CIAO (ciao.co.uk)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	ciao.co.uk
Date:	09/11/05 (243 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strong community pull.

Disadvantages: feedback from site admin is appauling.

I have been of Ciao UK and Ciao France for a couple of years, and feel that explaining what Ciao is all about is perhaps not the same as I would have described it when joining the site, as there has been a change of Management recently, which invariably means changes in attitudes and the way in which people use Ciao as a site.

SO WHAT IS CIAO.COM

Ciao.com is principally a consumer website that asks its members to produce reviews on products based on their knowledge and experience of those products. The overall intention here is that when people need advice on purchasing items, they can do a websearch and find the item they are looking for on a platform such as Ciao or indeed Dooyoo, and read the advice of the consumer rather than advice given by the actual producer of the product, and thus have an independent view of the product in question.

LAYOUT AND EASE OF USE

Ciao's layout is fairly straightforward for members, and for the consumer just wanting to find out about a particular product, the layout is very clear. On arriving on the site, you are greeted with an opening page that lists the items that Ciao reviews. This is an impressive list, but basically falls into categories Books, Cameras, Cars, Computers, Electronics, Films, Finance, Games, Household, Internet, Music, Phones, Software, Travel and an item that is labelled More categories and which covers anything not covered under the headings given elsewhere.

The site is easy to navigate and you are encouraged from Page one to become a member and participate in reviews, make money and even take a tour of the site.

It is relatively quick to navigate and in taking the tour, you have two options, either to follow the links and see how the commerical side of the site works, or to take a community tour, the latter of which explains the use of guestbooks, how to be a member of the community and just about everything that a future member would need to know.

The shopping tour shows you how to find the best products at the best price. Comparing prices is relatively simple on Ciao and there is a page that does just that. Having chosen your product, it tells you the best deal around. Recent links to other sites take you into actual product pages that sell items, and I believe that this link is less useful, since obviously write ups for products on sites that sell will be more biased towards positive aspects of a product, unlike reviews written by individuals who have used items, and can tell you how they compare with the competition.

FROM A PARTICIPATION POINT OF VIEW.

Ciao is a website. It is fun to participate as the communication between members makes the community alive and welcoming. When you are a member, you are given a page of your own in which to put your personal details, two guestbooks, a private one and a public one (although here I really think that one would be enough and since the messages are directed at you personally I would opt for a private message book only). I believe that this would stop a lot of speculation and scandalmongery onsite and make for a better atmosphere.

You are also given the option of adding a photograph so that people know what you look like.

As a member, there are several options open to you. On your own particular "My Ciao" Page, all your reviews are listed and the last 15 shown on the front page for people to read.

You have an account section that clearly explains what you have earned, although I find it a little disappointing that when you have premium fund payments (i.e. special payments that are given once a month on merit), that you are never sure which review won the money when it is a review that has not won the obvious prizes which are given a shiny blue diamond. These are given out monthly and all winners receive a cash payment from Ciao's premium fund, which is an allocation of money set aside as extra payment on merit.

You also have a statistics page which shows your community points and these are points gained for participation in onsite activities. At different levels of points gained, you win a different coloured dot ! A lot of people do not like these, and, after two years of use of the site, I concur with their opinion that these create problems on a site, in that competition to achieve the next dot can encourage newer members to stay, though perhaps for the wrong motives. Dots do not signify quality of writing in any way shape or form, more quantity and amount of activity on the site plus ratings from other members. There are new writers on the site whose writing is superb but they only have a white dot because they have not been on the site long enough to gain other colours. Here, I believe that a site like Dooyoo is better, in that the encouragement that you receive as a member is in feedback by ratings and comments that are without motive, i.e. gaining points that in the real world count for nothing other than points that are a little like getting a badge, or three stars on a school essay. Yes, eighteen months ago, I felt very differently about the dots, though time does show that this element of ciao is wearing thin.

Each member has a favourites page. Here you can store reviews that you found to be particularly interesting. I have used this feature a few times when I have spotted a product that I would like to buy or a review that I would like to refer to again.

Another little community thing that Ciao have on site is a Circle of Trust, and here new people have a tendancy not to know how this is used and for what purpose. It is simply a list of people that you trust from your experience of reading their reviews. Nothing more, nothing less. On the other side, you have people that trust you. Ciao limit the number of people that each member can trust to 100 although people who trust you are unlimited. Here, Dooyoo differs in that you can trust as many or as few as you like, and again, there is not the element of points attached to trust status.

There is also a space on each members page to put details of auctions where Ciao allow members to display their Ebay auctions free of charge. I have only in recent months started to use this function and here I believe it is a useful link between your ciao experience and your Ebay one, which a site like Dooyoo do not have.

