An Opinion Or an Essay on a Product
Mar 04 '03
The Bottom Line Epinions is a wonderful site, but sometimes I think we judge too harshly.
I have been a member of Epinions for a long time now. I have written mostly VH reviews, but I have had my share of Helpful or SH's. I just feel at this point I need to share how I feel. Please I hope this does not come off as stepping on anyones toes. This is just my opinion......
When I signed up with this site I have to admit it was a big part of being able to earn some extra cash that enticed me. On the other hand it was sharing my opinion with others, and being able to get others opinions on things I have thought about buying. This especially holds true for books for me. I enjoy having others opinions before picking one up.
I have always had a problem though with the way the ratings go. I mean we are asking for someones opinion on a product or service. In all cases in life that I can think of where I verbally asked someones opinion they have never replied with 300 or so words not only about how they feel, or how it worked for them, but the ingredients color of the packaging, the sizes it comes in, etc. etc. Yes this information can be helpful, but short and sweet to the point "opinions" can also help me very much so in making a buying decision.
The only point I am trying to make here is why does it have to be so detail filled in order to be a good opinion. For an example I wrote my opinion on a video game called Grand Theft Auto, well someone actually told me that I would be lucky to get anything more than SH ratings. I did manage mostly Helpfuls but. I offered my opinion and my opinion does not include 101 facts about the game, just how I and my family enjoyed it and why.
I realize there are people that just type up anything to try to get as many as they can written to make money. I do not believe that every short and sweet opinion should be viewed this way though. Just because someone cannot write a book about a product does not make their opinion any less helpful.
In all honesty when I am looking for opinions on here before deciding to buy an item I actually look for the shorter simple and to the point ones. As I see it if I see 10 or so short opinions that have a good point, and cover the goods and bads of the item I am more likely to go with those opinions than those that I sifted through lists of ingredients and so forth to get to an actual opinion.
I like to write and I am just as guilty of jumping on the bandwagon with the lists and overfill of information in most of my writings. I mean hell if it works it works. I just think we should all stop and really think about the way we rate. Just because it does not give all of the specific details is it an unworthy OPINION???
Just my little rant. Any comments or "opinions" gladly welcomed.
I hope everyone see's the point. I am not saying every cheesy 2 sentence opinion is deserving of a vh or even a helpful, but theres many short 2 paragraph ones that do the job. I mean these are the opinions of the average consumer right, not a site made up of English majors.
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Epinions.com ID:
kimzstuffz
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Member: Kim Furman
Location: New Port Richey FL
Reviews written: 94
Trusted by: 33 members
About Me:
Work at Home Mom. I sell Online through eBay, Bonanzle & Amazon.
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