Rate Fairly, Rate Often
Feb 26 '00
At the core of everything we do here at Epinions.com is reading reviews and rating them according to their relative quality. Those of you who have been around for a while know that the quality can vary widely, and that the ratings system is crucial to the site's concept of letting the best reviews get more visibility. Those of you who haven't been an Epinions member for long should get in the habit of rating every single review you read, honestly and without fear of retaliation. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by becoming a rater with high standards and consistent technique.
I have been practicing the three R's of Epinions (readin', ritin', and ratin') since September of last year, and I like to think I have developed a good mental criteria for what makes a high quality review, one worthy of the "Highly Recommended" rating. When I read a review, I ask myself several questions:
Is the review long enough to give sufficient detail?
Reviews that are only a couple of paragraphs are automatically out of the running for an HR. I believe that every product, no matter how small or insignificant, is worthy of several paragraphs of summary and analysis. Anything less just isn't sufficient. I'm not saying that you have to go out and write a novel-sized paean to Windex or anything - just make sure you've got all the bases covered.
Is the writing tight, interesting, and grammatically correct?
Holy cow, is this a big one. I can't tell you how many reviews I've read that were really good from a content point of view, but a bit lacking in the grammar and spelling department. Saying "I like the Teletubies, but there so boring and repetative" is not going to win you any awards, and it certainly won't get you an HR from me. If I like the message but am offended by the lack of editing, it's an automatic "Recommended." If the message is iffy and the editing is still absent, I break out the big "Somewhat Recommended." (Etiquette note: It's generally considered good practice to leave a comment explaining your rating when you plunk down an SR or a "Don't Recommend" - more often than not, a member will respect your reasons and make an honest effort to improve on the next review. Also, it makes it less likely that your review will inspire, or be interpreted as, retaliation. More on that later.)
Does the reviewer exhibit enough familiarity with the product being
reviewed? Are there stories, anecdotes, important experiences? (extra
credit if the stories are amusing)
A high-quality review is one in which the author is intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the review's subject - she has traveled to this spot many times, used this product every day, or read this book so often that the spine is dangling and it's held together by scotch tape and toothpicks. When I see a good deal of familiarity and history with a product, I am much more likely to rate that review highly. Stories, especially amusing ones, can add detail and clarity to a review in ways that simple summaries can't. Just be sure your stories aren't tangential and irrelevant - adding a long-winded description of the illness you had when you traveled to Mexico City does not count as enlightening detail about your travels. A short warning about drinking the water will suffice, thank you very much.
Did the reviewer cover all of the salient points about the product?
I find this quite often - a reviewer writes a long, passionate review about a product, but leaves out some key details about that product that I would need to know in order to make an informed purchase decision. After all, that's a big part of what we're about here - informing others about our product experiences so they can go out and buy wisely. So when I read a review of a TV that doesn't describe sound quality, or a movie review that simply summarizes the plot but doesn't actually analyze the movie at all, I just can't bring myself to stamp an HR on that baby, no matter how entertaining or well-written it may be. Pay attention to the few lines of advice Epinions includes at the top of every new review page - following those guidelines will help you to produce a more complete review.
Were there any comparisons to other products in the same family?
(extra credit for more than one)
Sometimes a little perspective on a product is nice - was this book as good as others in the series? Is this Kids TV show better or worse than Barney and/or Blue's Clues? A relative comparison to products that others might know about can really help to solidify a recommendation. If you are able to consistently compare products in a category to each other in your reviews, then you're probably a candidate for expert in that category. A discussion of how a product fits into its overall category is a good indicator of a sophisticated review, worthy of a closer look.
If I were looking to buy this product, would this review be useful?
