I recently spotted a review of an item that really should not have deserved a review at all, let alone a review that was more than twice the length necessary to take it out of the ranks of an express review. This review went on for quite a few paragraphs and it actually contained only a single sentence that had any genuine substance to it - the rest of the review was complete filler, nothing but meaningless fluff. The subject of the review could be purchased new for less than 70 cents. It was a ruler review. I have also found paperclip reviews that were similar in nature.

For something that costs less than a dollar, has only a few characteristics or functions and is essentially identical to all of its competitors, why does one need a review in the first place? If Epinions made the business decision to list such items because it can obtain a profit by doing so, then I suppose we cannot complain. However, if the numerous such very basic office equipment items have appeared here because one or more members requested they be listed, then that is astonishing and pathetic. No one reads an online review to help them decide what 69 cent item to purchase - you look at the item on the shelf and decide if you want to spend pocket change on a cheap ruler or a few dollars more on a plastic or steel one. Let's be honest: if you are not able to make a purchase of this sort without someone else helping you make the decision, you probably aren't able to get to the store by yourself in any event. In fact, even having a review of an utterly basic item that is essentially fungible with the competition’s products arguably wastes money - you’re probably wasting more on electricity having the computer on to read the review than you could save.

If there needs to be a review of such an item, anything that needs to be said about it could be said in only a few sentences and should not even approach the word limit for an express review. For an item of this sort, there are only two reasons to exceed the express review word limit, if the review includes an entertaining, preferably funny story, or if the review compares numerous similar products.

We colloquially refer to a person who compulsively, indiscriminately and for no good reason sleeps with dozens of partners as a skank or slut. The sort of Epinions member that feels a need to post reviews of minor office products like this is a review skank. The amazing thing is, that this first ruler review I spotted received more than two dozen ratings, every one a VH. Every one of those members who gave this review a VH rating enabled this review skank and validated what he or she was doing. They told this reviewer “It’s great that you wrote a review about something that did not need to be reviewed, took a single sentence of substance, and added eight paragraphs of nonsense for the sole purpose of being able to turn an express review into a regular one.” The review wasn’t even entertaining and wasn’t particularly well-written.

Let’s not enable these people. Stop giving worthless reviews like this VH ratings when there is no good reason to do so. If you spot a review of a product that did not need a review and the reviewer is doing nothing more than spewing and churning, engaging in review-writing promiscuity, don’t reward such activity. If you feel compelled to leave a rating, rate it the way a review that is better than 90% meaningless should be rated.

While I have never written an office supply review, I have heard numerous times that they do quite well in hits and IS, especially considering the price. I think most members do those reviews more as a way to relax with their reviewing a bit rather than with the idea that people will actually be hanging on their every word to decide anything.

Epinions lists these items to be reviewed. What exactly is wrong with people reviewing them?

Mark

Why not just decide for yourself, not to read them?

But if Eps lists them, clearly they make a profit from them. (Eps is a business first and foremost, right?). So who, exactly, is being hurt by these reviews?

I have one such review. It has 48 outside visits and has more than paid for the product several times over in I.S. Sounds like a winner to me!


Mona

I've reviewed blank CDs, which cost perhaps 10 cents each at the time. That review has earned back nearly $10, so there is obviously some interest in CD reviews. I also reviewed a simple tool that cost no more than $1 at the time. I did it to get in another review in that category, in order to maintain my hat in that category.

Chances are that the ruler reviewer wrote the review thinking it would help earn/keep a hat in that category. As long as Epinions has hats, and standards to attain hats remain murky, there will be reviews of trivial products. Hell, there'll probably be reviews of trivial products because some people consider them a challenge. (That had something to do with why I reviewed a $1 tool.)

--Bob

Before I attempt to answer why I would write a ruler review, let me provide some statistics on some of my most ridiculous reviews:

A ball of rubber bands - 92 / 1528
Liquid Paper - 52 / 266
Index cards - 72 / 249
Composition books 53 / 819

I also have reviews of fortune telling fish, "pride and joy" cards, and .....

