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If you know it's wrong, then don't do it!Jul 04 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line There are many things that you can do if you put your mind to it but there are some things that should never be done!
How many times has everyone heard someone tell you not to do something because it's wrong? As an adult, probably not too often because we've learned that there are two ways to do things; a right way and a wrong way. The right way pretty much guarantees that you won't have to do it over while the wrong way is open to many possibilities. In my year and a half at Epinions, I've learned a lot and most of it was the hard way because, either I never took the time to listen or was never told about it. In this review, I hope to save the newer members from all the grief that came my way and to, also, get my point across about a lot of things that concern me. When writing a review, don't... 1. Rush into things. Now this may sound stupid to some but I was once guilty of this and I suspect that most of you have been as well. When I first started here, all I wanted to do was get my reviews out so I could be heard and make some money at the same time. What I didn't realize was that a rushed review can make for a sloppy review, meaning that I would get bad ratings and very few hits. The more bad ratings you get on your reviews, the less likely that people will read them. Would you take the advice of someone that is constantly getting poor ratings? I know that I wouldn't! Now, while this person may know what they're talking about, if they rush, they're likely to leave out important facts that would help me in making an important decision. 2. Type the minimum amount of words. I do understand that certain things that you may write about, will only take you just over 100 words to explain it but the majority will require a lot more than that. If you know about what you're writing then more than the minimum should come easy for you and if it doesn't then maybe you shouldn't be writing about it. There are people out there, other than just members, that count on our opinions to help them make their decision a little easier so when you write an uninformative review, you're not helping anyone. I'm not saying you have to write bigger reviews with tons of words in them but rather, write a review that has a lot of information in it so that people will profit from it which, in turn, means you will as well. 3. Write complicated reviews. Take the well educated individual that knows more about computers than half the free world that decides he or she wants to write for Epinions. Well, this would be great but only if they write in terms that the average person can understand. The use of abbreviations or 15 letter words may work for you but may result in confusing the person reading it even more than before they started. Sometimes, we write as we know things and forget that some of what we write may not be understood by the average person. Try to keep them a little less complicated while at the same time not removing all the great information that you have to offer. Important facts are great but only to those that understand them so keep that in mind. 4. Use profanity in your reviews. Sometimes we let our anger get the best of us and decide to write a review just to vent. I'm no angel and never claimed to be but I do try and use words that will not offend the average reader. If, for some reason, I do need to swear, I replace the vowels with an asterisk but I do try not to use vulgar language if humanly possible. I've known some to put a warning at the beginning of their review stating that there may be some inappropriate language that might offend certain people. To me, this is a perfectly acceptable way to write a review that some may find offensive and if they do decide to read it, at least, they were warned in advance so they should have no room to complain. 5. Post without checking it first. In my opinion, some people are either just too lazy or in too much of a rush to bother with the spell checker at Epinions. Although it won't automatically correct your errors, it does offer you the chance to do that for yourself. If you're in a hurry then think about saving it on your computer and then posting it when you have more time so you can correct the errors. I'm not a whiz when it comes to spelling myself but for those few words that I'm unsure of, I have a dictionary at my desk to help me. I will grant you that some words may sound alike but are spelled differently with totally different meanings and for those, it's not always easy to correct them because they won't show up as misspelled words. Check your review over thoroughly and, at least, correct those that do show up as being misspelled. My Opinion There are many things that you should not do when writing a review but I feel that I've listed the five most important ones. If you're serious about writing and care about what people think, these are good things to remember when you sit down to write your review. Writing good reviews causes a chain reaction that most people like to see such as better ratings, more hits and more people that trust you, which all leads to more money in your pocket. It may also help you in becoming an advisor which some people strive for and although, you don't get more money per click, it's a sense of accomplishment for most.  |
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