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How I Rate ReviewsMar 19 '05 (Updated Jan 30 '06) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line In which I try to quantify the reasons I give the ratings I do
I’ve had this on my user page for some time, but decided it needed a more permanent home. I don’t necessarily expect that everyone will rate reviews by these same standards, but I do think everyone should develop their own guidelines that are both fair and consistent. ________________________________________________ MOST HELPFUL—A with extra credit This is the standard against which all reviews ought to be compared. This is a review that is well thought out, well written, easy to understand, entertaining, and genuinely helpful in terms of making a buying decision. Generally speaking, I won't even consider giving you a MH unless there are at least a couple of other reviews on the same item. The exception is that sometimes a review is so well-written that there is virtually no chance that anyone could possibly do better. I don't think MH reviews really come along all that often—I won't be giving these out like candy on Halloween. But if I am truly impressed by all aspects of your review, I will gladly give you this rating (in categories where I am able.) ________________________________________________ VERY HELPFUL—B to A This review is really well done. It has a balance of product description and personal experience (or, for books and movies, plot summary and analysis) that makes it easy to decide if this is something that would appeal to me—whether or not I actually agree with your review. A VH review won't have major grammar, spelling or formatting problems because they detract from the content of the review; but minor problems, by themselves, won't knock an otherwise VH review down to H. Remember also that including tons of data won’t necessarily make your review Very Helpful. Sometimes (but not always) reviews that are short, sweet, and to the point convey an opinion better and therefore are more likely to get a higher rating. ________________________________________________ HELPFUL—C to B This is a review that covers the basics, but doesn't leave me 'wowed.' It has product description and personal analysis, but probably isn't as well written or complete as a VH review. Sometimes all it would take to bump a review from H to VH are minor corrections, clarification of some awkward phrasing, or a few added sentences. Always remember, H is not a bad rating. If I give you this rating it means I thought you did a good job, but that there is still room for improvement. Any review I think should be seen by the public will automatically get at least a Helpful rating. ________________________________________________ SOMEWHAT HELPFUL—D to C- A SH review probably needs some significant re-writing. This review is either missing major elements of product description or personal experience, or is written in a way that I can't follow what you are trying to say. I will usually leave a comment when I give a SH rating unless there are already several comments covering exactly the issues that I had noticed. Sometimes a SH review only needs minor adjustments to push it to H or VH, sometimes it needs major revision. This is the best rating I will give to a review that I think should not be seen by non-members of Epinions. ________________________________________________ NOT HELPFUL—F This is a review that is in violation of site rules. It may plagiarize someone else's work. It may be intentionally offensive or contain ad hominem attacks on an individual or group. It may be an exact duplicate of another review you've posted on the site. Or it may not contain any information on the product reviewed that can be found helpful in any way. Many NH reviews are likely to be referred to customer care for TOS abuse. In all likelihood, the NH reviewer knew the review was NH before it was posted. The best disposition of an NH review is for the reviewer to remove it from the site and spend some time in contemplation of whether Epinions is really where they belong. ________________________________________________ OFF TOPIC—you turned in your science homework to your math teacher This review is in the wrong place. It is either incorrectly posted under a similar product in a different category (ie: a review of a movie being posted under a book with the same name) or it is posted as a product review when it is really an opinion piece. I will always leave a comment when rating OT unless someone else has already pointed the reviewer to the correct category. ________________________________________________ SHOW This Express Review tells what the product is and if you liked it. For books or movies that means at least a brief plot summary. For other products it means tell me what was great and what was awful. ________________________________________________ DON'T SHOW There's just not enough in this Express Review for me to find it useful for making any kind of decision about what you were reviewing. Please note that I rarely read Express Reviews except in the books category. ________________________________________________ AUTHOR'S NOTE Keep in mind that I am only human, and I will try to afford you the same courtesy. If you disagree with a rating I have given you, please contact me personally before you decide to hate me, attack me, or cast an evil curse or revenge rating at me. I will do my best to explain my rating to you, and I am willing to admit it if I make a mistake. Sometimes it's impossible to explain why a particular review didn't measure up—chalk it up to personal taste—but always know that I will never down-rate a review based on personal bias against the reviewer. ________________________________________________ I've updated and clarified a few of my thoughts on this subject in this more recent essay. That one doesn't replace this one - I still stand by what I've written here.  |
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