Dooyoo come here often? You will.... (Helpful Advice for New Members)

Member Name: BizzyB

Product:	Helpful Advice for New Members
Date:	16/07/01 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Informative, Confidence booster, Community spirit

Disadvantages: Addictive, Payments good but not huge

Welcome to Dooyoo - you've found an invaluable corner of the web and I am sure you will enjoy your stay. If this were a holiday, think of me as your tour rep.

First off, what is Dooyoo?

Dooyoo is an interactive website were we, the 'normal' (sic) people can write and read opinions on just about all and sundry. From sport to television, computer games to garden furniture, Dooyoo is the place to share and learn what real people think. And how do we know which opinions are any good? Is there a board of reviewers locked away in a room somewhere? No - because we are the reviewers, we rate opinions.

And do we do this out of the goodness of our hearts? Well yes and no. One of the first things you will notice is the dooyoo mile system - a reward system for writing opinions and being rated which can be swapped for vouchers and real money. Don't give up your day job but the incentive is good, but I have found the love of dooyoo and community spirit takes over the desire to earn some pennies. And dooyoo is a community, complete with the elders, youngers and village idiots.

So now we've had the resort overview lets consider dooyooing in more detail.

Registering??

A painless experience is registering under your Dooyoo name and you can be creative as you like. Wonder how I became BizzyB? Well in honesty so do I! The registration page will take your name, dooyoo name, password, contact details as well as other information such as e-mail address, photo link, homepage, career area, favourite internet pages etc. These final choices can be clicked to appear on your profile page if you wish them to. You can subscribe to the dooyoo newsletter - well worth doing to keep you up to date with all that goes on in DooyooLand. After registering you will find a link to 'edit my profile' where you can add, well what you want us to know about you. What are your hobbies? What are your special interests?
The profile page is a great aspect of dooyoo that adds to that community feel and takes away the faceless aspect that can so often dominate an internet site like this.

So you've got a name, logged in and your itching to write?.

Whoa there frisky writer. It's like first love - you want to do everything yesterday but take stock a moment. Have a look round. Look at the categories, you'll find every topic imaginable catered for and have a look at how the categories are sub-categorised. You can also use the search facilities to look for specific items that interest you. Take a look at some opinions, this is a good way to gauge what you do and don't like in an opinion. 'When I write an opinion I'll make sure its better spaced?.concentrates more on my thoughts?.includes more facts?.'

You can't wait any longer?you just have to write?..

When you've gone through the categories/sub-categories you get to an area that interests you. Look at the links. You'll notice there's one called 'write your opinion', click on this and it will take you to the opinions submission form.

But whoa again, here comes my number one and possibly most important hint to new writers.

Seriously consider writing the main body of your opinion in Word or a similar programme - there are many advantages to this least of all you don't have to be online whilst writing and this is important to those with limited/expensive internet access. By writing your opinion in Word you can take time on your thoughts and what you include. You can edit, leave it a while and come back to it. Did you say everything you wanted? Do you need to go and find a link or piece of information to include? Saving your opinion is also invaluable - if you're writing an opinion online and the computer crashes its bye-bye hard work. Working in word also means you can make use of the spell check - a must for the likes
of me. When you are happy with your opinion log back on to dooyoo and hit the 'write' button. On that page you can give your opinion a title and whilst it is true a snappy title is catchy don't worry that you can't come up with a tabloid pun everytime. Then you can cut and paste your main opinion into the box provided. There, that wasn't painful was it. Next set of boxes to fill in are 'advantages' and 'disadvantages' - these are like snap shots that will appear at the top of your opinion such as for a theme park advantages = 'exciting rides, cheap entrance fees', disadvantages = 'long queuing times, poor public transport links'. There are also boxes for price (if applicable to the subject) and click boxes for short questions depending on the category you are in, for example in films you get asked would you see this movie again? Etc.

Worried your English isn't up to dooyoo? Well don't?..

Dooyoo isn't us all trying to be the next great writer of our time. The use of ridiculously long words and fancy language doesn't necessarily equate to quality. Dooyoo is about communication. Yes, it helps if you take care with spelling and grammar as best you can. It makes your opinions easier to read and understand for the general reader. I want to know what you think? What happened to you? I don't want to read an opinion on that gives three pages of beautiful prose but fails to mention the kettle spout is badly designed and drips. Have confidence in yourself and in your opinion. Dooyoo is a great confidence booster. When I first joined ( way back when) I was terrified everytime I put an opinion up! Would people agree, would people like it? And this brings us rating.

Your opinions up and hopefully people will come along and rate your work. Take a break from writing and do some rating yourself. Remember that digital camera/bathroom scales/car you wanted - well what d
id other dooyooers think?

