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My First Month at Epinions=)
by sarahlovesadam | Jan 08 '04
Don't worry, be happy!! =) hehe

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Comments on My First Month at Epinions=)" (30 total) View all
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Date Written
A wee bit (Reply to this comment)
by long_con
of a phenomenon, aren't we? For good or ill, what you seem to have done here is at least a tiny bit impressive. Even the bad press itself is like a big neon sign pointing people to your reviews. If there's anyone still hopping mad, you can chuckle at them with ease, they are your unwitting agents. Heck, I'm plotting a way to tick them off myself.

If you have any advice for other up-and-comers, spill. And please don't say good prose, as such could be problematic.

--DA 		Apr 28 '04
1:46 am PDT
I never thought about it. (Reply to this comment)
by JAGUARDOG
I always read your username as Sarah loves Adam and it never crossed my mind that it might be Sadam but glad you cleared that up for those that were confused. You 2 look like a perfect couple and I hope you have many years together. It was great to meet you and good luck on your future postings here at E and God Bless, Ron. 		Feb 19 '04
5:56 am PST
Re: Re: I thought I'd wait a while (Reply to this comment)
by oldcomixfan
Well then, rubs some of that dictator-lovin' magic on yas!

Correction: That's now 183 trusters in almost approximately two months. Hmm, let's do some recalculations here.. carry the three {tap tap tap}... times the gross national product of Bhutan {tap tap tap}... square it times the exponential X-factor cumulations...{tap tap tap}...add the Superbowl score then times it by Janet-Michael's pastie-size {tap tap tap}... add it all up...

WOW! I came up with 11,934 trusters by next Dec 8th! Are there even that many active members left on this site? Give or take a possible 10 percent error in my long division, of course.

Mattyger just hid his WOT and sent me back out into the woods howling in anguish while knocking over dead trees. Oh the agony! Oh the pain! So please, {TOM], I don't know if I can take any more! 		Feb 10 '04
4:14 pm PST
Re: I thought I'd wait a while (Reply to this comment)
by sleeper54
..
I'm just commenting here hoping some of that 's-love-s' magic rubs off . . ..

o-c-f said...
"182 people can't be wrong![RIGHT TOM?}"

Hey, you mixed your brackets! You ain't never gonna get no slutty love being sloppy like dat!

And you're right. 182 'herd members' can't be wrong...


you continued...
"Not judging . . .here, just showing how some people make decisions in a herdish-mentality kind of way. It's a cumulative thang. It also seems to me that the bigger the WOT the more of a trust-slut magnet it becomes. More cumulation into the exponential..."

'cumulation into the exponential' . . .??

What the h3ll does that mean ?!? But I sure does like it!!


...tom...
' if you were on my WoT I would drop your azz right now and you would never feel the pain . . .wait, maybe he is!! ' 		Feb 09 '04
8:49 pm PST
I thought I'd wait a while (Reply to this comment)
by oldcomixfan
Sarahlovestalin,

It was the TIMING of the deWottage that got me suspicious and rather irritated. Old news. Over. Done. Water under the bridge {what's left of it after your survey flooded it out,which is all your fault}. har har ho hum.

I'm rather proud of the fact that my Anti-Moi submission resulted in a few more dumping me off their WOTs. I want people to dump me for these reasons: my blasphemies, a-polital non-azzkisseries, and irritating the mulletheaded Dixie Stepford Units. But I'll also settle for the fact that I probably suck crawdad boobs, in a pinch.

I did notice some interesting little patterns in some of your survey participants:

I never heard of many of them nor remember seeing them in the Write-Off Corner, ever, despite the fact a lot of them have been here longer than me. And not only that, some had WOTs smaller than mine. Hmmm. I would suspect their motives were to ride your coattails in the hopes of getting more exposure? But if their small Wottage despite their tenure here was the result of a-politicality and "not playing the Epinions popularity game"...then what was the point? I'm not sure, but I'm rather certain a lot of them suck.

Many were fresh newbies, like Munkus discovered and pointed out, who had no submissions other than participating in your survey. Velly strange.
They also suck.

But the whole phenomenon was an interesting study in momentum and the snowball and avalanche effect, plus some human behavior. For instance, people stumbling upon you are going to notice you have 182 trusters in just over a month. "Wow! And from only 14 reviews? 182 people can't be wrong![RIGHT TOM?} Wow! She's purty too! And damn, ol' Adam DOES look like Judge Reinhold if you tweak the contrast on the monitor just right!" {relax, I'm having a little fun here}
CLICK! One more truster. Not judging {nor reinholding} you or your beau here, just showing how some people make decisions in a herdish-mentality kind of way. It's a cumulative thang. It also seems to me that the bigger the WOT the more of a trust-slut magnet it becomes. More cumulation into the exponential...

