Design for Epinions
Mar 05 '02
The Bottom Line Epinions could greatly benefit by applying some of the concepts of Design for Community.
Warning: Long Editorial… Not for the meek of heart!
Last week, I reviewed Design for Community, a book which attempts to explain the features and processes required to implement a successful community site. As I was reading that book, I couldn’t help but think of our little community here at Epinions. It falls into a special category of community sites called commerce communities. If you go by the Epinions’ literature, the primary goal of this site is to help consumers with purchasing decisions. However, many of us have used Epinions as a platform to exercise our creativity and to express our thoughts and feelings on a number of issues, not all of which are cleanly delineated under the defined site categories.
As with all commerce communities, Epinions is a strange and sometimes uncomfortable balance. Some people are here just to express opinions, and they could care less if the opinions fall within the scope of the site or if they are expressed with anything even remotely resembling proper grammar and punctuation. There are very few places where one might find someone with the obvious intelligence and education of mshawpyle and unpolished and usually non-existent style of…. Well… I’m not going to name names there. You pick your own candidate! And then we have Epinions’ expectations to consider. Who is this blasted consumer that we are trying to please, anyway? And how does anyone know what would be helpful for anyone else? My point is that these varying styles and expectations often lead to conflicts of what is helpful or not and what is appropriate or not.
To be sure, Epinions has its problems. Abuse, politics, and negligence have left the site a mere shadow of the promise that was shown when I joined. Things are starting to get to the point where most with any dignity and pride have stowed their keyboards and wandered off into parts unknown. The question that I kept asking myself as I was reading Design for Community was whether it is too late to salvage Epinions. So as I read, I tagged pages for further consideration in regards to Epinions. If one had given the book a good shake when I finished, I’m sure that it would have looked like a New York City ticker tape parade! However, as I looked back through the pages that I had marked, I found that many of the pages addressed the same topics. And I thought about how much better the site would be if only those issues were addressed.
This rather rambles, and I know it. I apologize in advance!
Make sure you’re sending the right message
If I’ve learned anything from my years of observing and creating online communities, it’s that the tone of the content you give your users is replicated and amplified a thousand times in the responses it generates. It works almost like an echo: If you scream into a canyon, you’ll hear a thousand screams back. (p. 20)
Epinions provides a platform for reviewing products. It has never claimed to be a comprehensive resource, though I suspect that it would like to be. However, many things about the site design and implementation sometimes leave users feeling quality is of little importance. It is not an environment that discourages bored members from making up their own amusements. Nor is it one in which a person feels that quality work and good behavior is especially rewarded. To correct this, Epinions needs to send the right message to users.
One would think that the first place to start would be monetary rewards for only those who are doing what Epinions wants, and I’d be lying through my teeth if I said I didn’t want that. However, the days when any web site can give meaningful monetary rewards to a large membership are long over. Investors won’t stand for a company that bleeds money.
Without monetary rewards, one must look to less obvious rewards. The easiest is to just show the users that their efforts are welcome, encouraged, and appreciated. Since the demise o the eRoyalty program, it has been clear that anyone who continues to write does so out of the love of writing or out of love for a specific section of the site. I personally write about books because I love books. Even the bad ones make me feel lucky to live in a country where I can get virtually any book I want whenever I want it. Epinions leaves me free to share my experiences with those books with an audience that is, in most cases, equally enthused about books.
The greatest reward that Epinions could give me is to show that it is as interested in my area of interest. Make sure that the products that I want to review are available for review and then make sure that they can be found by anyone who might be interested in them.
The first step is to make sure that the product database is up to date. Epinions wisely uses other sources to maintain its list of products. This saves lots of work on the part of the Epinions staff. However, Epinions must find a way to add to that product database on a regular basis. This might require more staff or enlisting the aid of a few trusted members. If more staff is required, perhaps Epinions can pay for it by selling its more complete database of products to other companies. Or it can defray the cost by organizing a regular data exchange. Perhaps it could even find a way to allow companies to add their own products to the database. Large companies might not bother, but I would bet that a number of small software companies, especially those producing PDA products, would happily do the work if Epinions provided the tools.
