Unbiased Reviews by Real People
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Unbiased Reviews by Real People
A Two-year journey in the land of EpinionsJan 13, 2002 (Updated Jan 23, 2002) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Highlights from being at this site for two years as well as what I liked and still miss at this site. I arrived on the scene during the month of January 2000 but never really got the hang of the site until April Fools day. The same time I learned of this site there was much buzz of another site called Oscartech, located here, http://http://www.epinions.com/cmsw-Oscartech_com. What I liked at the time I joined this place is the home page would change for various holidays and there was a section in the middle that would relate to that particular holiday. There were many interesting ideas under Romantic Surprises for Him or Her close to Valentine’s Day. http://http://www.epinions.com/gift-Topic-surprise-for-men and http://http://www.epinions.com/gift-Topic-surprise-for-women. Some people even offered advice based on mistakes they made http://http://www.epinions.com/gift-Topic-mistakes-to-avoid. Around this same time the site offered television ads for members to view as well as write reviews on them. There was a total of seven of them where you can still check them out by downloading RealPlayer Version 7. They are found here, http://http://www.epinions.com/tvad-All. Many people think the categories under “How To” started after the first version in January of 2001 but actually they were around in 2000. Under Home and Garden you could read about What Appliances Are Essentials in your Kitchen? http://http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Beginners-Kitchen. There were suggestions for what to get for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, gifts that trendetters wanted, http://http://www.epinions.com/gift-Trendsetters-Topics-1. When Spring was in the air you would read many reviews on how to use garden tools and which shears were the best. If you were unsure if McDonald’s was really the best you could educate yourself on the chain food Restaurants by reading these reviews http://http://www.epinions.com/rest-Chain_Restaurants-McDonalds_vs. Perhaps you were the cooking type than the holiday recipes were more your cup of tea, http://http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Recipes-Holiday. This was a great section at one time to get great cooking ideas, including How to Cook with Beer, http://http://www.epinions.com/fddk-Beers-7. Here is the spot to get tips on cooking a Romantic Valentine’s Dinner, http://http://www.epinions.com/gift-Topic-romantic-meals-to-cook. Another of my favorite sections was the generic cosmetics department, http://http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Cosmetics_1. I read many under the heading of Avon, http://http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Avon and when it came time for my posting the section closed a week before. I remember the buzz when the Health section arrived and the onslaught of nutrition bars I never heard of arrived at the site. You could always write on your favorite toothpaste though, http://http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Toothpastes. I think this section was not allowed to last more than two reviews, as it never made it to the year 2000, http://http://www.epinions.com/gift-Sports_Fans-Topics-1. You just might luck out if the person you want to shop for is a gadget lover http://http://www.epinions.com/gift-Gadget_Lovers-Topics-3. Everyone seems to have a special diaper, wipe, stroller and car seat that they will tell you is the best, but you can learn about them all here at the site and make up your own mind which to use. Infant formulas, baby cereals, nursing products, spoons and swings are all listed here to help your family make decisions. Back when I joined this site there were many get paid sites on the internet and you could read about them all here as well as debate whether they paid or not. Did you think Oscartech was better than Epinions? Well I read tons of those reviews and by the time I ventured over to Themestream as it was later called it was a dead place. Another interesting debate going on at Epinions was whether Pepsi or Coke was the cola of choice. This was my preferred drink for a long time, http://http://www.epinions.com/fddk-Editorial_Dummy_Pepsi Some of my favorite sections would have to be http://http://www.epinions.com/elec-Soap_Operas and http://http://www.epinions.com/sprt-NASCAR_. I have been an avid reader of magazines for many years and learned of many that I did not know of by searching the category. Every once in awhile you would notice the annoying banners that were always just advertising for the site. Just today I see they have the ones that suggest you get a penny for your thoughts, write now and earn cash! I read many views on abortion as well as smoking when pregnant. There were many debates on hunting and guns and whether kids should be in restaurants. One of the categories I have read just about every essay in would have to be Children with Disabilities. I would guess there are a few teachers around that are probably glad my kids are not one of their students. The first few months I was here there were numerous