My time on Dooyoo (Writing a Good dooyoo Review)

Member Name: duncantorr

Product:	Writing a Good dooyoo Review
Date:	05/12/08 (770 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good place to sound off, and hear the sounding off of others

Disadvantages: Not many, and none of any importance

A word of explanation is perhaps required. When I first posted this review, the topic was "The Site in General". For some reason, Dooyoo have since changed it to "Writing a Good Review". I wouldn't presume to tell people how to write a good review. This one is just about the site in general and my experience of it.

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Somehow, I seem to have reached 100 reviews here on Dooyoo, so it seems a good moment to reflect on the experience. To facilitate the exercise, there's a questionnaire that's been doing the rounds lately, so I've lazily used that as a framework, adapting one or two of the questions and adding a few more as seemed appropriate.


Q. How did you discover Dooyoo?

A: While on Ciao I heard rumours of the site's existence and came over to have a look.


Q. Why did you join?

A: To give some of the reviews I had written for Ciao extra mileage for no extra effort. I was, of course, deluding myself. You cannot maintain a worthwhile presence on either site without effort, and if you're not prepared to make the effort you might as well not to bother at all. I decided it was worth the effort.


Q. What was the subject of your very first opinion?

A: Sardinia - a most interesting island if you're thinking of going there (or even if you're not). Travel is the category in which I write most on this site, because it's most likely to prompt thoughts that seem to me worth writing about, followed by Books and Discussion.


Q. What do you think of the Discussion/Speakers' Corner section?

A: In many ways, it's the best bit. It allows people free rein for their most strongly held opinions, and many of the reviews I've most enjoyed reading are to be found here. Of course, it encourages self-indulgence, but that also encourages member involvement, which is good for Dooyoo. A product-reviews-only site would be rather dull, even tedious, and would certainly inspire less interest from people like me.


Q. Did you find it easy to get the hang of Dooyoo?

A: Yes. For someone already accustomed to Ciao it's very straightforward. In fact Dooyoo is a more straightforward site than Ciao, which is in some ways a benefit and in some ways not. As with people, though, the generic similarities are much greater than the differences.


Q. Did you read other opinions before you posted your first one?

A: Yes, but only a few to assess the general standard and to see how people here approached the topics they reviewed.


Q. Do you write your opinions in one sitting?

A: Hardly ever, both because I write more slowly than I used to and because I devote a disproportionate degree of effort to the task. This is not because I relish a lot of work, but because I'm a reluctant but compulsive reviser of what I write. I hate re-reading my reviews later and spotting sloppiness, so I go to some lengths, not always successfully, to avoid it. Normally a review takes three sittings: (1) I write the opening paragraph or two and decide the shape of the rest - this is generally quick and easy; (2) I write the conclusion and think in more detail about the middle bit - again quick and easy; (3) I fill the sandwich with the meat - this is generally slow and a bit of a grind. Sometimes I only persevere because I can't bear to waste the effort already devoted to the task.


Q. Do you use a spell check?

A: Yes. I always write offline in Word, which of course has a built-in spell check, and copy-and-paste to post. To me, it seems crazy to write directly online; what happens if the site or one's connection crashes and one loses what one's done?


Q. Do you write no/some/many comments?

A: Some. To be exact, I comment on 21.4% of the reviews I rate, or so my statistics tell me. I try not to comment for the sake of commenting, only if I've something to say. In principle, though, I'm not against the short "good review" type of comment; hollow though these sometimes sound, they may provide encouragement, especially to newer members.


Q. When you click on the list of Newest Reviews, do you read your friends' opinions no matter what they're on or according to subject?

A: I seldom click on the list of Newest Reviews. I decide what to read first by author, with the following priorities: (1) people who read me - no, not because I am a member of any "clicking cartel", merely as a matter of courtesy; (2) others whose writing I find interesting; (3) new names that seem active in rating others, to see what they're like. Within the work of these authors, I am most likely to read reviews on the subjects of most interest to me, but where necessary I'll read reviews about other subjects, indeed about any subject at all.


Q. Do you think you can improve your chances of a crown if you suck up to a guide?

It seems unlikely, for all sorts of reasons. Anyway, I've never done so and I've received a gratifying share of crowns so there seems no pressing reason to change my policy now. Sorry, guides.


Q. What do you think of the nominating process for crowns?

A: It's a sensible and democratic way of helping Dooyoo assess the value of reviews. How much heed is paid to nominations, however, I simply don't know. Intriguingly, I've had crowns for reviews that no one said they'd nominated, whilst the one that received most nominations (or at least, most comments claiming to have nominated it) evaded the accolade. My own policy is to nominate reviews which I would have rated Exceptional on Ciao; with a rather old-fashioned coyness, though, I never leave a comment to say I've done so. I suspect quite a few raters are similarly coy.


Q. Does it get to you when members praise or condemn you?

A: Being human, I'm susceptible to praise (many thanks to everyone who has left favourable comments on my reviews; they're appreciated). Fortunately, most people are polite and I've received very few unfavourable comments. Just occasionally, an incisive comment has made me reconsider what I've written, but any that seem provocative I just ignore. Similarly, adverse ratings/raters.


Q. Have you any pet dislikes about the way people behave on Dooyoo?

A: Generally, people seem very well-behaved, and in any case I like to think I'm tolerant. I don't mind churners, since their reviews do not have to be read, though I do think it's odd that the Dooyoo rewards system seems set up to give them an incentive to churn. I don't mind skimmers either; no one has time to read everything in depth, and I'd rather have a skimmed read than no read at all. In any case, it's up to us writers to make our reviews so engaging that readers feel no urge to skim. If I mind anything, it's those members that don't do their share of reading, but just post reviews and expect them to be read. A site like Dooyoo depends on a degree of mutuality and reciprocity. The remedy is simple, though: not to read the work of those whose statistics show them not to do much reading. I am, however, in favour of giving newcomers time to learn the ropes and realise that reading is part of participation in the site.


Q. What advice would you give a newcomer?

A: Read, read, read, as well as write. Not only for the reason implied in the previous answer, but also for the insights into review-writing you will gain from practised members, and in order to get your name known around the site. Apart from that: have fun, and don't take it too seriously.


Q. Are you a member of a forum or chat room?

No. Although I enjoy the social interaction that can be a by-product of being active here or (even more) on Ciao, it's never been the prime purpose of my participation, and sites which have it as their sole raison d'être don't much appeal. Anyway, how many internet addictions can one sensibly sustain?


Q. What do you wish for the future?

A: I rather hope that Dooyoo and sites like it will thrive for a long time ahead. It would be tiresome to have to find somewhere else to post my scribblings, and I'd miss reading those of my fellow-members.



Answers are © duncantorr 2008

Summary: I like it here