Next, Epinions must make sure that it’s easy to find the products. In the last few months, I’ve looked at four areas of Epinions where I would most likely contribute and make purchases: Books, Computer Software, ISPs, and Online Services. In each and every case, I’ve found that the ability to browse to the products that I want is non-existent. The categorization of products is too shallow to be of any use to someone who doesn’t know exactly what they are looking for. The site search is no help as it returns a list that doesn’t contain all of the products or that consists of a zillion products, no of which are the one for which I was searching. It’s frustrating at best! Epinions needs to replace the current search engine with one that is more like Google (which I always use when doing my Epinions search these days). The best search engine would be one that would return the user’s choice of results by category or results by search criteria found. It would also allow for searches on exact sentences or phrases in reviews.
Epinions can also send the right message by making sure that Top Reviewers reflect what it wants in all reviewers and by making sure that the selections cover the wide range of user interests. For instance, one Epinions pal of mine recently went through the Top Reviewer lists and found some odd problems. Most of the Top Reviewers for Books reviewed only children’s books, but there were few entries for reviewers primarily interested in history, science, or religion. In Movies, there were no Top Reviewers that covered movies from a gay or lesbian perspective.
I understand that many people believe that Top Reviewers should only be those people who are currently active on the site. However, there are some people who will ALWAYS be good examples of what Epinions wants in users, even if they never write another word for the site. There are people who, simply because of their unique perspective in a particular area, will always be an asset to Epinions. I am thinking about people like Grouch, whose reviews in Books and Movies are always worth a read. Or kurt_messick, whose knowledge of religious books surpasses that I’ve ever seen in anyone I know. Or forkids who wrote some of the best Kids & Family and children’s book material on the site. Or kchowell, whose Beauty reviews almost made me want to go out and buy a lipstick just to see if it really would make me feel as beautiful as she is. Or Leah, whose Gourmet reviews almost left me tasting the drink du jour! By giving some sort of special designation to these people, Epinions will send a message that it wants articulate, well thought-out reviews.
The Epinions Playground
One of the big problems with Epinions is that there is no defined place in which to play (or even to have playground squabbles). This leaves the members to play wherever they can find a place. And if there isn’t one, they will play where Epinions least wants them to play… in the categories for product reviews. This creates a dilemma for Epinions. It needs creative writers to create quality content. But the most creative writers are often the ones who color outside the lines when the feeling arises.
The best solution would be for Epinions to create a playground specifically for that purpose. Have it hosted by people who will keep the conversation rolling. Create various forums for things such as current events, general ramblings, creative writing, etc. Create a forum specifically for those who like “colorful” language and topics, but set it up so that only adults can get to it. Create another for the kids who frequent the site, so that they can socialize with people who are more likely to share their views. Create a “time out” area where people can bash the crap out of each other if they choose. This again sends a message to the users: “We want you around. But we don’t want you cluttering the product review categories.”
Raising the barrier
Epinions has a variety of problems, many of which lead to a lower quality site. New members post reviews without seeing how the site works first. Many of their reviews are horrible, due in great part because of an excess of enthusiasm and a shortage of talent or guidance.
In Design for Community, Matt Haughey at MetaFilter described how they changed the barrier of entry in order to discourage those who would abuse the site. Early on, they had problems with spammers, who would use the site as a dumping ground for links to other sites, and with new users who would break the rules unawares. They solved the problem by changing the limits on posting new items to the site. A person could join and start to post comments immediately, but they couldn’t post items to the site until they had been members for 24 hours and until they had commented on at least three articles. The result was a huge drop in abuse at the site. People didn’t inadvertently get into trouble because new members were forced to become acclimated before they ventured further into the site.
Epinions could use something like this to raise the barrier of entry as well. It needs to change the procedure so that a new member must wait 24 hours before posting comments and so that they must read and rate a certain number of reviews prior to submitting the first one. Epinions could also go another step and limit the number of reviews a new member can post. In many cases, the first half dozen reviews are so are weak. Everyone is so excited to have the ability to share his or her perspectives. Limiting the new user would give the user the time to figure out what is required. It would also give more experienced users more time to assist a new writer.
