How I Rate, and Other Senseless Babblings
Apr 09 '00
I’ve been a member of Epinions for several months now. In that time I’ve probably rated over a thousand reviews, and been rated almost as many times.
I’ve been the victim of more than a few retaliatory ratings. And I’ve read several comments on my reviews that have convinced me that I’ve received more than a few “Not Recommended” ratings because readers simply didn’t agree with my liking or disliking a particular product, rather than on the quality of my review.
As such, I’ve decided to write this little dissertation on how I rate reviews. This is not to convince others how to rate my own reviews, as I know that everyone has their own take on that; I certainly don’t want to force my opinions or practices on anyone.
But for those of you reading this commentary because you’d like to know why I gave your review the rating I did, I think this will help. And for those of you reading this to get some ideas on how to rate the reviews you read on Epinions, I hope this little recipe will help you too.
Ratings
"Highly Recommended" is a rating I reserve for well-written, well-thought-out reviews that offer helpful insights and useful information to its readers. To be considered for this rating, an opinion must be accurate, thorough, on-topic, and interesting. Spelling and grammar mistakes, if kept to a minimum, won’t generally disqualify a review from this rating. Gross errors, however, will.
I’d like to elaborate on the “interesting” criteria. I’ve talked to several people who don’t believe a review needs to be interesting in order to receive an HR rating. I disagree. A lot of what separates a wonderful review from a good review (in other words, "Highly Recommended" instead of merely "Recommended")is how entertaining or fun it is to read. This does not mean it needs to be funny. But a reader (myself in this case) must be feel the desire to read a review from beginning to end, not simply an obligation to finish it, in order for a review to be in that’s select category of “Highly Recommended”.
"Recommended" is for reviews that fit at least three of the criteria listed above, and miss the fourth by a short distance. They must also offer a decent amount of useful information.
"Somewhat Recommended" is best suited for reviews that meet only two of the four criteria, but still offer some sort of useful information.
"Not Recommended" is suited for any review that misses three of the criteria, or includes offensive material, word-splicing to meet minimum word requirements, a gross amount of spelling or grammatical errors, or provides no useful or intuitive information to its readers.
I do not believe that agreement with an opinion is necessary for it to receive a "Highly Recommended" rating, as the quality of the review itself is being rated, not the perspective or opinion. I have personally Highly Recommended many reviews I don't agree with, simply because they met the criteria I have set for ratings, and because they at least inspired me to think about the product or service from a perspective other than my own.
And I strongly disagree with the practice of "Not Recommending" reviews as a form of revenge. This is childish and has no place in such a mature community as Epinions.
Comments
The fact that Epinions allows readers to leave comments on reviews they read is brilliant. It gives you the chance to give advice to the writer, or to explain why you rated their review a certain way if it’s not already obvious. More often than not, I try to leave a comment with my rating, even if it’s just to say, “Good job”.
The End
Well, I hope this gives readers some insight on my criteria for rating reviews. And just maybe it will help those of you who are trying to figure out a system for yourself. For those of you looking for advice on how to write reviews, maybe this will give you some things to think about as you write.
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Epinions.com ID:
misterME
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Member: Michael E. Hopkins
Location: Columia, SC
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 41 members
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