A long review doesn't equate a VU (dooyoo - Members' Opinions On How to Rate And Comment)

Member Name: LRWade

Product:	dooyoo - Members' Opinions On How to Rate And Comment
Date:	09/11/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Insight into my rating system.

Disadvantages: Probably seems harsh.

In the time since I first started using dooyoo I have developed a finely tuned rating system. I have to admit to a tendancy to over-rate in my early weeks, simply because I found that most reviews were just that bit better than mine and as such I thought them to be worthy of a VU. In refining my own work and reading so many more reviews, if I was to go back and re-rate those that I rated in my first month I think 30-40% of my ratings would change. And I'm sure that many dooyooers feel the same way. But that is part of the dooyoo learning curve and I think we can all be forgiven for a little initial over-rating.

So here is my personal rating system, from NU upwards. I expect some people will think it a harsh system, I would argue that the insane amount of over-rating on dooyoo will make it look harsh in comparison but it is fair in my mind and it is how I would hope people judge my work. Feel totally free to comment any disagreements, I would love to hear others opinions. This is aimed especially to newer members who are afraid of the buttons!

*NU*

Unlike a lot of members, When I rate I use the entire range of rating options available. I am not afraid of the NU button. Why? First and foremost, I value truth above all else. It is extremely important to me that the opinions I give are honest and that the ratings I receive are similarly honest. I am not afraid of receiving a retaliation of a string of NUs or SUs. It probably helps that I have no issues with confrontation. I will happily message a revenge-rater telling them that they're being daft and that my rating is a true representation of how useful I found their review and how useful I think potential buyers will find it when researching a product.

So what qualifies an NU rating from me? It has to have one or more of the following (some are more serious than others).

-Contains zero (or very little irrelevant) personal opinion. Facts on a product can be found from a manufacturers website, what I want in a review is evidence that you've used the product, and used it well.

-Plagarism without reference will earn an automatic NU unless I believe it to be an oversight in which case I'll PM. I recently read a review on GHD's that was around 80% plagiarised from a website review with a few random words thrown in. Not cool guys.

-A rant based on a singular negative experience. If all that's written is don't use x because they have crap customer service and a list of who said/did what (especially an instant message transcript), to me that's is a totally useless review. By all means tell me the bad, but give it some context, give some detail about the product, about the purchase, etc.

-Bad grammar or non-native English. It might seem a little unfair to penalise for bad grammar or bad punctuation or bad English, but to me readability is fundamental to a good review.

*SU*

This is a tricky one. A generally ok review with one or more of the above list will get an SU. As will a review with some personal opinion but a lot of padding, or if it is obvious that the writer has minimal experience with the product. I find reviews often come on the NU/SU or U/SU borderline. When that happens I will look at how useful it is to a non dooyooer and use that view to choose the rating, because I've noticed (and I am guilty of this some times too!) that we all get sucked into the dooyoo community spirit and sometimes forget the rest of the world, as the new "thank the author" button has recently brought to our attention.

It is important to put non-opinion information in the review to allow readers to make get the whole picture. Put simply, if I need to read more reviews to get enough information on a product (I'll want to read more for opinion anyway) then I'll probably rate SU.

*U*

U is my "default" rating for a good review. Generally it has to be well written. An average review will get this rating if the amount of usable opinion is higher than the amount of filler or background.

-Easy to read is a bonus

-A lot of personal opinion compared to factual info.

-Obvious that the reviewer has in depth experience with the product.

-I should be able to make an informed decision on a purchase from a review for it to get a U.

*VU*

A VU review doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be well written. There needs to be clear effort put into the review. It doesn't have to be long, often the consise opinions are the best ones.

-Wit/humour isn't essential but it is helpful especially in a long review, there's nothing worse than struggling through 1000 words totally relevant information if it's really dry and a b*tch to read.

-Extreme familiarity with the product is important here.

-Absolutely none of the NU points.

In short it has to leave me with no further questions on a product.

*COMMENTING*

I've noticed a few dooyooers stating on their page that a comment of "good review" etc annoys them. To me, if someone's taken the extra time to write that after voting VU then it's clear to me that they've enjoyed reading it. I don't feel this is abuse of the commenting system. I feel it is a sign of extra appreciation. Admittedly, I don't leave many small comments, mine tend to be huge, and I am more likely to leave a comment when I've rated low explaining my rating, or when I have a differing opinion, or when I have questions.

*WHAT I DON'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT*

-Word length.

-Other peoples ratings and comments.

-My rating of a review is independent of my rating of another review by the same reviewer.

-My own personal opinion of the product.

I thought it important to point out what I don't consider when rating. I find that people often open one of my longer reviews and give it an automatic VU without reading. I'd much prefer fewer ratings from people who have taken the time to read and critique my work than hundreds of auto-clicks. Long does not equate VU. Long = Long, nothing more. I think that I could write a totally useless repetative copy-pasted paragraph and still I'd get 30 VU's. I'm tempted to do that actually...

In saying all of this, I do have flexibility in my rating, it's not completely set in stone. All products are different, all reviewers are different and all reviews are different. My requirements in a review about, say, an energy supplier differ from my requirements from a review about the latest Lush soap. I do however keep my guidelines in mind, just because I've enjoyed a review a lot because it was funny doesn't mean it's a very useful review, and it can be hard to rate properly in such cases.

*OVERRATING IS BAD FOR THE DOOYOO COMMUNITY*

I feel that a lot of people are generous, and in most aspects in life this is a good thing, but the problem on dooyoo is the rating system has only 4 choices, and so any generosity in rating has a detrimental impact on the site as a whole (note the dooyoo team statistic of 95% VU-this is not an accurate portrayal of the quality of reviews posted on the site). If, for example, we rated on a scale of 1 to 10, an extra point here or there would have a negligible impact, but on a 1 to 4 rating system over rating adds at least 25%. We have a tendency as a community to be kind, but sometimes honesty is kinder in the long run, after all it's how we learn and improve.

Hope this has been informative. Feel free to comment!

© L Wade 2009 - submitted only on dooyoo.

Summary: I think everyone should be forced to write out a "How to rate and comment" on joining...