But if it's all for the right reasons {interactions, writing quality, etc}, then you did just fine.
Not only that, but you made a WHOPPING 20 CENTS to boot!!! NOW AIN"T THAT SPECIAL? AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU OUGHT TO THANK FOR THAT YOUNG MISSY? HHHHMM? COULD IT BE.......SATAN?

Don't spend it all in one place. 		Feb 09 '04
6:07 pm PST
Re: is epinions hard for newbies? YES IT IS (Reply to this comment)
by nicolega2001
I'm not exactly sure what a write off is either. Ah well. 		Feb 08 '04
11:03 pm PST
#200 (Reply to this comment)
by 29th_Candidate


Hiya sarah loves saddam!
Feb 07 '04
2:43 pm PST
Re: is epinions hard for newbies? YES IT IS (Reply to this comment)
by drdevience
Heya Martin

It's just a way to have fun here. Someone comes up with an idea, then we all post a review on it. It's just something to break up the monotony.

Occasionally (though rarely) there are even prizes... for instance last summer Travle gave away Eps stuff for the one who posted the most new Hotel reviews in a certain time period.

Mainly they're just fun, and a great way to find new people.

Doc 		Feb 02 '04
3:50 pm PST
is epinions hard for newbies? YES IT IS (Reply to this comment)
by martin_berger
hey people i still don't know what a write off is. I feel like and 8 year old around you people. Hey Everybody Loves Posting 		Jan 31 '04
4:34 pm PST
I just finished....... (Reply to this comment)
by quadophile
......reading your review on the Fuji Camera and left a negative comment there.

Here I did not find anything negative, rather an interesting read, so bravo!

Anis 		Jan 19 '04
11:34 am PST
Inequality (Reply to this comment)
by smjg
It seems there are those of us who've been here a month, get nearly all VHs and have 100-odd trusters. And there are those of us who've been here a year and a half, get nearly all VHs and half just a small handful (not to mention any names :-) ). I think it just happens at random, and you're one of the lucky ones ... and no I'm not suggesting you don't deserve it!

Your subscriber list has just grown by one and I'll look at more of your works soon.

Believe me, I was actually a little sad to lose my "new" label ... but that's history now.

Take care, have a happy Epinions future,

Stewart :-) 		Jan 18 '04
9:19 am PST
Why Would Anyone Hate You? (Reply to this comment)
by youguyfriday
You have a nice style and anybody willing to contribute to this site the way you do deserves an extensive WOT. Hate you because your WOT is growing faster than mine? Certainly not. Try to look at your voice, writting style and see if I can learn from it? Definately!

Your friend and mine (althought envious of your WOT),
Douglas 		Jan 17 '04
10:26 pm PST
If I had a cute picture like yours... (Reply to this comment)
by knotheadusc
Maybe my Web of Trust would expand too! I think your reviews are great and I appreciate the fact that you take the time to read and rate my stuff so quickly after I write! I, for one, welcome you to Epinions with open arms!

knot 		Jan 17 '04
3:16 pm PST
Could it be..... (Reply to this comment)
by jlava73
...you spend a lot of time reading,writing and getting to know others and their work?

Don't worry about what others say or think, as long as you are having fun! I say kudos to you for having the guts to start a write-off and have it become a success after being on the site less than 1 month!

Have fun and Don't sweat the rest!

Nice to meet you!
Jenn 		Jan 16 '04
5:59 pm PST
Could have been worse (Reply to this comment)
by Simply_Crispy
Your fiance could have been called Ben, then everybody would have thought you have a soft spot for Bin Laden.

NB: I haven't read any other comments posted here, so if the above joke has already been made I humbly apologise.

Glad you're enjoying your first month here, it's nice to have you round, newbie.

Chris 		Jan 15 '04
3:24 am PST
Re: Re: Re: Re: *Wow..more replies..hehe* (Reply to this comment)
by sleeper54
..
barakah59/Mark asked...
"Tom was this in response to OCF? After a while these threads get confusing."

Yes it was. Which is why I usually try to quote a bit of what I am replying to. Which of course I did not do here previously...


you continued...
"Tom,
You have stated, and I agree, that those who rate your work are not just a bunch of rubber stamping nitwits who don't have the brains are courage to rate on their own. Do you think Sarah's reviews are lacking and undeserving of their position?"

I don't think I have read/rated/commented any of her product reviews. Only her user-page OOMPH advice piece. So I really have no idea about the quality of her _product_reviews_.


But I sure 'trust' 147 raters to get it right in the end. With or without me having to agree or not agree with them.


