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Epinions-Lite Two // Things to Know About Express ReviewsSep 23 '03 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Express might work for elevators and developing photos. It does not work for Epinions reviews.
.. On Tuesday, August 26, 2003, the next great thing to hit Epinions dot com, the Express Review, was announced on the site's Member Center page. I quote that announcement: "The basic idea is that an Express Review will be a short, concise review that sums up a reviewer's experience quickly." My interpretation of that statement, and the words that follow it there, is that Epinions dot com expects these reviews to be 'less' helpful than a 'regular' review on Epinions. Indeed Epinions dot com states that "Express Reviews will be useful to consumers in aggregate (and that) a single Express Review would likely not contain enough information for a shopper to make a buying decision." -- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- Shortly after this change was launched on the site I penned an essay, Epinions-Lite, about my thoughts on this new style of review. In it, I was supportive of the well-written Express Review. However, reading and rating a good number of these reviews over the last two weeks has convinced me that the drawbacks of the 'express review' are not worth the minimal value (and concurrent damage) it brings to an individual user. I am certainly not afraid to explain my reasons for that change of heart. -- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- It has become apparent to me (based on my reading and rating experience in the 'Books' category) that there have been several immediate consequences visible on the site due to the arrival of Express Reviews. – First: Express Reviews have driven new users to the 'express review' just-in page. At the 'Books' category just-in page there are 36 reviews as of this writing. 24 users in that group fly the 'new' flag, have fewer than 5 published reviews, or the majority of their reviews have been published within the last month. I found only five 'experienced' users, 2 of those, including myself, in response to my 'Express Review Write-off Challenge'. The last 36 reviews on the 'regular reviews' 'Books' category just-in page contain only 7 users that fit those same parameters. – Second: These 'express reviews' are being ignored by the Epinions community, in all the categories I checked. Rates are rare, comments are rarer still. Many have only one or two rates, usually an Advisor or a Lead. – Third: The community does not understand, IMHO, how Epinions management expect these reviews to be rated. Again, to quote the guidance found by clicking the [How should I rate?] link in the rating area of an 'express review': "Don't Show. Rate an express review Don't Show. if it is off-topic, contains profanity or otherwise violates the site rules. Show. Rate an express review Show if it is on-topic and does not violate the site rules." Nothing about being 'helpful'. Nothing about explaining anything. Nothing about being 'useful'. Nothing about 'detail'. Nothing about 'easy to read'. Nothing about 'objectivity'. Nothing about nothing! 'Express reviews' are not supposed to be a 'regular review' shoehorned into a 'less than 200 words' artificial constraint. Simply put, that is where my thinking went wrong. On-topic. Not in violation of site rules. That's it. Rate an 'express review' Show if it meets those minimalist standards. – Fourth: 'Express reviews' destroy the feedback/incentive that the site has traditionally delivered to the 'new' user: - Visits are not tracked on these reviews and the user gets no 'feedback' about the number of users/non-members reading their reviews. - Express Reviews are not eligible for 'Income Share' (IS) payments from Epinions. IS is money Epinions returns to writers on the site based on the number of 'eyeballs' that read their reviews (and other factors). - The community as a whole, IMHO, has chosen to ignore this variety of Epinions review writing. That may or may not change in the future. Currently there is little or no interaction of experienced users with these 'new' users/writers. - Express Reviews will always suffer poor placement on the site. They will always be displayed after all 'regular reviews'. This may not matter on a product with very few visible reviews (3 or less perhaps). But these 'express reviews' will be 'lost' on products with many visible reviews, IMHO. -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- – The Bottom Line Express Reviews are a poor investment of any user's time here on Epinions dot com. Unfortunately, the least knowledgeable user––the 'new' user––is the one who suffers the most from writing them. My advice to 'experienced' users: Avoid them. Write 'lean-n-mean' if you like but do not waste your time, your experience, your writing skills on an inferior product, that is, an Express Review. My advice to 'new' users: Avoid them. Figure out how the site works, learn what brings value to your time here. Learn what adds value to your reviews. Network here with the strong community of users/members willing to read and appreciate your best writings. Interact with the community to build your presence and status on the site. Avoid the Express Reviews wasteland. -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- – Post Script If you have some intelligent feedback, commentary, or thoughts please add to the discussion by leaving a cogent, coherent, and pertinent comment. sleeper loves a comment! Reference Links: FAQs / Express Reviews on Epinions.com Member Center Express Review Write-Off Challenge  |
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