Frankly, Dooyoo remember me? (dooyoo.co.uk in general)

Member Name: angusreid

Product:	dooyoo.co.uk in general
Date:	15/11/05 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Earn a few quid for a good cause, be it yours or another.

Disadvantages: The insincere, over-rating fluffy message leaving brigade.

Dooyoo.co.uk is a website where you can read the reviews of product users before making a purchasing decision, in theory.

Okay, the website has undergone some great updates lately that make surfing and direction so much easier. When you enter the url. .. . .

No stop there argh! I am not turning into a lateral reviewer.

I like and dislike Dooyoo because.

Writing reviews is fun and also reading experiences of other people can be quite fun, this is why I have been at Dooyoo over 4 years now. Dooyoo had its share of problems last year and being on here was like banging your head against a brick wall. The only way to find a subject to write about was to go to google and add the name of the subject and the word Dooyoo afterwards, as if you added say, sugar puffs into the Dooyoo search it would take you to Tampax or flavoured condoms or something.
What kept me at Dooyoo was the loyalty of a small band of members who despite all the crap, refused to lie down and leave unlike the vast majority of attention seeking posters who absconded to Ciao.

I much prefer the guiding system on Dooyoo, where someone is appointed as a knowledgeable person in their field and they oversee the postings of members and ensure they are on the right track. A guide’s job is a thankless task in all honesty and one I have succumbed to twice in my time here. Speakers Corner (I quit because you could not receive crowns so there did not seem any point having a guide.) and Motors, of which I quit because I was only getting one or two posts a week at best and again, it seemed pointless to me at the time. The guides should (and most do) be noticeable in their category at least rating every review in my opinion. Should they choose not to post reviews themselves, I do not see that as a problem as they are not there to lead by example but there to show people who need a helping hand or a bit of guidance. The majority do that with only one or two (again, in my opinion) not showing an impartial view.

The actual layout of Dooyoo is pleasing on the eye. It has a fair selection of soft background colours and simple click on methods to reach a desired goal. You can click on a person’s name, for instance and go straight to a list of their reviews, allowing you easy access to obtain a credibility check on that person’s ability, obviously within reason.
Being able to scan through the comments rather than have to click on a review and read the whole lot helps me make up a mental picture of a person’s portfolio so to speak, an important thing for me if I was to make a decision based around some else’s experiences.
Also you can click on the subject in hand and get to see all the reviews that have been posted but it is shown as most recent rather than most highly rated like other sites. This is good because you get to see a more modern review rather than a 2 year old one or one that has been written by a popular member (more visual on another review site than this one.) but it can also hinder a quick search as you have to delve through a lot of half hearted reviews to find one by a sensible contributor or someone who has posted more than 200 words.

It is good to see 5 reviews having top focus on the homepage, but only after you log in. it would be nice for people to see these reviews without having to log in all the time, but I guess that is part and parcel of encouraging people to join and increasing a member base which can be used to help fund Dooyoo as a whole. You can click on the New Reviews link on the left of the latest 5 reviews and you get a long list of most recently posted reviews. I think it’s about 100 reviews long, but I am not going to count it and if I am wrong, then stone me at dawn.

Now Dooyoo pay out on a regular basis which is unheard of on most review/opinion sites. It takes me on average a month to make £10, and I usually donate this to a charity as I can then justify my harsh existence and somewhat pedantic view on life. Hey, we all need a bit of forgiveness from someone you know! Anyway, with the miles (30 per read) mounting up so quickly, it makes the financial rewards for those who seek them quite inviting, but this also encourages the penny-snuffling truffle pigs to post crap and then go around the site begging for reads with their little luvvy-duvvy messages that are so insincere and so obviously false. Kinda like that arse-licking person at work who laughs at the unfunny jokes the boss makes. Now this part is a shame and really puts a downer on a good site. Another site I know has a thriving community which is very fluffy and false and it drives me insane. Trouble is everyone knows how false they are and most chose to turn a blind eye rather than respond back. This could be because they do not want the confrontation or that they do not want to lose the 3p the 30 miles would get them for a read back, who knows. I choose to be honest about my feelings and let the consequences sort themselves out.

You have the opportunity to rate a review as you see it from a consumer’s point of view, which to me is the best part. Not that I claim to be able to say what every consumer would be looking for, but I get the opportunity to rate a review as I see it and how I personally feel it would help me if I was looking for said product. No matter whom the reviewer is, when it comes to submitting a review, they are on an even keel as regards supplying information for you to rate. Granted, some people can make reviews up very much so like a person in the pub can tell you not to touch Bloggs double glazing as his best mates second cousins neighbour had his head decapitated when closing one of their windows. The problem you have is trying to work out if someone is genuine or living in Disney Land. Sometimes people submit inaccurate information and you must rate that review lower in my opinion because if some of it is inaccurate, then anyone buying or trying that product could come a cropper.

Think with your head not your heart would be my motto here.

Now new suggestions had always been a problem on Dooyoo due to the lack of personal communication you have with them. However, this looks to have been kick-started again by a guy called Sebastian who seems to be single handidlydoo taking on the entire Empire known as Dooyoo technical. If is a slow process but people are beginning to see the new suggestions they make coming through, even better is that you can keep tabs on how far up the queue you are by clicking on the suggestions tab in you profile. The downside to this though is the influx of members from another review site suggesting reviews they already have and flooding the new suggestions section with, well suggestions! It would not be so bad if they updated the reviews, especially technical and electrical ones.

Rewards at Dooyoo can be paid in three ways. Cash, vouchers or donate to charity.
You need to earn 55,000 pints to get £50 cash, so it is a long term commitment rather than an overnight, rags to riches story. I reckon if you write reasonable reviews and read and rate in similar measures, you could do this in 3 to 4 months. The vouchers however can be claimed with only 10,000 points and you can have 1 a month if you posted say, every 3 days and conducted yourself in the right manner. It’s the same for donating the money to charity and you can either pick a Dooyoo charity or nominate your own with links etc.

The site does not appear to have many bugs for me. It loads quickly and apart from the pop ups which appear every now and then, I find no chore or situation to navigating the site.

My biggest concern about the site though, is the insincere people who just make the site a joke and kill any credibility it has. You can find these people without really looking. They rate VU even if the review in question is factually wrong or composed on a mobile phone. They also leave messages that make you want to reach into the computer and throttle them. When leaving a comment make it sincere if not about the subject in question. Don’t just go and leave a message saying Nice review *grin* XXX love you.
For gods sake do you need 3p that much?

If we could curb the over-rating and encourage more genuine and honest feedback, it would be so much more enjoyable to write here and who knows, I may even take up a guides role again, you never know. ;o)

Summary: Dooyoo is fun and will be better if people stop abusing it.