Subjective Is Not Bad (What is opinion writing all about?)

Member Name: shewhoguards

Product:	What is opinion writing all about?
Date:	26/05/08 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sometimes you NEED someone else's opnion rather than fact

Disadvantages: Remember opinion is subjective

Last night, I went to see a film called Doomsday. It was terrible. Really, eye-bleedingly, hilariously terrible. But the trailers looked good, the synopsis sounded fine ("a bit like 28 days later" my friend said) so we went. And I will NEVER GET THE TIME SPENT IN THAT MOVIE THEATRE BACK.

Had I bothered to actually read some reviews of the thing first I might have known better.

The thing about reading reviews is that they give opinionss. Opinions are subjective, and sometimes you NEED subjective more than you need facts. A synopsis is fine but sometimes you need someone's opinion to know that what they've done with a film will make your eyes bleed. Similarly, a list of ingrediants in a chocolate bar is fine, but not until someone has eaten it will you know whether those ingrediants put together taste divine or terrifying. Honey and lemon soap SOUNDS lovely, but how does a human nose think it smells?

It's all opinions, but that doesn't mean they're any less needed.

Different people like different things, which is why it's good to put a bit of "why I loved or hated this". Me, I've got a high metabolism, which means I couldn't care less about the high calorie counts on some of the foods I eat - they're not going to make me put on weight! What I care about is whether they taste good to me, and whether they fill me up for a while. As that's an opinion unlikely to be shared by more diet conscious folk, it's important that I SAY that.

Sometimes I wish dooyoo had a system a bit more like eBay where rather than having all a member's past stuff it can be sorted by category. Sharing taste with a member in food doesn't neccesarily mean I like the same books or films. It would be nice to be able to say "Aha, another Jacqueline Wilson addict!" and search through to see what else they like to get ideas for my own reading. We can't do that right now, but it would be nice.

The important thing with reviews is to remember that they ARE subjective. Just because someone else hated a cereal doesn't mean it will be awful. If fifty people hated it though... it might be an idea to at least wait until you can buy it on offer.

Summary: Opinion is good when facts just aren't enough