...tom... 		Jan 13 '04
3:52 pm PST
good review (Reply to this comment)
by rpgaddict
A very interesting review about yourself. As for the people who don't like you.Whenever opinions,and writings are available for so many people to view,there will always be raters with something negative to say.Some will speak their negativity directly at sarahlovesadam and some won't be so open. 		Jan 13 '04
8:01 am PST
Re: Re: Re: not hard to explain... (Reply to this comment)
by pranapana
jkk,

Yep, it's all karma, baby!

lol,
Renee

PS Mobi..wrt Corpgent - wtf happened to him? 		Jan 13 '04
7:22 am PST
Re: Re: not hard to explain... (Reply to this comment)
by jkkelley
Right, Renee, but even so--she tripled that number, and she did it without becoming a trust ho (at least, so far as I know). However, I admit that I didn't follow it as closely as you.

It may also be that she just happens to have the same sort of magic my wife has. My wife can get by with saying nearly anything, and nearly everyone still likes her. By contrast, if I said the exact same things I'd be in fights all the time. Her father has the same gift.

If so, my advice to Sarah is to go into sales, preferably of something really expensive and lucrative like boats or jewelry or real estate. By and large, business is done between people because they prefer to deal with one another. People with this gift are liable to be retired in comfortable wealth at forty.

jkk 		Jan 12 '04
10:32 am PST
So you've got a big WOT (Reply to this comment)
by orioles35
...you know what they say, SIZE MATTERS. 		Jan 12 '04
9:05 am PST
Re: not hard to explain... (Reply to this comment)
by pranapana
Actually, JK, I noticed sarah before the W/O business all began and I vaguely remember that back then she only had around 4 reviews and already a massive WOT for a newbie (or anyone, really).

To confirm, the W/O entry was posted on Dec 20 (or 12 days after joining). As at end of Dec 20, she had 44 trusters already.

Either that's pretty amazing, or I'm a pretty sh*tty reviewer/writer/rater/commenter,
Renee

PS and before anyone says it's because sarah rated/commented more than me, I would seriously beg to differ. I spent mondo-geek-with-no-life amounts of time online back then and I saw what happened.
PPS.. Sarah.. I don't begrudge you your success, I'm just rather curious about the phenomenon and what it says about the human psyche. 		Jan 12 '04
5:41 am PST
not hard to explain... (Reply to this comment)
by jkkelley
..why your presence on WOTs has billowed.

It is really quite simple, in fact. You threw a writeoff that seems to have come at exactly the right time, though it wasn't based on a new concept. It was new enough for multitudes, and for a few of the old guard, and thus you ended up with massive PR. From massive PR inevitably come readers, and unless there's something objectionable about one--and there isn't, in your case--that is in turn inevitably going to lead to trusters.

A good example is Damali Ayo. Damali is a Portlander artist with a wicked sense of humour who got sick of people wanting to touch her mocha skin or feel her spirally hair. She decided to parody the whole concept with a new business proposal: Rent-a-Negro. She reasoned that there was a high demand for people to show evidence of association with a black person, and that she might as well cash in; it was just far enough beyond tongue-in-cheek to make one suppose she might be serious. I lost a couple of pounds laughing as I read the site--and came away with a lot of respect for her.

Well, Salon noticed her, and before long the nation noticed her. Once noticed, her sincere, innovative approach to art and her basically witty, warm nature kept people engaged. She went from hardly noticed to rather well known. Bammo.

This is a similar phenomenon. The numbers speak for themselves; you had the right idea at the right time, regardless of whether any one person validates it. It got you on everyone's radar. Readers were sure to follow. Trusters follow readers, in numbers increased or reduced by the member's appeal. Someone who seems to like everyone is pretty non-threatening.

As to why the timing was so good, I'm not sure. Perhaps it is because so many of the old guard (of which I guess I can call myself one) have either faded into inactivity or subsided into a pattern of dull, sclerotic pump-em-out, leaving a wide gap between those new here in the past six months and The Establishment. I don't really know.

But congratulations, I guess. Some will begrudge you the attention and fun. I won't.

jkk 		Jan 12 '04
12:30 am PST
Re: O! (Reply to this comment)
by pranapana
lmfao-while-farting-cause-i've-lost-control.

The grapefruit is just too funny.

Hey sarah, it's not your fault if people love you,
Renee 		Jan 11 '04
8:31 pm PST
Re: Re: *Wow..more replies..hehe* (Reply to this comment)
by barakah59
OCF,

are you sure you got blocked?
Epinions has a lot of weird glitches sometimes.
One time I rated a review, I was like the 5th person to rate it but after the page reloaded it said rated by six member but there were only five names. I thought... well that's odd so I refreshed the page and it said rated by five members like it was suppose to. Another time I was checking my WOT and it said I only had five people trusting me, when I had been having six. I tried to remember who had trusted me and when I went to the absentees profile page I was still listed on their WOT but it didn't show up on my WOT for like a day later.

