Help! I'm an Epinions guttersnipe and nobody trusts me!
Jun 08 '01
The Bottom Line Developing a solid WOT is more complex than you might think. These are the tools you’ll need in your toolbox to succeed.
It ain’t easy being unpopular.
But it ain’t easy getting popular either.
Most epinionators, I’d bet, would take the second challenge over the first one any day. The measure of popularity? How many people trust you.
If you think about it, this isn’t the best gauge of popularity. There are people at Epinions that have 1000 people trusting them, but I have never seen their name. A large WOT doesn’t equal ptiemann fame…but it is a valuable thing to have.
In this article, I’ll tell you exactly what you need to do to get people to trust you, as well as how to choose writers to put on your own trust list. I won’t go so far as to claim to have the secret of popularity; however, I do know a little bit about it, and I’m ready to share my secret.
First of all, if you haven’t read my article on “What is the Web of Trust?”, do so now.
Secondly, a few basic terms:
Trusters : the people who trust you
Trustees : the people whom you trust
WOT : the Web of Trust
I want this editorial to be most helpful to those who have a small circle of trusters, and who are hoping to become more well known. Yet I also want to help those who have a fairly large WOT and want to keep expanding. Read on to find out how!
THE ESSENTIALS
If you’d like a lot of people to trust you, there are three things that are absolutely vital to your mission. Almost everyone who has a large WOT has these three traits:
1. Great writing. This seems like a blinding flash of the obvious (help me Dilbert help me!) but sometimes we forget about this in our quest for popularity. Although good writing in itself isn’t a guarantee for a large WOT, it’s a big factor and one that needs to have precedence. I won’t go into the details here, but you should be informative, entertaining, and helpful in your reviews.
2. Exposure. You can’t become very trusted if your name never shows up anywhere. Later on I’ll give you advice on how to increase your publicity; for now, remember that all of the popular reviewers here have lots of exposure.
3. Good decisions. When I say good decisions, I mean the quality of the various choices you make at Epinions, such as how you rate other reviews, how you rate products, and who you put on your Web of Trust. You wouldn’t trust someone in real life who was taking drugs, robbing banks, and making similar pathetic decisions. Likewise, you won’t be trusted as an epinionator if you rubberstamp and put abusers on your WOT.
JUST TELL ME HOW TO BE POPULAR!!!!
I know, this is what you want to know. The three-step solution, right? The answer that will give you so much popularity that you’ll be begging to be less famous. You’ll start wearing shades when you publish; you’ll start trying to hide among the masses because everybody’s mobbing you for advice.
Quit daydreaming! There truly is no “miracle remedy” to a small circle of trusters. You aren’t going to become an Epinions superstar just because you follow these tips. You have to be someone with true talent and brilliance to be a big name. At first glance, this might not seem true; the mega-popular people might seem to be just ordinary writers. But look closely and you’ll find small details that set them apart from the others. It’s a general “quality of writing,” and people pick up on that.
If you fantasize daily about being popular at Epinions, I’d suggest that you take a good hard look at your motives. Perhaps you’ve never been popular in real life and you want to become a hero in the virtual world. You need to realize that good writers ARE heroes, no matter how well-known they are. Popularity ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, my friend; those on the other side as you can feel inadequate and not perfect enough to live up to the expectations of all the eager fans. Be content with being a good writer, and don’t place all your hopes on a large WOT.
On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a larger circle of trusters than you already have. That’s what I plan to tell you how to do.
HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO TRUST YOU
Here we come to the nitty-gritty of it all. How to build your circle of trusters. I’ve spent a lot of time muddling over what to write on this topic, because there’s no tried-and-true solution. What I suggest may not work for you. But it’s worked for me, and that’s what I’m going to go with.
Remember! These guidelines aren’t the automatic highway to popularity! Nothing can substitute for brilliant writing or that distinctive quality of talent. These are just pointers that have helped me.
1. Get your name out there. The fastest way to do this is to rate many Just-In articles. If you have the time, read the page 2-5 of the Just-In. Why? Because people love it when new ratings appear on a review they thought had bottomed out. Many members, especially new ones, will click on the names of those who rate their reviews. You don’t have to be the first one to rate it, you simply have to rate it. You’ll be amazed how many people will check you out after you become well-known as a Just-In rater. Not only the writers whose review you rated, but other Just-In raters too.
A time-consuming but easy way to publicize your name is to leave comments. This is the true window to your personality, to see what you feel and how you respond to violent emotions. Most people love getting a comment and will be curious about the person who wrote it. Outsiders reading your comments will also be influenced for good or for bad about you. A comment saying “your a loser u stink” signals “big time abuser!!!” And a comment that goes into friendly, intelligent conversation about the product and review can intrigue others to investigate you, and possibly to trust you.
Real life example: From September (when I joined Epinions) to January, I had six people who trusted me. No lie. Even after that big “popularity pep-talk” I gave, I admit that this pitiful Web of Trust was disappointing to me and I wanted it to grow. So I read some articles on how to build my WOT, and when I started putting this principle of rating everything in sight, people started trusting me. My increased exposure coincided with my improvement in writing, and I think the combination really helped.