connections to autism as I met parents, relatives, neighbors that shared their highs and lows on raising and knowing those who are autistic. There was a time you could search the site for all the members in a certain city and see a listing of all the members. At one time you could see the Most Popular members listed with the number of total hits on their page. When I first started the profile page of the members were showing the hits for each review. You could see how many hits they got instantly on their reviews and compare ratios, etc. When you arrived at a review in the top right hand corner in a yellow border I think was a random member name listed as rating the review a certain way. You saw reviews based on your trust list and how they rated it. If you trusted someone who rated everything the highest this would not work out too well, as you were not getting a correct view of the highest rated reviews. This was mentioned in the very first chat as coming back but a year later it still never showed up. When you posted a review the just in page showed to the right corner if this was an expert opinion and people would usually flock to rate those first. The member name showing on the reviews was a hit and miss in many ways as you already had an idea of how others rated the review before you opened it up and read it completely. One of my favorite items was the love it/hate it listing. This helped you get an idea of what interests new members you found had and keep you in touch with members on the site, plus get ideas on what to write on. The wish list now is able to keep this all but not organized to a degree it once was. The ability to delete and edit comments was most appreciated by me as I went about getting rid of many of my impulsive comments on topics that I have a strong opinion in. I enjoyed reading reviews where members would go to the same eating establishment and compare the service in each city. Reading of members who met in various cities as well as the articles published about the site were fun too. I was able to find the links I placed inside this review by visiting the following member pages: kcfoxy,forkids,mattjoe and Workingmomof2 I looked forward to reading what was on the mind of user-yikesdoug as well as reading his comments section and exchanging emails. It has been a pleasure to read the book reviews of three of my favorites, grandgram,caprig and jankp. I share many of the same interests as them and they each have a unique personality. Long ago I found my nascar buddies in mattjoe, rpllingrock and surferdude7. The sport just does not seem the same after many tragedies but I hope to take in a race in Fontana, CA with shurie this season. If I ever have any medical questions I would look to these nurses, kcfoxy, artbyjude and melissasrn. When it comes to learning about safety and recall information I would just check out WorkingMomof2 and mininut. For home and garden tips I would seek out rfish, ladysmom and naomi7835. I wonder how zapbot, pperky1954, poneyby, urwiller, melliott03, mhawkins, dndn4kidz and frani49 are all doing these days as they no longer participate at the site. There are also some members that are no longer writing but still reading, rating and posting comments now and than, like lucky47, barefooter, and lajeaca. In the two years I have been here I managed to write 325 reviews and hit the 100,000 total hit mark this month. I can still remember the excitement when the 200th person trusted me. It would be nice to see the trust listing as it was long ago when they separated the hidden number of trusters at the bottom of the top five displayed on your profile page. It does seem that more members are now hiding they’re trust list for their own personal reasons, thus making the exact number trusting you not really known. If you utilize the site when logged out you can no longer see what the rating is on the review and I am not sure how that goes for consumers in search of product information. Many members have listed three stars for recommending a product and also not recommending a product so that would mean more research on the part of those in search of product reviews. I hope to continue my journey at this site but most likely not at the same pace, especially with the lack of compensation, announcements and chats from the staff at the site. There are many new members arriving daily here and I am still trying to welcome them in comments and offer assistance as needed. I am happy to report that I found many of these newcomers while searching the site and continue to trust those who write what I enjoy reading. **Jan 23-2002** The two year mark is here and I learned of this link that shows what the site looked like back in Dec of 1999. Here are some links to show how it was in the beginning. http://web.archive.org/web/19991204120227/http://www.epinions.com/ http://web.archive.org/web/20000210025938/http://www.epinions.com/New_Parents_or_Babies Here is an example of what a profile page looked like and you can see the hit counter as well that I mentioned earlier: http://web.archive.org/web/20000302224123/http://www.epinions.com/user-401402 This member (401402) Jens, had more trusters than Ptiemann. They both joined the same date and are both German  |
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