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My One Year Anniversary: What have I learnedMar 01 '05 (Updated Apr 03 '05) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line An interesting concept indeed.
I originally joined epinions just to see if it was as bad as many of the other money-making sites on the internet today. It was merely an experiment for me and I had no intention of continuing to write after the initial trial period. Well it is a year later and as you can tell from my stats that I participated a lot more than I expected to. From a financial standpoint, I learned that this was not a good way to make money. But I have earned more with epinions than with any other money making program out there and the process was far more enjoyable. Not only is this a good outlet for expressing my views but I get to learn about other people too, an unanticipated benefit. Last Spring I finished my Masters project. It is written in a technical manner that is not very much fun to write. You have to read your entire project 50-100 times just to check for simple errors in spelling, grammer, and communication. The thing I liked about epinions is that I do not have to worry about those things. I just write for fun and usually only proof read once, sometime twice. And as I am sure you know, my reviews are not written at a master’s level, and they should not be. My view I view epinions as one big social experiment. We are a collection of different personalities that are trying to create an ever-changing world. And this world is filled with all sorts of views, ideas, and opinions. I believe this diversification is the true strength of epinions. The only bad part of this is when people fail to understand this and feel that all other users should follow their views/beliefs. Then the drama begins. The coolest thing about epinions for me is that I get to learn about different people's opinions, personalities, and beliefs. Now I do not agree with all of them but for me I enjoying learning how other people view the world. This is why I think write-offs are important, they allow us to learn more about another person (now if epinions management will only make this a separate category.) I also believe this diversity is important for epinions to survive. We need people from all walks of life, all beliefs, and every education level in order to properly represent the economy as a whole. Diversity is very important to any successful organization. Some of the bad. I have not had any real bad experiences on epinions. I haven’t been cussed at, called a slut, no one has threatened my life, no one has stolen my personality or personal tragedies, no one has falsely accused me of plagiarism, none of the things I have seen other users experience. So the following issues are relatively minor, but I wanted to express them here to give new users an idea of what to expect at this site. One of the most recent occurrences was a user making a false personality. She wrote well and everyone liked her, until she started to fake a head injury for sympathy. The “intheswamppond” is a common occurrence I have seen 3 times this last year, but she was definitely the worst. It was upsetting to see someone so well like feel like they have to make stuff up. In another instance, I had a couple users rate me down and when I called them on it I found out they did not read my reviews (two of them were advisors). This is when I started to wonder why some people had hats. I saw someone that I liked (and still like) lost all of his hats because of a stupid plagiarism issue (and he knows his actions were stupid). In that instance I really saw how the community acted as a whole, both good and bad. Some people were understanding and others were very vicious. It was an eye opening experience. But there is a positive to this whole experience. I believe that a person is not measured by how he falls but a person is truly measured by how they get back up again. He apologized and worked to get back into the good graces of the community. And more importantly than that, the community allowed him to get up and continue to be part of the community. And then there is the way new users are treated. When I was “new” user I wrote a good review that I thought should be rated at a VH. I compared it to inferior reviews that got that rating so I knew this review would be rated a VH. Well I had an advisor rate it at a H first and everyone else followed suit. There were no comments left and no other advisor choose to rate the review (but members did read it without rating it). Well after a month, and earning 0 cents, I deleted the review. About 6 months later I saw the review in one of my folders. I reread it and thought it was a fine review. I went ahead and reposted it to see what people were going to rate it as. Every single reviewer rated it as a VH review except one, he rated it a MH. All I could do was laugh. The only reason the original review was rated as a H review was because I was new, not because it was an average review. And, btw, I have only earned 8 cents on that review to date. Lol. Some of the good The positive far outweighs the negative on epinions. There are a lot of wonderful people that I get to learn more about, and maybe someday develop a strong friendship with. Although the money isn't great but it is better than any other website program I have tried. And it is enough to take my wife out to dinner. So as long as I can do that then I'll be happy with the IS. As I said previously, I get to learn more about other people. Abraham (openroad) has been very helpful in answering my questions, even when they were dumb. He answered my question is great depth and his answers were carefully thought out. I owe a great deal to him for his advice and support, he really helped me grasp what epinions was all about. Thx. I would also like to thank openroad, mind-full, and pogomom for exemplifying how leads should act. They have always been able to add products that I requested and answered my questions. They have always acted in a courteous and professional manner. Thx. There is also mcmaster that served in Iraq, then injured, and has had more operations than I care to think about. We would not have our freedom today if we did not have people like him willing to sacrifice their lives. I do not know how many other users have served in Iraq but I just want to tell you all that I appreciate your sacrifice. Scott (puckmugger) has enlightened me about hockey and coffee over the past year with a very comical way of writing. So many people, including myself, are envious of his ability to write humorous reviews. I hope you are able to find the time to write some more. There are also a great number of people (too many to mention here) that consistently write encouraging comments on people's reviews. This core group of writers is what keeps epinions going. Without positive people, epinions would not be very much fun. What does the future hold? Gee I wish I knew. But my plans are to continue to contribute regularly to the outdoors and home & garden sections. Both are areas I find interesting and I have a ton of reviews that I need to write for both areas. My problem right now is I am working on another credential. So between that, my work, and my family, I do not have much time to write. Meaning, I will only be able to get 4-8 reviews out a month for the time being. What I also plan on doing is having fun with the site, trying to not take it too seriously, and try to get to know more about the individuals that makeup this community. Before I joined I did not think that an internet community could really work, but after this last year I can see that it does. An interesting concept indeed.  |
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