount of time on Epinions have been pounced on by the sneaky revenge rater. These geniuses think that by hiding their ID that we'll have no idea who they are. Unfortunately, they're only deceiving themselves, and most of us are intelligent enough to figure out exactly who our little anti-fans are. There are generally two types of revenge raters. The first are those that develop a deep seated loathing for your moral/political/artistic/etc views. These are the revenge terrorists. Before showing up on your reviews as [hidden], they've probably left argumentative comments on other reviews of yours, or in reply to comments that you've left here and there. Been slammed recently because you think Eminem is a Neanderthal? Suddenly inundated with ratings by [hidden]? Look no farther than your last little disagreement. The other revenge rater is the one who feels that you were too harsh when you rated one of their reviews, ergo you are a tasteless mass of dung who doesn't deserve a fair rating from them. Now, if you spend a lot of time in the "just in" section passing out many "not helpfuls" or "somewhat helpfuls", then you have a huge pool of potential [hiddens], and you'll probably never know who your revenge rater is. If you're like me, and only occasionally visit "just in", then it's a lot easier to pinpoint who your [hidden] friend is. So, dear {hidden], here are a few tips to make you harder to spot. If you fell you must retaliate with low ratings, don't immediately jump on your victim's newest reviews. Wait a while and let the anger build, then rate some reviews negatively. Even if you go back and rate a very old review, we'll be notified that it was JUST rated by [hidden]. The only way to really confuse us is to wait a week or two, then slip in your negatives. Another good strategy is to leave a "helpful" instead of a very low rating. Many of us routinely receive "very helpful" consistently. A mere "helpful" rating is considered by some to be a slap in the face, but it doesn't stand out as much as a lower rating. Believe me, if I've received 99 "very helpful" ratings (only in my dreams), your "helpful" will stand out and be noticed by me. Also, perhaps you should take a look at the quality of the review you wrote that I rated "somewhat helpful". I'm truly sorry, but one paragraph stating that you "loved the movie because when you were a child your mom let you stay up late on a school night to watch it" does not tell me why I should see it. I'm an adult, and staying up late to watch a movie is not a big selling point. I realise that you think your review is the best review of that movie ever posted on Epinions. In fact, due to the large number of similar movie reviews that you posted during a one hour period, you apparently think you're the next Roger Ebert. Maybe you should read some of the other movie reviews on Epinions so that you know which ones are rated highly. Running around frantically giving revenge ratings is not going to help you get better ratings on your reviews. Only an improvement in your writing skills will do that. I am not a revenge revenge rater, and if/when the quality of your reviews improve, I will give you better ratings. Until then, if I read a poorly written review by you in the "just in", it will continue to get the rating it deserves. In closing, I'd like to say thank you for showing me what type of person you are, and for donating a penny to my Epinions account. I don't even have you on my distrust list, because I don't dislike you, I pity you. Until you learn how Epinions works, and what it's intentions are (providing quality information for consumers), you'll never build a "trusted list", and you'll never be one of the writers that other members actively seek out to read. So feel free to continue to write unhelpful reviews, leave negative ratings for the members who are rating you honestly, then come back and read this in a few months when you can't figure out why you're not a success by Epinions standards.  |
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