Whose WOT Is This, Anyway?
Feb 26 '03 (Updated Apr 15 '04)
The Bottom Line Curmudgeonly reviewer tells all.
Before I wax metaphorical about the intensity of emotion invoked by installing and using TurboTax this time around, I need to address a couple of things that have turned up in my email. I generally don’t get much Eps-related email, so when I do, it’s noteworthy for that reason alone. But in this case I was called on the carpet by more than one displeased person. It wasn’t concerning something I said about them, because I generally don’t say something bad about anyone here unless I know them well enough for them to know my badmouthing is inconsequential. It wasn’t about my profile page setup (thank the stars). It wasn’t about an NH rating, though I’ve given a few out in the last month or so.
It’s about this WOT thing.
Normally, I keep my WOT down to a willowy, lissome level, just so it’ll contrast with me and so I’m able, more or less, to keep track of the writers I’ve trusted. Too many and I can’t read them all. Too few, and I miss out on a lot of good stuff. If someone, for whatever reason, is added to or removed from the list, I don’t think it’s incumbent on me or anyone else to provide explanations. Same if someone removes me. But there’s a problem.
The problem is that some people demand explanations. They actually feel they have a right to berate your (or my) fashioning of our own WOTs. They have a vested interest – not in their own WOTS, or profile pages, or ratings, but in your WOTs and mine. Which brings me to the emails and to some of the things I’ve seen roundabouts. Some people wrote and asked me why I removed them from my WOT, obviously because they were not pleased I had done so. Still another wrote and thanked me for adding them. On various profile pages I’ve seen explanations – some laborious, some very lengthy, and some emotionally charged – about why some person was taken off the writer’s WOT.
And lately, I've even seen some irate writer threaten another reviewer with removal from the irate writer's WOT if the reviewer did not delete some other writer (presumably someone the irate writer disliked) from the reviewer's WOT. I'm not making this up.
I want to try and make this as gentle and placating as poss . . . no, I don’t. I’m tired of holding the hands of folks who think I owe them something because I decided to make some diddly little change on my WOT. I don’t want to do anything except say this one thing to folks who are wondering about how to shape their Web of Trust: It’s Your WOT.
That’s it. It’s Your WOT. And contrary to most reflexive anarchist thought, that has its own ramifications.
First and foremost, it means that you can do what you want with it. Whatever you want.
Now. Epinions has some recommendations about how you ought to build your WOT, and there are countless – and I mean countless – reviews from long-time Eps Members X, Y, Z, ad infinitum ad nauseum, with many years’ experience here at the Mutha Site, about how they can get you rolling in vast sums of Income Share (or better yet, egoboo) by following their rare and valuable WOT advice. It’s a circus out there, folks. There’s a new WOT born every minute.
Read those things if you want. Do what they say, if you want. But remember - that’s all those things are. Recommendations. Advice. Admonitions-of-Thumb. They ain’t rules, and the Terms Of Service do not require that you fashion your WOT any particular way, or that you even have one at all.
Having said that, you must decide what is best for you, what makes you happy, the codex of your contentment, and What It All Means. Because, whining emails or not, surprised gasps of rejection or no, WOTs will either reflect the tastes, preferences and personalities of their owners, or they will reflect the preferences of – everyone else.
You will see some choices that you think are stupid. You’ll see some WOT lists that you honestly can’t figure out. You’ll see blatant circle-WOT-ting by abusers. Sometimes – I’ll admit it – there’s nothing I want to do more than write a person and say “What the hell?”
For that matter, go to one of the Epinions forums and visit for a few days. Won’t be long before you see a poster commenting about a person being placed on a WOT – and they're talking about some third party’s WOT (not the person posting the message). You’ll see messages from people outraged that they were removed from a WOT, or that some reviewer they didn’t like got placed on a WOT, or that no one will trust them (sorry, Sordy). You’ll see bantering back and forth about which person ought or ought not to be on anyone’s WOT. You’ll even see pressure applied to other people to change their WOT, one way or another.
As usual, no one says these WOT-posters have no right to an opinion. The free expression of opinions is the lifeblood of a healthy society. I do say, however, that these posters have no right to assume anyone will pay attention to their opinion, or to believe that their particular opinion is anything but virulent – not part of that lifeblood. And that includes those emails sent to me demanding explanations and rationale for my WOT.
You can take someone off your WOT for not writing for a while. You can take them off because you don’t like their name. You can take them off because you’re young and beautiful, they’re balding, middle-aged and make too many comments on your reviews (but don’t you dare). You can take them off because they have green hair. You can take them off (or add them) because they write sexually explicit reviews. You can take them off for any reason – or for no reason at all. It’s Your WOT. What will leave you feeling contented? Are you satisfied with your WOT list? One person’s treasure, and all that – it really is true.
I like most people. I get along with most people, even though I don’t always feel like being cordial. But It’s My WOT. That doesn't mean I don't have preferences. It doesn't mean I don't have guidelines for my WOT. I do. What it does mean is that I don't feel the least bit obligated to spell out for anyone what those guidelines are. Do I have something to hide? Absolutely: my private life, my alone time, my choices, my personal information. Don’t ask me why I did what I did, because that implies you have a right to an answer. I’m gonna do what I want with it.
So should you.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
counsel
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Dwight
Location: Houston
Reviews written: 117
Trusted by: 499 members
About Me:
If I smell flowers, I start looking around for a coffin.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.