Confessions of an HR Abuser
Jul 12 '00
Earlier today I read a very informative review by emeleel (http://www.epinions.com/user-review-6933-DC123BC-396CA5A8-prod2) discussing a new “filter” here at Epinions that punishes members who give out too many HR ratings by rendering their ratings anonymous. (Thanks for this info, emeleel!)
Now, I openly admit that I give out a high percentage of HR ratings and my recent drop in “reciprocal” reads leads me to think that I may have been anonymized, myself. But whether or not I’m now anonymous isn’t really the point. Rather, it’s the motive behind this new filter: giving out too many HR ratings can indicate various negative behaviors that this new filter will hedge. HR abuse can suggest, for example, that a member is “rubber-stamping” reviews, not reading them and automatically HRing in hopes of getting high reciprocal ratings. It can also suggest that a member isn’t discriminating between well-researched, informative reviews and those that are lesser so, which degrades the feedback-loop function of our ratings.
In my case, however, HR abuse is simply the result of being conflict-shy. I write online political commentary for Rightgrrl and the American Partisan that’s often picked up by larger sites, such as WorldNetDaily and the Washington Times. Because of this wider exposure, I get a lot of reader feedback – some of it positive and encouraging, some of it negative and demoralizing. I regularly receive, for example, profane email from people who simply disagree with my stance on a political issue. Some negative feedback can be quite prolific – emails sent every hour or every day. Some of it is downright frightening, including threats. I’ve grown fairly accustomed to this particular hazard of writing political commentary, but here at Epinions I’d hoped to enjoy a more serene online writing experience.
As such, I’ve been reluctant to give SRs and downright frightened to give NRs. In the few instances where I have, I’ve left a (hopefully) kind comment explaining my lower rating and offering to return to the review for reconsideration if it’s ever updated, edited or expanded. In my attempts to avoid conflict, though, I almost always avoid any review on the Just In list that isn’t already Highly Recommended. Pretty wimpy, huh?
I now see the error of my ways. Limiting myself to only reviewers I know and high rated reviews cheats everyone: the Epinion audience at large, the reviewers I pass by, and ultimately, it hurts me as my scope here at Epinions becomes severely self-limited.
Reviewers out there who are writing R and SR reviews need everybody’s feedback – not just feedback from the “brave” among us. So today I’ve made a point of reading any review whose title interests me, regardless of its previous rating. And when I think it warrants only an SR, I try to explain why, in detail. I’ve actually asked the questions that have occurred to me when reading their opinion, and I’ve tried to encourage writers to expand on certain thoughts or themes. Because an SR rating can seem like a discouragement, that conscious encouragement is all the more necessary.
This brings up the question: what warrants an SR rating? Or anything less than an HR rating, for that matter? Though I was an English major/linguistics minor in college, I don’t use mastery of the language as my rating criteria. Copious misspelling does hinder the expression of any opinion, so that may factor in a lower rating, but writing skill is not the essence of Epinions, as I see it. The review’s usefulness is what I’m rating, it’s the information I gain or don’t gain regarding the product or service being reviewed. Hopefully, keeping this in mind will help me avoid conflict here at Epinions – a low rating is not an attack on anybody’s skill or creativity, simply a suggestion that certain questions regarding the product/service have been left unanswered – a problem easily fixed!
Now, this approach takes a little more time and requires a bit more courage. But now that I think about it, that’s what I’d hope others would do for me, and that sort of extension of ourselves is what makes this site a valuable community for writers of all levels of expertise.
The moral of the story: don’t do what I did! It’s probably a cliché by now, but it bears repeating: don’t limit yourself to known writers, don’t be afraid to rate low, and be prepared to explain your low ratings. And if that does bring conflict into your Epinions world, know that at least you’ve got a community of support behind you. If you’re rating fairly and explaining your actions, there’s really nothing to fear.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
TheAdvocate
|
|
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 98 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.