The list goes on. While not huge hit magnets, these all continue to get hits. I don't get it, but it's true. While I don't know who would seek out a review on rubber band balls, clearly there are folks who will.

Now, as to why I write these kind of reviews....

In attempting to use Epinions' quirky database, I sometimes find myself coming across really odd items. Many include the invitation to "Write a Review." Just for kicks and giggles, I will sometimes seek out other odd items. Frankly, I find writing reviews fun even when I think the existence of the review is inane.

For me, the best part in writing a review about these inane items is that I am forced to stop and consider how ordinary items differ from each other, do those differences matter to me and why? Before I started doing magic, a deck of cards was a deck of cards. There are details in my reviews of playing cards now that I suspect the average person thinks is padding, but which I find important.

If I were to review a ruler, I would consider the material out of which the ruler was made. I personally prefer wood rulers with a metal edge. I didn't realize that until I wrote that. Figuring out that preference would be part of the review.

I would consider how I usually use a ruler. I don't tend to use them to measure as much as to provide a straight edge. Again, until I started writing I didn't realize that I tend towards tape measures or "just eyeballing" things. For the projects I do that require measuring length, a ruler is too small.

I'm starting to have difficulty reading small print, so the size and clarity of the markings on the ruler would matter to me if I was measuring things.

I challenge you to stop and look around you. Find something very inexpensive and ordinary, and see if you can write a review about it.

I'd also suggest that if you don't think an item is worthy of being reviewed, don't feel obligated to read it.

Naphtalia

A CD-R review is not the same thing - there is no way to look at the product and assume that it will actually function as intended. Certain brands of blank media are notorious for failure rates. Additionally, there are performance differences between different brands and models. Also, unless you are buying it from the front desk of your local community college's computer room, you're not buying one 10-cent disk, you're buying a $5 or $10 pack of them. I can pretty easily see exceeding a 200 words on a computer media review and having it all be relevant. Rulers and paper clips tend to be virtually interchangeable, leaving little room for any degree of creativity in crafting a review of that specific brand and model of the item.

If one wants to extend the "If it bothers you, then ignore it" advice a bit, there probably isn't much point to half of what is posted on this message board, is there?

Does the mere fact that Epinions allows a member to include the statement "I like to cluck like a chicken" or write in abbreviated teen webspeak in every one of his or her reviews mean that it is a good idea to do so? My criticism isn't just that one can write a review about a trivially simple item, but that many of those people who write such reviews aren't providing much actual information about the item and aren't even being entertaining about it (yet nonetheless receive all VH ratings for the review).

I had not really considered that playing the system on reviews of trivial items could result in any meaningful earnings. Honestly, how much could one earn from a paperclip review? If writing reviews like these can have a genuine impact on the Hat selection process, I guess that clears up some of the puzzled astonishment I have had about Epinions over the years.

Some of the items up for review on here yield 'wolf t-shirt' type reviews, but so what? Sometimes, a lot of creativity goes into them and it doesn't hurt anything. It's not like Epinions is losing money on these items. People do buy office supplies and other 'worthless' products online.

Epinions has always been a place where you can write freely. If the product is listed on the site, there's no reason why a member can't review it.

We are a community of writers free to express our opinions. Let's keep in the spirit of community and believe that everyone has something to contribute.

Christal

...

I am thinking . . .'write-off'.

Lets brainstorm the name, OK..??


. . . ...:ignorethispostitistrivialnonsensesmiliemoment:...



...mot...
.

Try a guitar pick review, to which I plead guilty.

MM

I've reviewed a few different guitar picks. They cost at most .99 each, although I usually buy them by the half dozen. I think it was during a pay per post promo, and I just had run out of things I could think of to review.

They were shorter than most of my usual reviews because there's not a lot to say. Aside from the promo money, I don't think they got much in the way of hits or IS.

