To rate or not to rate? (Rating other's reviews: on dooyoo and beyond)

Member Name: ~*pink-pilgrim*~

Product:	Rating other's reviews: on dooyoo and beyond
Date:	03/12/07 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: its makes the site more interesting

Disadvantages: some people rate unfairly

I got into 'Come Dine With Me' last night and it reminded me of this place with ratings and comments. For those of you who have never heard of 'Come Dine With Me' it's a food show with 5 contestants. Each contestant hosts a dinner party and the guests privately rate at the end of the night. Last night a woman seemed adamant on rating everyone else low so she could tactically win the £1000 prize money. Luckily the producers of the show made her re-rate fairly and she ended up in 2nd place. The programme gave me the idea to write this review about fair rating.

This review will follow in chronological order because this is how it would be approach on the site. First you would read...then rate and possibly leave a comment. This review is about my own opinions about rating and gives a little insight into how I may rate one of your reviews.

READING
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I know that many people have set writers that they wish to review, or set topics and that is fine to a certain extent but we must also remember that Dooyoo is funded by member activity. The more people reading, rating and submitting reviews generates a larger income for Dooyoo.

I always try to read a selection of reviews by new members, more established members and obviously those who are kind enough to consider me their friend or kind enough to read and rate my reviews. I do think it is important to rate reviews of newer members and where possible offer advice so that they can make improvements. Some new members write excellent first reviews and by congratulating or acknowledging this is can generate more interest. My first review was good and the comments kept me here!

I usually scroll down to the bottom and this will determine whether I need to go and grab a cup of tea or three course meal before I sit down to read it ;-)
I have no issue with long reviews and will read them as long as they make sense, are readable or contain necessary information. I admit that I write longish reviews and can understand why some would scroll down to the bottom and refuse to read or rate it.

Not to forget the consumers who find Dooyoo from a search engine after typing in a product name. Would these people want to see a brief summary of a product or a concise write up including every minor detail?

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Read the reviews that interest you but try to rate reviews of newer members.
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IT'S NOT AN ASSIGNMENT FOR AN UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE
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I must admit that rating is a very personal thing. I find it a lot easier to review that uses simple sentences, basic adjectives and correct but simple grammar. Throughout university I struggled to write in an academic style with sub-ordinal clauses, complex sentences and ridiculously long or complex adjectives. In fact we all agreed that by writing in a simple way made our work easier to read and understand but lacked that oomph for 'academic style'.

I used to go out with a guy who could use language as a weapon to shut me up. His long words and pompous phrases made me feel very small and thick. I don't hold this against people but we all have our own ways of speaking, writing and communicating and as long as a review is legible, informative and useful it shouldn't be rated lower due to the language used.

It has got to the point however where I find it a lot easier to read a review using simple sentences and basic adjectives. I don't want to sound thick but I have a degree and sometimes find myself looking up some words in a dictionary before I can fairly rate. I am sure someone who struggles with literacy or uses English as a second language would also struggle and therefore this makes the article/review less than VU.

This also leads onto the expectation that a VU review is one with over 1000 words. I have seen a few reviews I consider to be Very Useful despite its short length and basic use of the English language.

As a consumer I love to see a concise write up of a product so that I can get a thorough understanding and 'feel' for the product. I find that a review which gives a slight background to why the product was purchased, a little about the reviewer and then leads nicely into first impressions and then onto more technical specifications and opinions are certainly most helpful. I often find when reading reviews that although the first impressions are positive the detailed dissection of the product often uncovers issues and problems and this is what I want to hear. I have heard some nasty things about the LG Chocolate phone but loved its appearance. These reviews to me are very useful.

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A review does not need to have chapters to be helpful!
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RATINGS
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I like to think that I rate fairly, I rate according to my opinion that a review should be informative, easy to read and not too 'heavy'. My rating will differ for each type of product.

Electrical Goods
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To get a very useful rating the review should tell me about everything e.g. an element of price comparison (e.g. you can get it here for £? or here for £? You may be better off getting it here because the customer support is best), a little bit of information on the appearance, ease of use, any faults and particularly good points. In the case of MP3 players, Cameras, DVD players or TV's etc I like to know about picture quality, sound quality or graphics in general. A poor review would only list good/bad points without any other information.