2. Write articles of universal appeal. Huh? What in the world is she talking about? It’s simple – write an editorial now and then. I’ve gotten emails from people telling me they like my style of writing but my subjects, usually books, don’t interest them. This is where a good essay on a member advice topic can come in handy. Write enough stellar editorials on “general comments about Epinions” or “how to show affection” and you might gain the trust of members who otherwise wouldn’t have placed you on their WOT.
Real life example: In the middle of May, I had 150-something people trusting me, and this number had seemed to reach its “carrying capacity,” because it just wouldn’t grow. Without any particular forethought, I published an article on how to rate. WOW!! I gained about 10 trusters in the next 2 days, and more came trickling during the week. Editorials help. A lot.
3. Pursue your market. If you specialize in a certain category, and most of us do, this tip can be one of the most important to building your WOT. Learn about the great writers in your category and then develop a rapport with them. Rate many of their articles, leave truthfully admiring comments, trust them if you feel that they are trustworthy. These are the people who will be interested in the products you write about, and thus are the people most likely to trust you. But keep in mind that they may also have higher standards, and so you won’t be able to get away with mediocre reviews. If you take the best of these writers and develop a quality of writing similar to theirs, you will stand a much better chance of being trusted in this circle.
This may sound suspiciously like the infamous “rating circle” syndrome, where members only read the reviews of elite epinionators. Nothing of the kind! You’re just building a relationship with people who share your interests and who will be most interested in what you write. It’s a valuable connection to have, and you will probably find a fleet of wonderful writers and friends in the process.
Real life example: In searching for the best book reviewers at Epinions, I’ve discovered some great role models and mutual trusters/trustees. Members like jsgoddess, jrk, and murisaki have talent that I can only dream about, and wishfully try to follow. These are people who I am truly grateful to have on my WOT.
OTHER TIPS
No matter what topic you tend to write about, be an interesting writer. Nobody wants to read a boring, monotonous review, and nobody is going to trust the writer of them. If you want people to trust you regardless of your category preference, strive for brilliant, exceptional writing. I occasionally trust someone who writes about subjects I’m not especially interested in because I am interested by what the writer has to say. Shurie is a great example of this; he writes about technology (which, of course, I’m a complete dunce at), and he writes in an entertaining, understandable way. Needless to say, he made it on my trust list from the first day I found him.
It’s also good to write at least semi-frequently. If I like your older reviews but see that you haven’t written anything for two months, I can’t accurately say I trust your current writing. Your style, approach, and talent might have changed completely in those two months; so while I’ll probably put you on my alert list, I’ll hold of on putting you on my WOT.
There’s a big debate over whether you should just write in one category, since your trusters trust you in that category, or whether you should write in a number of categories, so your trusters don’t get bored and so that you can appeal to the largest number of people. I think that there should be a balance between the two; write predominantly in the category of your choice, and once in a while throw in an editorial or a review of a popular product. But you have to go with what works best for you.
PUTTING PEOPLE ON YOUR TRUST LIST
Believe it or not, people will sometimes decide to trust you or not trust you based on who you trust. When you trust someone, you’re closely associating yourself with them; in effect you’re saying, “I like and respect this person; I enjoy their writing and feel that they’re a valuable member of Epinions. Their reviews are consistently informative and give good advice.” So when you put a lousy member on your WOT, you’re decreasing your own trustworthiness. Even if you yourself are a great writer, your standards won’t be selective enough for the other great writers here.
Before you put the entire Epinions community on your WOT, establish a criteria for the people you’ll trust. Obviously this is a personal decision, and I’m not going to tell you how to do it. But your standards should be fairly compatible with the most trustworthy members of Epinions: no abusers, no awful writers, and only the truly helpful members. You should also identify the writing trait that makes you gasp in awe of a review and immediately trust the writer. This is the trait that you should look for. Don’t feel like you have to settle for mediocrity. My recommendation is to only put the very best writers on your WOT.
One more comment about trusting people: read at least seven of their reviews before putting them on your WOT. It’s plain stupid to trust someone when you’ve only read one epinion by them. You must make sure that this member is a reliably good writer.
WHAT’S YOUR OWN WOT CRITERIA?
You might be wondering how I select people to put on my WOT. It really isn’t a science with me, and I do admit to putting people I like on it. But they always have to have a unique, gifted style of writing that analyzes and reflects as well as reviews. I have to respect their writing and their standards for writing and rating. They should also be out of the ordinary, personal, and fairly entertaining writers. I’m not asking for Robin Williams here, just not Jim Lehrer.
I have an unusual way of finding the people that I trust. I’ll look up a product I feel strongly about – usually a book or album – and read all of the reviews of it. The epinions that are truthful, interesting, and dare I say inspired will prompt me to click on the author’s name. If I enjoy the author’s recent work and think that they are excellent, trustworthy writers, I trust them.
CONCLUSION
I’ve tried not to write the typical “building your WOT” article, and to instead include advice that isn’t often given. And I’ve tried to shed some light on how to encourage people to trust you. A lot of the articles in the category don’t actually tell me how to do this, and I felt that an editorial like this was needed. I hope you can use this information to become more well-known and more trusted at Epinions. Good luck to everyone!
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Epinions.com ID:
Greatpilgrim
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Victoria
Location: FL
Reviews written: 272
Trusted by: 704 members
About Me:
April 25: My computer has now officially been broken for 10 days. WAHHHH!
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