I don't know what my thoughts are on writing about miniscule items.

The more I think on this, I have to say that I agree with those that say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Epinions obviously finds value in these.

At first, I thought reviews of "collectible action figures" seemed pretty lame. I mean, they stand there, what can you say about them? Then my son asked me how come I never reviewed his growing collection of action figures. When I actually saw in them what he saw in them, I understood what was important to him and other collectors.

I still feel the same way about items like Hummels, to me dust collectors, to others objets d'art.

As far as cheap office supplies go, sometime its good to know which 99 cent pen works. Although I haven't reviewed any, I can tell you having an office, some of these 99 cent pens are great and others aren't worth the ink they are unable to place on the paper with. Since I use pens a lot, this is actually good info, especially as pointed out above, I tend to buy pens in bulk.

If the item costs more than a dollar it's out. The winner will be the person who makes the most IS in one month on an item that costs one dollar or less? Any takers?

John

I think the basic thought is a good one. The CEO of "the Dollar store" was just on a cable news program this afternoon. The discussion surrounded the jump in sales in his number one store out of 1,700 (?) - Beverly Hills!!! (As he noted, the Dollar store on the West Coast - his - is a little different than the Dollar stores back East. Those on the West Coast chain are about 50% groceries.)

This would seem to be relevant to this discussion. If the Dollar stores are seeing a real jump in sales, would that not make such product listings on Epinions relevant - particularly as regards lesser known 'brands' which regularly appear on the shelves in these businesses?

But, as with Sleeper... Declaring winners based on something like IS accumulation might be too restrictive - and, potentially, 'unfair' given categories and how IS is currently being distributed in certain categories. I'd think similar problems would exist based on hit counts.

However, as noted, I think you've got the beginnings of an interesting idea...

The First Review Has Been Submitted!

John

Yeah - Tom's been acting really crazy lately - now he's seeing things. I'm worried about him.

Probably not what the original poster had in mind...

...

. . .and ignoring all those hateful, hateful posts...


How about allowing reviews at Shopping dot com if we can find a product over there..??

We can still link 'em up and all that. Or at least the URL at the review/comment section. Do SdC links work at Eps..??


Just a thought...



...tom...
.

Don't forget the pay-per-post money. The trivial item I will contribute to the writeoff was bought for $1, and will pay me $1.50 upfront. Not bad, huh?

Okay folks...is there a write off going on or not? Who do we send our links to or do we just announce in this thread that we've written a totally trivial review?

Sorry to say, I'm too busy to coordinate this right now (gigs all weekend! yay!) but I can knock out some drivel from my disordered mind on the most trivial of stuff.

Naphtalia

This thread really irritates me. First of all, I don't like the word 'skank.' Second of all, I will review whatever I want to review, when I want to do it. For example, I've had quite a few hits of a Liquid Paper review and I am sure I've made more money than I spent to buy it.

Oh, and I will rate whatever review I want to rate regardless if that makes me a 'skank' in anyone's opinion. I really don't care.


Summer (NOT Summer the Skank, although it does sound kinda funny)

... is an "I'm an Epi-skank" button. Whenever one of us reviews a sub-dollar item, we earn an Epi-skank button instead of IS.

Jane, you just earned an Epi-skank button for your review of twist ties.

Joe, for your fifth review of a common office product, you earn an Epi-skank button with an oakleaf cluster!

Then we can all proudly wear our Epi-skank buttons. Maybe someone can bring the game Trivial Pursuit to the next Meet 'n Greet.

--Bob

You guys are too funny. I needed a laugh today! I would prefer the word 'skankalicious' to Epi-Skank... I think.

Skank is a pretty gross word. Personally I think of cheap perfume, vinyl (YUCK) high heels and too much make-up, along with inexpensive cigars and cigarette butts. Gross. (Crinkling nose)

Male Skanks call entirely different images to mind.. Like.. hmm... Mickey Rourke.. anyway, I am rambling.

Thanks again for the laugh =)