Services (including travel, phone, gas, charity etc)
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I do like to know about background information, for example where did they start out, are they family run/major company or what they stand for. From past experience I have learned that a little bit of background knowledge helps when making an informed choice between one service and another. I also like to know about price, certain features that set them aside from other companies. I like to know the pros and cons so that I can make up my own mind. An unhelpful review would be more of a rant following a poor service.

Books, DVD's, video games and CD's
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A very useful review would give me some information about the plot without giving too much away. I like to know the gist of the story/plot but do not want to hear the ending. A review that gives away the ending will make it 'not useful' to me. I like to hear a little about graphics for video games, lyrics for music and certainly about acting, general feel or extras for DVD reviews.

Travel
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A very useful review tells me about climate, places to see, things to do with a price guide. I also like to hear about any tips or particularly nice places to see. On more specific reviews such as those focussing on one attraction I like to hear about queues, getting there, price and any tips. An unhelpful review would tell me very little about the country and would just sum up general features (the sort I could find online).

Shopping
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I like to know about store layout (offline shopping) or website navigation (for online shopping). I also like to know how reasonable the prices are and the general stock, for example is it well stocked or do the shelves often look empty or this the product usually out of stock. How safe are debit card details? Is the website secure?

I like to know if the products were faulty how the complaint was handled or how polite the staff are/were. An unhelpful review would be a rant/ complaint following a poor experience.

Speakers Corner
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Of course 'Speakers Corner' reviews that are poorly constructed or lack any critical analysis will be rated low if I do not agree with the opinion being made. If the reviewer posts an offensive review that contradicts my own beliefs I will rate according to the ability to 'argue'. For example if the poster says that "all criminals should be shot" without relating to more than one opinion (their own) then the review would lack any critical analysis and would be unhelpful. If the poster tries to see beyond their own beliefs and gives a balanced argument then they deserve a very useful even if I disagree with the overall verdict.

In general
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I like to have a review that is well balanced, I like a review to have equal amounts of information (plot/specifications/data) to opinion (what you actually think of the product). If a review is based wholly and solely on data, information or fact then it will be unhelpful as I can find that on a manufacturer/product website.

Last month I looked everywhere for reviews on digital picture frames and the only helpful reviews told me about the picture frame such as how it works, what is included in the box, the set up and certainly the reputation of the manufacturer as well as opinion e.g. how it looked on the wall, how easy it was to use or what was wrong with it.

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Rate as you see fit...if the review was helpful then rate it as helpful
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COMMENTS PLEASE
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I am not a big comment giver in fact I only tend to give comments on reviews that are outstandingly brilliant such as those deserving of a crown or reviews which I feel could be improved significantly.

If a reviewer has stopped me from making a terrible mistake I will thank them. I am open-minded towards other people's views and opinions and rarely leave comments doubting their tastes as really that's what makes us all different. I wouldn't necessarily go onto a review and leave a comment making someone feel bad about their choice but I may say something like "not my thing, but a concise well written review" rather than "eww you have no taste what mediocre rubbish". There certainly needs to be an element of tact with writing comments and I can safely say that most people have respect for others' feelings.

On Ciao there is the tendency to leave a comment consisting of "good review" or "I liked this" to gain extra points, its nice to see that this is rare on Dooyoo and a majority of the comments relate to the content of the review or give advise on improvement.

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If you don't have anything useful to say don't say it!
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SUMMARY
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I rate fairly and appreciate it when others rate fairly. I cannot stand people who revenge rate or rate according to personal opinion. A review of mine was recently rated 'not helpful' because the person in question (a new poster who joined and left after rating one review alone) didn't agree with my opinion on a product.

Members should look beyond their own opinions to see if the review would help a majority of consumers and if it does then it is helpful regardless of opinion. I love romantic, happy, fluffy, pink films with fluffy clouds, cute bunnies and love if a member said that they loved a film with blood, guts, murder, drugs and zombies then I wouldn't go ahead and rate as 'not useful' because I hate that sort of thing I would rate according to the content.

So overall read as many as you can, rate as you see fit and if you feel the need, leave a useful comment. You are welcome to leave a comment on this review stating whether you agree or disagree with my overall opinion on reading, rating and commenting.

Summary: A few tips and guidelines on how I rate other people's reviews!