Righting the write stuff! (Writing a Good dooyoo Review)

Member Name: yackers1

Product:	Writing a Good dooyoo Review
Date:	04/01/09 (283 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great time to spend a few hours

Disadvantages: Can't please everyone

Everyone will have their own thoughts on views on how to write a good review. I have seen this type of review drafted by many members and I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and chuck my two pennies worth in.

Q. How did you discover Dooyoo?

My friend was looking to buy a JVC camcorder and after selecting the model he wanted we started looking for the best online suppliers and consumer reviews and comparison sites and stumbled across Dooyoo.

There were a few reviews and whilst some were very, very good there were a few that were just rubbish and looked like the author had spent about 5 minutes writing it.

Q. Why did you join?

Whilst looking at the site we looked at becoming members in a bid to get a bit of easy cash. We thought that if members got paid for writing 150 words of rubbish then we could rake it in so we joined.

A bet was made as to who could reach the equivalent of £25 first. Whilst my friend went down the churning route I thought I would go down writing useful reviews and try and get the reads and rates since past experience on Ciao had taught me quality is the way forward over quantity.

By the time I had reached the £25 I had developed a mild addiction to the site (which has subsequently grown) and got in to the community side. I never managed this with Ciao as I found the members to be really cliquey and just never managed to 'get in with the crowd'.

Q. What was your very first opinion on?

My first review was on Lego Batman of the Nintendo DS. In other reviews of this type a lot of members have commented about the poor quality of their first review, but I am quite happy with mine.

Whilst I do publish 2 -3 reviews a day I do actually take time and try to write useful reviews based on questions I would want answered if I was the reader. I admit that some points I make may be a bit over the top, an example would be a little bit about the origin of sweet and sour sauce in my review of the ready made jar of Uncle Ben's Sweet and Sour Sauce. Whilst the origin would have no bearing on whether a consumer would buy the Uncle Ben's brand I thought I would add it out of interest.

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

Compared to Ciao this site was a doddle to get used to. It is clearly laid out, very easy to navigate around, has some great features (the useful stats and last members to visit my profile and rate my reviews) and is very quick.

When I first joined I only looked at things that I knew would interest me, such as DS games, gadgets, vehicles and electrical goods, however I now 'browse' since I have found some decent online retailers, websites, potential holiday destinations, cosmetics and food items from just having a 'general' read. I also like the discussion topics and reading about other members' experiences and thoughts on some controversial issues.

Actually writing the reviews is a difficult one. Every member has their own opinions and views on every aspect of review writing including what information should be included and what should not, the length of a review, the layout of a review etc. etc. You can't please all members and whilst it is good fun trying it is never going to happen.

In my opinion you need to find your own style and stick to it. I always take on board any constructive criticism and see if my reviews can be improved based on such comments. If they can then fantastic, if not then I am not going to lose sleep over it.

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

I read lots of reviews on the JVC camera and a few other things before posting my first review, although I didn't spend hours and hours just reading and I was keen to jump in and get my reviews out there, after all I had a bet to win and with Dooyoo's generous 50p reward for just posting a review, and my friend's intention of churning I knew he would have a good head start.

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

I write comments if I feel I can add something, if I really liked the piece or if it struck a chord with me. There are sometimes I think that I should leave more comments especially when there are exceptional reviews but what can you add to some of these? Just leaving "great review" doesn't do these justice so I don't put anything. I do nominate these reviews but I don't always comment that I have nominated.

Q. When you click on the list of Newest Reviews, do you read your friend's opinion no matter what they're on/according to subject?

As I have already mentioned I browse a lot and there are many member's with a fantastic talent and you know that the review is going to be good quality and a good read before you even click on it. Some of these members are my 'friends' and some are not, however, I will always read specific members' reviews. If I don't have much time I identify these members by their photograph and will skim through the new reviews looking for the familiar photos.

Some member's have added me to their 'friend' list and I will not read all of their reviews since I don't think they are up to the required standard and are just 'churning' type reviews, however, I will periodically read one or two of their subsequent reviews (providing they remain active for that long) to see if the quality improves and they become worth reading.

Q. Do you write your opinions in one sitting?

Whilst writing some reviews I really 'get in the zone' and will finish it off in one sitting, however, I always re-read my reviews just before I publish them to ensure that I have covered everything I want to, they make sense and I am happy with it. If I get bored or can't be bothered to get to the end of the review at this stage I will not publish it because if it bores me then it will bore other members too.

Some of my reviews are written over a couple of sessions, but never more than three. I think that if I need multiple sessions to finish a review then my heart is not in it, I am not overly bothered (due to the lack of interest in trying to get the review finished) and the end result will not be useful to other members, defeating the whole concept of an opinion site.

Q. Do you use a spell check?

All my reviews are written on Word first to ensure that all spellings are correct, but some do slip through the net. For example, I may write "bit" instead of "but" and it will not be picked up by the spell check.

I also like the fact that Word checks the grammar of reviews.

I do proof read all reviews to try and ensure there are no spelling mistakes, the piece is grammatically correct, there are no contradictions and everything makes sense but errors do sometimes creep in, after all I am only human.

I have recently read some reviews that are riddled with spelling mistakes, use different tenses, written in combinations of the first, second and even third person and make no sense whatsoever. It doesn't take that long to check reviews.

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

I have no idea how crowns are gained or allocated, and this seems to be the general consensus amongst most members. I am lucky enough to have secured quite a few. Some reviews I spent ages on to ensure I covered every point didn't receive a crown, whereas a couple of reviews I missed a few things on have been awarded a crown.

I wouldn't know how to suck up to a guide and I don't think that if I knew how to do it, and actually did it, the chances of more crowns would be increased. I just try to write each review to the highest standard I can and if other members, and the guides think that it is crown worthy then that's great. If they don't then I won't lose sleep over it, although getting the additional £1.50 for the review is always nice.

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

This is a simple one. No.

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

It is always good when other members praise you and I that most members will share this opinion. Rather than getting praise I much prefer witty comments and the like since this shows that other members have actually read the review rather than just skimming over it and then deciding how to rate it.

I don't mind criticism, as long as it is useful and I can improve my reviews. After all, nearly all reviews can be improved and I am continually seeking ways to improve my reviews be it changing the layout, amending how much of the plot I divulge (re film reviews) etc.

I don't like members that give low ratings with no comments. Unless they let you know where you are going wrong, how are you going to improve? Similarly I don't like members that leave stupid reasons for leaving low ratings, such as "Your review contains no positives" Hello? That is because there are no positives! Try actually reading the review and you'll realise this.

Another one of my pet hates is revenge rating. Why bother doing this? There are some reviews by new members I will not rate (because it is such poor quality) or make suggestions on improvements because I have attempted this in the past and got some nasty comments back and a load of revenge rates.

Q. What did you do with your spare time before joining Dooyoo?

In the past I have dabbled with other review sites but never really got in to them like I have with this site. I have always enjoyed the Internet and can spend many hours browsing the web, especially when it is cold and dark outside.

Q. What do you wish for the future?

Dooyoo is a great site and it appears to be growing, although it is nowhere near as big as Ciao. The range of products is not as big as that of Ciao, although it is making progress and the catalogue is growing day by day.

Removing churning would be good as I get bored of having to scroll down pages and pages of new members that have posted several poor reviews in the space of a few minutes. However, you have to take the rough with the smooth and whilst the rest of the site is 'smooth' this is definitely the 'rough'. Everyone has their own idea on how to stop churning but in reality it is going to be no easy feat.

Summary: My advice is to find your own style and stick with it