Rating is done in terms of Very Useful, Useful, Somewhat Useful and Not Useful. And this is the uppermost thing to remember. You rate as to whether an opinion was useful - not how good it was. Did the opinion help you make a decision, bring your awareness to something new, provide you with information? Did the opinion lack information on a certain area, did it leave you asking questions? These are the things to consider when rating. Rate honestly - rating is the dooyoo way to quality control - we a re all quality controllers! When you do/are rated lower than you'd expect it is from the comments that you learn where to make improvements. Do readers suggest including more facts, details and if you do you will find they will come back and re-rate you if you have improved your opinion.

But I hear you wonder, I'm scared to rate something not useful, what if they retaliate and rate me down???

Retaliation rating is not allowed. If you do think someone is abusing the rating system in this way report it to the dooyoo police at police@dooyoo.co.uk and it will be taken seriously, they will also investigate any abuse of the system such as plagiarism. The odd retaliation or inexplicable rating - rise above it. It is thankfully rare but does happen - as I said we are a community and that includes the village idiot ;o)

And what if my opinion is just SO good??.

Well you may just find yourself wearing shiny head gear. See those crowns by some peoples opinions? They are premier opinions, opinions which have been chosen as particularly good and useful. If you find an opinion that you think is deserving you'll find a nominate button at the end of the op. Premier opinions are rewarded with 1000 dooyoo miles and a place in the dooyoo premier opinions pages.

And what are these 'miles' I earn?...

Dooyoo miles are earned as follows:
100 for writing an opinion
5
0 for being rated
1000 for a premier opinion

1000 miles = £1

Miles can be swapped for:

~Electonic vouchers (minimum of 10,000 miles to be claimed then increments of 5,000miles)
~High Street vouchers (minimum of 20,000 miles to be claimed then increments of 5,000 miles)
~Cash (minimum of 50,000miles i.e £50, to ne claimed)
~Charity (donate your miles to charity - minimum donation 5000 miles)

You must be over 18 to earn dooyoo miles. It is tempting to try and earn as much as you can as fast as you can but it's a case of watch the opinions and the miles will look after themselves.

I love this writing, you say, I can't stop?..

Well good for you but a word of warning. Pace yourself. I know at first the few scant dooyoo miles seem disappointing and you want to share all your views?NOW. Dooyoo isn't a race, there's no time limited. You want to write, you want people to read your opinions and you want the mile meter to tick on but flooding the market isn't necessarily the way. If you write quality, interesting and honest opinions you will get reads and develop a good reputation. When you do rate why not leave a comment explaining your rating or ask a question. People may even put you in their circle of friends?.

Circle of what??.

Click on people's names and off you are whisked to their profile page often the home of many a joke and quite frankly, disturbing photographs. This aside, scroll down the page and you'll notice a link -'add this person to my circle of friends'. Well you like their opinions, you can feel a dooyoo friendship on its way so you click on it. Back on your profile page is a list of your 'dooyoo' friends.

I've got a great idea, I'll add everyone to my circle of friends and they'll rate me?.

Well, em, no. It may seem a good idea but it is a rather obvious and off putting ploy and in the
long term you are losing out on a great facility of dooyoo. A circle of friends is an excellent way to create a list of those writers you know you want to read again, maybe they share your hobbies, are specialists in an area of interest to you. Use wisely and the circle of friends becomes a great tool to organize your dooyoo reading experience.

But these people are so interesting, how can I learn more about them, you ask?.

In true community spirit a number of dooyoo related forums have sprung up and a link to opinions on these can be found on your profile page. Forums are places for dooyooers to meet, exchange views, chat, laugh and sometimes row admittedly. Dip your toe in - they rarely bite ;o)

Some of these dooyooers are a bit of a legend you've noticed?.

Take a wander to the Hall of Fame where you'll find a myriad of dooyoo heroes. For whatever reason, and for many a talent, there's just some people out there who've made the business of dooyooing into something of an artform. They make us laugh, they make us cry but they always entertain.

I've got more to say than just how good a toothbrush is, you tell me?.

Well speakers corner may be the place for you. Speakers corner covers areas of discussion that aren't consumer reviews like the rest of the site, but the hot topics of the day. It is here people have their say on topics as diverse as fox hunting to the MMR jab, Asylum seekers to Smoking in Public. This is an area I have yet to contribute too. You will find it is one of the more heated areas of dooyoo, as you would expect covering so many emotive issues. A debate often arises over how you can actually rate such opinions as useful or not, especially when so many of these subjects bring out the agree/don't agree in you. I would suggest that you go with your gut in this area. An opinion may come from a totally different viewpoint of than your own but did it inform yo
u of how the 'other side' sees the equation? Worth considering.

Wow dooyoo must have their work cut out organizing all this, you notice?

Well yes and the main body of opinions aside they've laid on lots more for your entertainment and convenience. Free SMS and ecards, group buying?.Will you ever leave?!

I hope that has given you some insight and useful information on how dooyoo works. I am sure you will have a good time on this site and look forward to meeting you all.

Now?go DOOYOO?. :o)

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