The last step that Epinions would need to take is to limit the number of NH and SH reviews that a member can have before they are handed their walking papers. For instance, I know a number of members who have over 100 NH-rated reviews. Why are they here? In my opinion, they should have been stopped from submitting another review after the 20th poorly rated review. After that, they should have been forced to remove or update an old bad review prior to posting a new review.
By implementing these changes, Epinions will send a clear message that it wants quality and not quantity. It would also reduce the clutter, making the site more enjoyable for everyone.
Post rules you can live with and that users can understand. Then stick with them!
Design for Community devotes an entire chapter discussing Policies and Policing. This issue is critical because a very loud, negative voice can send shockwaves through a community, setting off smaller fights and flame wars as it goes along.
The majority of fights on Epinions are over the interpretation and enforcement of the rules. Given that the rules are sometimes vague and oftentimes ignored, any member that wishes to see any particular rule enforced or broken tends to become the poster child for the “cops” or the “outlaws”. And every time one of these fights breaks out, little disagreements and a general bad attitude appears somewhere else.
To stop this, Epinions needs to take a page (or several) from Design for Community. Epinions must have reasonable rules with which people can easily comply. It must express them in clear and simple English, using examples if necessary. It must make sure that those rules are easily accessed, adding links to specific sections in places where the rules for apply. For instance, if there are rules that dictate what may or may not appear in a review, a link to those rules should appear on the page to submit and proofread reviews. Finally, Epinions needs a catchall clause that says, “We reserve the right to remove any account, review, or comment for any reason.” While I’m sure that some people will scream, “They can’t do that! That’s censorship!” If Epinions were a country, I’d agree. But since it isn’t, I view it as a reasonable editorial policy that has been adopted by most of the leading community sites across the Internet.
Epinions has also had problems due to the perceived User Agreement. Back when many of us signed up, the User Agreement was significantly different than it is now. If you ask some people, they would say that they have never accepted the new terms and are still operating on the old ones. You can’t really blame them for this attitude. After all, would YOU pay a higher mortgage rate if you hadn’t agreed to the new terms?
So it is clear that Epinions must be careful about how it changes the User Agreement. In order to make sure that everyone knows of User Agreement changes, Epinions should make it so that users must accept the new User Agreement the first time the user accesses Epinions after a User Agreement change. Users who do not accept the new terms should not be allowed to post new reviews.
Once Epinions has a set of rules and users have agreed to them, it must enforce the rules. That doesn’t necessarily mean that someone from Epinions has to be around every minute. It just makes sure that those who witness abuses can report them and that these reports are answered!
A link to the abuse-reporting page should be available on every page. Currently, that is buried in the Help for tickets and abuse. If you make it harder to report abuse, people won’t do it!
Epinions also has an increasingly poor record in handling abuse. In the last several months, I have rarely seen any action taken against the plagiarists and multiple account holders that I have reported through it. I often ask myself why I bothered, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one.
Finally, Epinions needs to build itself a “smoke alarm”. When a new abuser hits the site (typically one who pads reviews or posts obscene or argumentative content), the users know it. Many will add the lowlife to their Block Lists. When a person is being added to a number of block lists within a short span of time, this should be an alarm to Epinions that something is going on that should be investigated. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the person who is being added to Block Lists is an abuser though. I can think of at several cases where Editors were mass-blocked by users who were upset with the Editors’ ratings. In those cases, the mass block would be an indicator that the Editors needed help from above.
Category hosts
This is not a job for the faint of heart. The host acts as an enforcer of the rules, guardian of the gate, helper to those in need, and example to the community of how to behave. The host is the human face of the community, setting the rules and then sticking around to examine their impact. This is the person who people come to if they’ve got a beef or a question.