Any how you may have just experienced a similar glitch. So I wouldn't worry too much about it. Or maybe that particular member hid their WOT and then un-hid it who knows.

From what I can tell of most of the members on this site they are decent folk.

Mark the optimist 		Jan 11 '04
7:17 pm PST
Re: Make that 146 trusters... (Reply to this comment)
by ifif1938
make that 147...:)

Looking forward to reading more of your reviews..I think you are quite an asset to epinions in such a short time..

Congratulations,
barbara 		Jan 11 '04
1:11 pm PST
Make that 146 trusters... (Reply to this comment)
by michiman1
People really get angry and email you?

I'm actually quite impressed. It's definitely a personality thing. I've been here well over three years with a 180+ trust list. I always consider myself "Epinions wallpaper" - Always there but kind of blend into the background. This has it's advantages also, I can't say I have ever received a nasty email and actually collect a fair share of IS from the site.

Don't let the negative members change a thing you do, you sure are off to a flying start.

Mark 		Jan 11 '04
9:08 am PST
Ha (Reply to this comment)
by rebbecaa
Hey to make more people jealous I will add you to my Trust List ;) I only add people who write good. I just removed 3 people from when I first started here in 2000 because their reviews were bad.

Don't worry about the bad mouthers out there. In 1999 when I started on the internet I was naive enough to think on the internet you could have an intelligent conversation. WRONG. The internet takes away the reprcussions of "What if the person who I am talking to doesn't like my idea?". So they are free to say nasty things.

Personally I love writing epinions reviews and I am sort of getting defiant with what is the "Norm" here at epinions.

Becky 		Jan 10 '04
9:34 pm PST
Welcome! (Reply to this comment)
by hugh_u_kidden
I hadn't seen any of your reviews before today; I looked at a few of them and will see more later. I like your energy. :) Hope your next month goes well too! :)

Hugh U.Kidden 		Jan 10 '04
7:46 pm PST
*Replies* (Reply to this comment)
by sarahlovesadam
Jankp, mike.holmes, tiggert12140, noslexa, mariahan, SpongeBob, & Barakah~ Thanks for all the wonderful comments!! =) =) =)

OCF~

I got blocked by one of your new admirers, which was then miraculously self-corrected.

Oh really...I'm sorry, I guess. What should I have done to make sure you didn't get blocked? What did I do wrong this time?

By the way, what the hell kind of internet marketing survey asks how one would go about killing someone?

The kind that I got in my email...(?)

But I'll never back down from that kind of behavior I just saw on my PP

What? PP? *Goes to check mobiprof's dictionary*...Ohh, profile page!! Hmm..ok..

You do seem to have a hard time understanding me for some reason.

Bingo. I am officially confused...I know you are just gonna say "yeah right" but I still don't know why somebody blocking you and then not blocking you has anything to do with me...

You can go on thinking what you want to think about me, but believe it or not, I'm not out to get you. Nobody here who left a nice comment was trying to "worship" me...they were just being nice, friendly, non-judgemental people=)

~Sarah~

Jan 10 '04
6:05 pm PST
Re: Re: Re: *Wow..more replies..hehe* (Reply to this comment)
by barakah59
Tom was this in response to OCF? After a while these threads get confusing.

OCF,
I really don't believe Sarah joined this site with a foreknowledge of epinion politics. Her popularity is as I have described it she is indeed charismatic and for all the right reasons. My little ode to Sarah was just a way of saying some nice things about her. When some folks want to say mean things (by my nature) I want to counter those with encouraging words. And in recognition of her accomplishments I felt inspired to give her that encouragement. I am fairly new to this site but I still think it quite remarkable that everything she has written has moved to the #1 spot in it's category.

Tom,
You have stated, and I agree, that those who rate your work are not just a bunch of rubber stamping nitwits who don't have the brains are courage to rate on their own. Do you think Sarah's reviews are lacking and undeserving of their position?

Sarah,
You mentioned in this review that 'you have know idea why so many people trust you and you hope it's for the right reasons.' Well honey I think most of them are for the right reasons and the few that were trying to get something or had some silly motive will leave with empty pockets just the way they came. If that happens then don't fret it. What I said about your writing and friendly behavior will continue to attract support from this community. Now to pass on some advice that Tom (sleeper54) sent to me in an email. 'Just continue to be consistent and people will trust you.' that was the best advice I have gotten from anyone on this site. Thanks Tom

Much Happiness to you Sarah and Adam too ;O)

Mark 		Jan 10 '04
2:48 pm PST
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