How to pry that "Very Helpful" from my tight lil fist
Jan 17 '01 (Updated Jul 28 '01)
The Bottom Line Rate subjectively, and take many things into consideration. Try to view the site with the end-user in mind. Listen to your gut, and don't be afraid to be tough.
Now that I’ve been a member of Epinions for several months, have reached that 50th review threshold, and have actually received a few emails questioning the way that I have rated reviews, I may as well indulge in my first ever editorial about those irksome little facts of Epinions “life”: the ratings.
I’m not going to pretend that I have a flawless ratings formula that the rest of the community should emulate. I just feel as if people who have received lower ratings from me than they expected deserve an explanation, as do any other people who might have seen a review with my name stamped under “Somewhat Helpful” and wondered why I rated it that way. So, here it is…
(cue the drumroll!)
What LilScamp likes to see in a review, a.k.a., how to get me to VH you.
Above all else, I like to see that an author takes pride in their work. What that means will vary from review to review. Although I can’t give you an exact formula, there are certain tip-offs that I look for in order to determine how much care an author takes in producing their review or editorial.
I look for proper grammar and spelling, which indicate that the author took the time to proofread and spell check their work before posting it to the site. I realize that there are many people who haven’t been blessed with the educational opportunities that some of the rest of us have, and that some other people just have a natural aversion to spelling. While both of those circumstances are unfortunate, I feel that in order to maintain the quality of this commercial website, we ought to try to adhere to fairly conventional rules of grammar and spelling. There are many programs available that check grammar and spelling, including almost every major word processing program currently on the market. Take advantage of those utilities! I won’t automatically knock a review down a notch on the rating scale for one or two spelling mistakes or typographical errors, but if the mistakes are frequent enough to distract me from the content of the review, I will not VH it.
Along the same vein, if a review is formatted in a very strange way so that it distracts me from the content, I cannot VH it. This includes irregular or abnormal line breaks and reviews that are one unending paragraph. Again, I know that some people are at a disadvantage here because their ISPs do not allow for basic functions such as line breaks, in which case I can only beg them to get a real Internet service. We need to think about the end-users of the site as much as we think about our fellow writers, and an end-user may find sloppy formatting to be very unprofessional.
As far as content is concerned, I look for product reviews that include all of the information that a buyer needs to make an informed decision. If questions are left unanswered in my mind, I cannot VH a product review. If you’re reviewing a printer, tell me the quality of the print job, how much it costs, its size, how easy or difficult it is to install and operate, and how it compares to other printers that you have used. I like to leave a review with the feeling that it was complete. In other words, read my mind and answer all my questions before I ask them, darn it!
I like to see reviews and editorials that are well organized. When it is clear that an author has taken the time to order their ideas before sitting down to write, I am always impressed; I feel as if the vast majority of opinions on this site are spur-of-the-moment and often rather rough and cursory. Although spur-of-the-moment reviews can sometimes be inspired, I find myself giving out more VHs to those reviews that I can tell were carefully constructed by their creators.
I insist that reviews of products demonstrate that the author has actually seen/heard/read/used the product in question. If you are reviewing an album, describe the songs, the sound, the genre of music and how the band fits into it. If you’re reviewing a movie or a book, tell me a little bit about the plot, even if it’s only a teaser. Describe how that lipstick wears, how those running shoes felt while you were racing in your last 10K, or how that beer really tastes. If I read a travel review, I want to hear, see, and even smell the place through your words. I want to know that whoever wrote the review actually has been there and done that!
Very often the pivot upon which my ratings will spin is the author’s effort and ability to defend their opinion, especially if it is a controversial product or idea. I like it if the author has provided proof that they have thought through the objections that another person would have to their opinion. If you are writing a product review, then look at a couple of other reviews of the item that clearly disagree with your own before you begin to write. For example, if you plan to give a movie four stars when almost everyone else has given it one or two stars, then look at a couple of those opinions. If everyone else has said that the acting was terrible but you disagree, then make sure that you specifically discuss the acting. In fact, go ahead and point out that “although some feel that the acting in this film was shallow and contrived, the scene between the busboy and the transvestite hula dancer was one of the best-acted, most touching moments in the history of the cinema.” Even if I heartily disagree with your opinion, I will VH it if I feel that you have actually defended your point of view and have given thought to the objections that others would make to your opinion. That’s the philosopher in me rearing her naughty little head, I’m afraid. I love to see a strong, considered argument!
Finally, keep me engaged. Use humor, active verbs, and plenty of description. Stimulate my Scamp-ish lil brain. At the same time, don’t make an opinion longer than it needs to be. Editing is an oft-overlooked art around this place. I feel that sometimes we Epinionators forget about the end-users of the site. While we may not mind reading drawn out reviews by our fellow writers, a person actually seeking product info would probably be annoyed by a seven page long story about your toddler’s reaction to daddy’s new LaserJet. Verbosity is better suited to editorials and community center pieces than to product reviews.
My ratings are very subjective; a review can be missing some of the elements listed above and still earn an VH from me, while other reviews may have almost every one of these qualities and lack only that last, crucial ability to keep me interested and hence get stamped as Helpful. I wish that I could provide a concrete explanation of how I rate and stick to it without swerving, but I cannot – I must follow the whims of my Epinions muse when it comes to clicking those ratings buttons, and I have a feeling that many other raters probably do the same thing.
Good writing to ye! ^_^
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
LilScamp
|
|
Member: Sara
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Reviews written: 94
Trusted by: 76 members
About Me:
I'm back-- and starting down the road to veterinary school! Critters will be my life.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.