Keeping track of everything in a large community is an insurmountable task for any one person. Most community sites deal with this by recruiting trusted members who oversee certain aspects of the site. When I joined Epinions, Category Managers kept an eye on the various categories, and when they were eliminated, the site went downhill drastically. Without someone to add that missing product, to correct a broken link, or to reprimand an expert (the original Editor title) for bad ratings or comments, Epinions members have floundered.
It’s time to bring the Category Managers back, and if Epinions can’t afford full-time employees, it must find people that it trusts as if they were employees. Note that I said “that it trusts”! It should make very little difference if a person is trusted by 500+ people if Epinions does not feel that a member is acting in its best interests. The only place that Epinions should care about community perception is if the person is rarely trusted and/or widely distrusted by the community.
Egoboo
Epinions must also look at the way it selects individuals for recognition. In the past, Epinions has relied heavily on computer selection of Editors and Top Reviewers. Unfortunately, computers cannot measure quality or character, so when a person with character who writes quality reviews is selected, it’s more happenstance than anything else. This is a double-edged sword. When good people aren’t selected, they feel betrayed and angry, and many of the people who are rewarded feel like it’s a hollow victory at best. And then there are the “Most Popular” lists. It’s a great idea to show who is producing the hits, but Epinions must make sure that the list is right. Currently, there are about 16 positions on the overall Most Popular Reviewer list that are allocated by repeated names. The Books Most Popular Review list has quite a few entries that are allocated by reviews that the author of the reviews says have inaccurate totals. In the grand scheme of things, this means little. But for a person who is waiting to see their name in lights, it could make all of the difference.
Talk to us!
When users post to your site, it isn’t a gift from them to you; it’s the beginning of a very real relationship between you and the user. And relationships are two-way. You have to keep up your end of the conversation. (p. 3)
Back when I joined the site, I really felt like the Epinions staff cared. I still remember sending bug reports to Andy Diamondstein at 2 AM and having him respond immediately. I still keep things like his response to my report that Yertle the Turtle was in the wrong category. It’s silly, but his camaraderie made me feel like the site was part mine too.
I guess I’m lucky in this respect. I have managed to maintain a dialog with some of the Epinions’ staffers over the time that I’ve been a member. Much of it has come from my stubborn opinions on abuse and with the fact that I wouldn’t STOP talking to them! It might also possibly be because of my willingness to give Epinions credit when credit is due. In any event, I have managed to keep the lines of communication open with some of the folks in Brisbane.
But with thousands of members, the Epinions staff can’t possibly communicate one on one with everyone. In reality, this shouldn’t be needed. However, the community does need some feedback, lest the members feel like no one at Epinions cares. This really wouldn’t take much. Perhaps a staffer (or even Nirav) could maintain a weblog with “this week at Epinions” posts which gives a brief summary of things that the staff worked on or funny anecdotes or photos from the office. In addition, the “Epinions News” on the homepage should be updated more often. Major changes don’t happen very frequently, and it’s dead depressing when it appears that nothing ever changes. Perhaps it could list a few of the “big items” that were added to the product database over the week.
Epinions also needs to implement a simple set of changes that would show users that Epinions understands that our time is just as important as theirs. Add an email notification that tells members when the system is unavailable for writing and rating. When maintenance begins on the system, send the notification to subscribers to say, “It’s down. We will let you know when it’s ready again.” And then send another notification when maintenance is finished. That, along with giving people a play while the system is being updated, will keep people from getting so frustrated when the system isn’t working as it should.
I could go on and on!
But I wont’t! All of these changes would take some work on the part of Epinions. But I really think that they are worth it.
Fortunately, Epinions is talking to its members again. I doubt that Epinions will ever make changes just because I say that they are a good idea. But perhaps if enough people share the same views, Epinions will make some of these changes. Only time will tell.
Author’s Note:
Portions in Italics from:
Design for Community
The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places
By Derek M. Powazek
Copyright 2002
My review of Design for Community can be found at:
http://www.epinions.com/content_57336958596
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Epinions.com ID:
gracef
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Lost in Texas
Reviews written: 206
Trusted by: 314 members
About Me:
Well, bless your heart!
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