MALU's challenge, cheers for the invite! (Helpful Advice for New Members)

Member Name: TheDrowningMan

Product:	Helpful Advice for New Members
Date:	16/11/03 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: valuable opinions on a whole host of different things, good test of your writing skills

Disadvantages: can be frustrating when theres technical difficulties!

this q&a challenge can help newbies find out what dooyoo is about and, if many established members participate, what the community is like and will hopefully convince them to stay and become active. to be sure, everything has been said before, but has it had any impact? only for a limited time until the opinion disappeared from the front page. by presenting the tips on helping new members in the form of a questionnaire which can be done by several members the impact can perhaps be prolonged. several members, better: many members, to show that many roads lead to dooyoo.
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q: when did you join dooyoo?

a: it was a hazy day back in january of 2001 apparently, it seems to be around the date of my birthday, so maybe i was still hungover??? it was my 18th after all!

q: how did you discover dooyoo?

a: my friend neil told me all about it (NaughtiestNeil), i dunno how he found out about it. wonderful thing, word of mouth.
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q: why did you join?

a: well, firstly i used it to find out about products that i might be interested in buying. but then i realized that i should probably write some reviews myself. so thats about it. i didnt even know you got 'money' from doing it. but you dont get that much, so its totally not worth it to do it for the 'money', dont you think?
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q: what was your very first opinion on ?

a: i LOVE The Cure, and so i thought i should write my opinion of them. unfortunately it was an utterly abysmal review, and i should definately re-write it someday soon, as it doesnt do them justice!!!
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Q: Did you find it easy to get the hang of dooyoo?

A: not really. i think the hardest part was to realise i have to put some thought into my reviews, or else they turn out crap. when i started my reviews were awful, and i
look at them now and see how dire they were, at about 7 lines long! but the most important thing is to spend a little time over them, which i do now!
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Q: Did you read other opinions before you posted your first one?

A: yeah, as i said, thats the reason i joined, to read other peoples reviews. unfortunately none of their review writing talent rubbed off on to me :o(
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Q: Do you write no/some/many comments?

A: i try and write as many comments as possible. but to be honest, if someones written about something i find totally uninteresting, i generally dont read it/comment on it. i do think its important to leave a proper comment on the review, and not just a smiley face! :o)
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Q: When you click on the list of Newest Reviews, do you read your friends' opinions no matter what they're on/according to subject no matter who has written on it/preferably the opinions of new writers?

A: i generally just look at the subject and go from there. i love reviews on new music, theyre my fave, so any review on music will get a comment from me. obviously if i see a review from someone i know writes awesome reviews, ill give it a read whatever its on, but thats an exception. I dont look out for newbies, but you do often happen across them as dooyoo is become more popular, and thanks to the lovely guides, theres always advice available.

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Q: Do you write your opinions in one sitting?

A: i generally do, yeah. thats just the way i work, i do whole pieces of maths work, whole essays etc in one go for uni, and im the same for everything else. once i get into something, i love seeing it through to the finish, if i stop for any amount of time i tend to lose my train of thought, and cant get back into it properly. but each to their own!
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Q: How often do you post a new opinion?

A: whenever i find something i feel the need to write about. i sometimes go for weeks without writting one, but then write a couple in a day, it just depends. ive got a list of stuff to write about so i dont forget, and im in the middle of a review about the yeah yeah yeahs, but when thats done, who knows?? maybe ill have something so say after seeing mr bush on wednesday?

Q: Do you use a spell check?

A: nah, i re-read it before i post it, and ill generally pick up on any spelling errors, but if youre a little bit weak at spelling it'd probably be a good idea! ahh the wonders of a word processor.
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Q: Do you think you can improve your chances to get a crown if you suck up to a guide?

A: erm, i dunno who is a guide and who isnt, and i didnt know that they had any influence on who got crowns anyway. i wouldnt know anyway, cos ive never been awarded one :o(.
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Q: Are you a member of a forum or a chat room?

A: nope. might try them out, but i doubt it. i really like the format of dooyoo as i use it now. plus i spend enough time on here anyway, and i do have a life outside of the internet!
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Q: Does it get to you when members praise or condemn you?

A: not really. as long as they explain themselves. im no advocate of revenge rating, but when people rate you down without saying why, or giving any reasons, it pisses me off, and why shouldnt you then give them a taste of their own medicine?? of course that only applies if their rating isnt consistent with other people i.e 20 ppl rate VU, and then this guy comes along and rates SU without saying why.

but in general i like critisism, if its constructive it can only help, right?
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Q: What did you do in your spare tim
e before you joined dooyoo?

A: well, probably work for college/uni. any excuse to get out of it! i dont spend an excsessive amount of time on here, so i cant say that ive stopped doing anything that i did before really. but im a student, so most of my time is wasted anyway, so dooyoo is a good thing!
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Q: What do you wish for the future?

A: the no-caps is kind of annyoing, the question marks instead of apostrophes was so damn annoying, so hopefully all that will be fixed up. but generally, just more good reviews, and more members!

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If you want to participate, please add:

Please don't take this challenge to ciao without asking MALU, she'd rather decide herself what to do with a text she's written, when to take it there or if at all. Thank you.

Summary: