My entry in the Personal Epinions W/OJul 24 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Pets
The Bottom Line Looking back on the year that just went by.
This is my entry in Romasuave's compelling My Own Personal Epinions W/O. Without further ado... Member Name and meaning behind it (if there is one) As should be expected, my member name illustrates my interest in the Platonic tradition (especially Neoplatonism). Date I joined Epinions July 21, 2004. I just completed my first year on Epinions, and commemorated it with yet another review of an obscure film... How I stumbled upon Epinions I'm not too sure about this... but I think I really discovered Epinions when I searched for reviews on Tangerine Dream's two best-known albums, Phaedra and Rubycon, in early 2004. I loved the format of the reviews and what skilled writers could put into them, and decided to join the site a few months later. Number of member visits 2,935. Number of total visits 8,376. My very first review (with link and description) In a fairly bold move, I actually started my Epinions stint with a review of Ed Wood's Glen or Glenda. It remains my least visited review to this day, but I still think it's rather good, albeit a little brief. Like most Epinions reviewers, I guess, my first few pieces were considerably shorter than what I would come up with later (it might have been a good thing...). The 3 favorite reviews that I've written (with links) I'd go with these: A review of Gregory Shaw's book Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus, in which I tried to make a frequently misunderstood phenomenon more palatable; my piece on The KLF's ambient album Chill Out, possibly the shortest and most "to-the-point" of my reviews; as far as video games go, I might choose Coleco visions: recollections, observations and anecdotes about the Colecovision, because it featured an unusual approach to a console known by millions of gamers. My most complete review I guess my piece on the Order of the Solar Temple could be a strong candidate here. Writing about a sect isn't always easy. My most successful Write-Off entry I made about ten cents (but got a decent number of page hits) for my piece on Andre Breton's Manifestoes of Surrealism. I'm glad if some people discovered this key work because of my review. Favorite W/O I participated in (with link) I'd have to choose not one but two write-offs. Since I'm into weird, arcane and unknown stuff, I loved both of these: mothermeatloaf's I Didn't Know That! W/O (my entry: The Strange Case of the Pseudo-Dionysius); and msmorvay's Resurrecting the Oldies W/O. And this very W/O is just as insightful. My most lucrative review (with link and $$$ earned) My Da Vinci Code review hasn't quite made me a buck just yet, but it's been my most "lucrative" piece thus far (I rarely review widely known or popular works, so...). Lucky I didn't join Epinions for the money, since my sixty-five reviews average roughly ten cents a piece as of now! Things I like most about Epinions As I have stated elsewhere, I rarely read Epinions reviews to know if I should buy this or that product, although some reviews did lead me to works I would not have read/seen/played otherwise. I'm more drawn to the anecdotes, personal tidbits and commentary that give me access to other people's worldviews and interests. It's mainly as such that I find the site constantly rewarding, whether I agree or not with a given reviewer's positions. Things I dislike most about Epinions Although the database is getting more and more impressive, there are still a good number of films and (especially) books that are nowhere to be found (truth be told, I haven't yet requested for an item to be added to the database, so I shouldn't complain). I'm not too keen on the "revenge/ideological ratings" that seem to be applied by some Epinions reviewers, either. Members I admire most on Epinions Well... singling out people can lead to blatant omissions, but I'll readily mention five reviewers whose polyvalence makes their reviews a joy to read: flash-hammer, fuche_bu, Stephen_Murray, trust12345 and verbatima. My ultimate goal at Epinions I wouldn't mind being either an Advisor or a Top Reviewer in a given category, as time passes, but this isn't a goal per se. I tend to write reviews in multiple categories (Games, Movies, Books and Music), anyway, so it might take a long while before I have a sufficient number of pieces in any of them to qualify. But more generally, I only wish to enjoy writing and reading insightful reviews for years to come.  |
| Read all comments (6)|Write your own comment |
