New Epinions policy changes: "And the hits, they just keep on comin’!!"
Oct 25 '01 (Updated Nov 03 '01)
The Bottom Line A reminder to the managers at Epinions-dot-com: Do not take your most important assets... your members... for granted!!
Wednesday, October 24, 2001. The day Epinions-dot-com came within a hair's breadth of killing itself. On that day, Epinions-dot-com announced three major policy changes, all of which appear on the Epinions Member Center page, and all of which are accompanied by a whole series of transparent rationalizations and excuses:
POLICY CHANGE NUMBER ONE: The Base Eroyalties System will be terminated, effective November 1, 2001. After that date, members will only receive Income Share as compensation for their writing.
RATIONALIZATIONS/EXCUSES:
* "To emphasize Income Share as the primary system for rewarding the most valuable reviews, as determined by Epinions users. As many of you are aware, Income Share currently accounts for the majority of incentives distributed on the site."
* "To eliminate financial compensation for reviews with low average ratings (e.g., 'Not Helpful' or 'Somewhat Helpful'".)
* "To better protect the community against fraudulent activity involving the base Eroyalties system. The majority of gaming on the site is triggered by base Eroyalties."
* "To respond to many of your suggestions that Epinions take this step to address the above issues. After careful consideration, we have decided that Income Share is the most efficient method for rewarding the best reviewers on Epinions."
POLICY CHANGE NUMBER TWO: The Content Partner Program will be terminated, effective mid-November 2001, and Content Partner Eroyalties will no longer be paid, effective November 1, 2001.
RATIONALIZATIONS/EXCUSES:
* "To reduce page loading time. Customized content partner sites contribute additional page loading time for each type of page displayed on Epinions."
* "To reduce the frequency of recurring bugs."
POLICY CHANGE NUMBER THREE: Effective October 24, 2001, members will no longer be able to edit or delete reviews once they’ve been published. Reviews can still be edited and deleted while in draft mode.
RATIONALIZATION/EXCUSE: "In an effort to ensure that reviews on Epinions remain accessible to all Epinions users, reviews may not be edited or deleted after they are published on Epinions."
When I first read these policy changes on the Member Center page, I thought to myself: "Okay, mkp51… this was expected. Everyone’s been predicting something like this for a long time. I’ll just adjust to the new system and move on…"
Then I thought about it overnight. And I came to a realization: Epinions-dot-com is trying to "put the screws" to its membership in a not-so-subtle manner. And that REALLY makes me angry!!
I don’t buy into Epinions-dot-com’s transparent justifications and rationalizations for their policy changes. Not for one minute do I buy into them!! Epinions’ business managers would have us, the Membership, believe that these changes are meant for our own good – to improve site performance, reduce the potential for abuse and fraud, eliminate bugs, and increase the availability of reviews.
But we all know better, don’t we? The "bottom line" here isn’t "improved performance" or "eliminating fraud" or "maintaining availability of reviews." The "bottom line" here is… well, Epinions-dot-com's "bottom line."
Clearly, Epinions-dot-com is still in deep financial trouble. Despite receiving a twelve million dollar infusion of cash from its sponsors last spring, the site has never been able to shake off financial instability. Epinions’ consistently poor performance reflects this. They’ve spent the last several months tweaking the main site with cosmetic changes while never really improving performance. Meanwhile, they’ve drastically cut back on personnel, and have stopped responding to member concerns. These actions were all intended to reduce expenses. Despite that, it’s very likely that they’ve managed to go through that twelve million dollar infusion of cash about as fast as sh!t goes through a goose.
So what does Epinions-dot-com do? It places its most Draconian cost-cutting measures to date on its web site and tells the Membership, to "suck it up." And on top of that, they tell us we no longer have the RIGHT to maintain complete editorial control over our own intellectual property!
Make no mistake folks: there was a clear link between the elimination of our right to edit and delete reviews, and the termination of the Eroyalty/Content Partner programs. This seemingly innocuous policy change was, in my view, the most devious, underhanded, cold-blooded decision of ‘em all, one that really "puts the screws" to the Membership.
See if my reasoning here makes sense to you: Epinions-dot-com’s business managers finally make the long-awaited decision to terminate the Eroyalty/Content Partner programs, thereby effectively reducing its compensation system to zero. This cost-cutting measure is fraught with great risk: the potential loss of many members who will quit rather than write for free. Obviously, members who either close their accounts or simply quit writing no longer generate income for Epinions; the effect of that would be to accelerate Epinions-dot-com’s financial downward spiral.
In order to "minimize risk," Epinions business managers decide to make it impossible for current members to edit or delete their reviews. (They mean it when they say "…In an effort to ensure that reviews on Epinions remain accessible to all Epinions users…" but not in the way they would like for us to believe them!!) That way, at least, Epinions can continue generating income from what members have already posted to the site.
Most people are probably focusing on the policy changes that reduce compensation as being of greatest importance. After all, many, many Epinionators depend heavily on the Eroyalties they earn from the reviews they write. Unfortunately, there's not much we can about those policy changes concerning compensation, except make very clear to Epinions-dot-com our dissatisfaction with them.
We can do something about Epinions-dot-com's elimination of the edit/delete functions, however. Do not be deceived, my friends: This issue of not being able to edit or delete our reviews ain’t no trivial matter!! This isn't just simply about no longer being able to catch the occasional spelling, punctuation, or typographical error in our written work. It is, at its heart, a fundamental issue of whether or not we are free to maintain complete editorial control over our own intellectual property!
When I submit written material to the Epinions-dot-com web site, it remains my intellectual property. My reviews are the result of time and effort I spend using products, watching movies, reading books, and then writing about them. It is an affront to me as an American to be told that I no longer exercise full editorial control over my own intellectual property.
Here are some questions I have for those Epinions-dot-com policy makers who have arbitrarily decided that their "bottom line" is more important than my freedom:
* What happens if my viewpoint about a movie or book changes, and I want to reflect my changed opinion in an already published review? (After all... people's opinions DO change from time to time!) As it stands now, I can no longer change my opinion.
* What happens if I discover that I’ve put erroneous information in one of my reviews? As of yesterday, I cannot correct that information.
* What happens if one of my reviews or editorials becomes obsolete, or is "overtaken by events?" I can no longer delete it.
* What happens if (as happened yesterday) I simply want to expand on what I’ve previously written, in order to provide other members with a better quality, more detailed review? FUHGEDDAHBOUDDIT!!!
UPDATE, October 30, 2001: Today, I read the letter from Epinions CEO Nirav Tolia, in which he announced a reversal of the decision to eliminate the edit/delete functions. This well-written, frequently eloquent letter be found on the Epinions-dot-com Member Center page.
My first reaction to Nirav's letter is that I'm relieved and very glad that he and the other Epinions-dot-com policy makers came to their senses and reversed the hare-brained decision to axe the edit/delete function. Of course, it would be best if the decisions to terminate the Base Eroyalty and Content Partner programs were reversed too; but I guess that's asking too much.
I plan to write another editorial in the "General Comments about Epinions.com" category on this subject in the very near future. Although the primary reason for this particular editorial no longer exists, I plan to leave it posted here, in order to document another chapter in Epinions-dot-com's often tumultuous and fractious relationship with its members, and as reminder to the managers at Epinions-dot-com that it is most unwise to take their most important assets... their members... for granted.
It's also a reminder to us, the Epinions membership, that we must stand up and fight for what is right.
More to follow.
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Epinions.com ID:
mkp51
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Midcoast Maine
Reviews written: 187
Trusted by: 314 members
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