I've taken to reading product reviews in major publications for use as a model in my own reviews. Professional reviewers are paid to write thoughtful, complete pieces about their subject and its relative value in the world, and everyone should consider the elements of a professional review before sitting down to write an Epinions blurb. I know I said earlier that I value length in a review, but there is a difference between the length of a verbose, run-on review and the length of a concisely-written review that is packed with detail and useful information. Every time I read a movie review by "bill chambers," or "ryansridge," for example, I am blown away by how thorough and professional they are, and how consistently they can maintain this quality across several reviews. There are people on this site who could actually use their Epinions "portfolio" as a reference for a writing position, if they're not already professional writers.
if I were even more organized and anal retentive, I might even create a score sheet and jot down scores for each category. As it is, I have a house, a partner, and a full-time job, as I'm sure many of you do as well. Which is exactly why we should all strive to rate often and honestly. As poseidon said in his review, many members read an opinion and then leave without rating it, which is definitely a mistake. You should make it a habit to review every review you read. I'm always disappointed when I see that one of my reviews has 45 member visits but only 18 member ratings - I really want to know what you think, and I want you to rate my work as honestly as you can!
A Word About Retaliation
I've read several posts by members on the message boards saying how frustrated and upset they are when a member gives their review a "Don't Recommend" purely out of spite and anger. Certainly there is a small but annoying population of juvenile users out there (and by "juvenile" I don't necessarily refer to their ages) who think it appropriate to retaliate against other members' low ratings of their own reviews by going out and lowballing the other members' opinions. This is silly and immature, but it hardly warrants getting upset about - more often than not these angry members are transient and short-lived, and their ratings are given no weight because they are not trusted by many other members (which means their ratings and opinions are basically devalued relative to other members'). I ignore ratings like this - my visibility as a minor expert has made me the target of such vitriol more than once, but the positive ratings have so overwhelmed the negative that it's easy to turn the other cheek.
Rate the Words, not the Sentiment
One last point that should be addressed is the necessity of leaving the members opinion out of your rating decision. You'll notice that nowhere in my ratings criteria did I mention taking the member's actual feelings on the review topic into account. Some members react almost viscerally to a bad review of what they consider to be a great product, and they automatically hit the "DR" rating, sometimes leaving an angry and defensive comment. I've had this done to me as well, and I think that it is understandable but inappropriate for this site. Members deserve to be given both sides of the story when it comes to any subject - that's one of the tremendous strengths of this site. If a highly trusted member writes a review that roundly thrashes a popular movie, that member's viewpoint should be given the visibility that the member deserves. If you rate properly, you should find yourself giving HR's to reviews that you completely disagree with - I'm happy to say that many members have shown this courtesy to me on several occasions when they disagreed with one of my reviews.
Stand Up and Be Counted!
Epinions gives you the option of being anonymous in everything you do on the site, with the notable exception of writing reviews. Unless you have a good reason for staying anonymous in meatspace (real life), you should avoid being anonymous when rating or trusting. Most members are kind and considerate of your viewpoint, and when they're not you can simply ignore them - that's the benefit of the Internet and the distance it offers. Anonymity bugs me so much that I have made my real name my member name on this site, and included one of my less private email addresses in my profile. I have nothing to hide, and until I enter the witness protection program (god forbid) I will continue to shun the online handle and the lurking life that anonymity offers.
The Evolution of the Ratings System
Epinions has kind of backed themselves into a corner with the ratings system as it currently stands. Four categories is a bit limiting when it comes to rating a wide range of reviews - I can say an HR for me two months ago might not be an HR for me now. It would be nice to see a fifth category added to the list, something between "Recommend" and "Highly Recommend" that would allow us to rate reviews that are really, really good but not the best we've ever read. To me, "Recommend" is almost too harsh for a review of that quality, because I've bucketed other reviews with far more serious problems into the R category as well. But adding another category now would be no simple task - or perhaps it wouldn't be bad, since the site is still in "preview" mode. Who knows - I don't work there, so I'm not really qualified to speculate at length (not that this has ever stopped me).
To sum up: Rate openly, fairly, honestly, and often. Don't flinch from giving an SR or a DR, and don't be afraid to leave comments explaining your reviews. Hold high standards, write to those standards, and consider yourself lucky to be part of this wonderful experiment that Epinions.com is conducting. With any luck, we'll all be boasting that we were with Epinions in the "early days" before it went public, made millions, and become the ultimate site for the consumer.
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Epinions.com ID:
DougAlexander
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Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 137 members
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