Settings. Each member can set up their account in such a way that they receive "alerts". This simply means emails telling them about new reviews by chosen authors, guestbook messages, people who have left comments, and new people that trust your reviews. Since the new layout of Ciao, I feel that the guestbook messages emails are a little wasted, and that the messages about people leaving you comments is a waste of time, because the comments are easily accessible and all in one place and the emails simply fill your inbox with unwanted mail. I do however find the alerts on other people's reviews very useful (WHEN IT IS WORKING PROPERLY) as sometimes, I really like the way that a person writes and as I have trusted 100 people and cannot trust any more, the only way I have to show other members that I enjoy their work is to add them to my alerts and read their new reviews. Alerts also tell you the ratings that other members give your older reviews and I find this useful.

WRITING REVIEWS.

There is a members Centre on Ciao and here you can find out all the information that a person needs to write reviews. I think that more people should read it and learn because it would add to the value of reviews written on the site.

In the community section, there are also charts which are popular with members, although I believe THE MOST READ AUTHOR THIS WEEK should be deleted. It actually gives new people the impression that there is a target when in fact the figures on this chart are a little misleading. One person may write 16 reviews and be most read whilst another writes two and gets the same amount of reads. Common sense will tell you that the second person is the better writer and this these weekly charts are really nothing to measure a person's worth on. I like the charts for writers since the site began because it really is a more realistic view of who has the most reads, although the most important chart on the Members page really is Best Performers in the Premium Fund. Much more impressive reading.

There is a community cafe on Ciao where readers can write things which are not commercial, share poetry, stories, little snippets of their lives with other members, fulfil challenges etc. and truly participate in the community which is Ciao.

OVERALL IMPRESSION OF CIAO.COM

Compared with other sites of this nature like Epinions, Dooyoo etc., I believe Ciao to be the most community minded and user friendly because there is more contact between members than on those sites. I am a member of Dooyoo and it is a very solitary site as opposed to the friendliness that I find on Ciao.

As far as reviews go, there are first rate reviews and as members, we should take the writing side of Ciao seriously and add to the value of the site, rather than writing reviews that just say "This product is great" and not much more about it. Read the guidelines.

I like the fact that members can rate other members work and believe this keeps Ciao in control of its content and helps the public because only the best reviews come up on a Google search, although I am a little dismayed that some areas of Ciao are weak and need strengthening by writers who care about the site.

I believe that writers should first look at the product that they are reviewing and see what has already been written. I tend to do this a lot because if I can add nothing valuable, then what is the point in writing a review that is mediocre when there are already dozens of good reviews in existance. However, on the other side of the coin, if you find the only reviews that have been written are bad ones, you get a great sense of satisfaction because your review actually improves Ciao's database.

I feel that Ciao do not always respond to members as quickly as members would like in adding new products, or answering emails. There are places to get in touch with Ciao for technical difficulties, abuse of any sort from other members and Ciao general enquiries although since the recent change of ownership, I would say that Ciao fail their members in that their response to both proposals for products to be added to the database are either non existant or slow, and that the site would be a lot easier for members to navigate if they looked into weak areas, such as having some online form for proposing products in one place, rather than having members search endlessly in loops for a non existant button.

I feel that a Built in spellcheck would be handy, although overall, I enjoy the Ciao experience and believe that it is useful to the Consumer which is what it is meant for. Time and time again recently, I notice that people are beginning to write reviews in text speak and hope that this fashion will be discouraged by readers of the site reviews.

EARNINGS

Anyone can earn money on Ciao although it should never be thought to be the answer to a poor mans dream. To see how much money you can earn, press on the product and see if there are pound signs next to the product. One pound sign indicates a lesser financial reward than two, etc. Cafe reviews earn nothing, and your earnings are based on the number of people who rate you either helpful, very helpful or exceptional, although here I think that exceptionals should earn more than very helpful and there is no distinction, other than the most well rated reviews being put forward for the premium fund which is awarded monthly. Money can also be gained from participating in online surveys and these are easy and simple to do and the money is fairly good on surveys. I have found recently that the amount of surveys is more than it used to be and that members can be relatively inactive on the writing side and still earn money on surveys which can be good payers that add up quickly.

So how would I describe the experience as a whole to a potential member of Ciao ? I would say that the site is a good solid one, but that what makes it special to me as a member is friendship rather than financial reward. Pennies that are earned from reviews are less than Dooyoo, although it is a very busy site, and there is always new talent to read and rate and enjoy and get to know. For financial reward, of course Dooyoo wins hands down, and certainly from an administrative point of view, at the present time, I am less impressed with ciao than I am with Dooyoo, but what pulls me back is the friendship, the instant response to reviews, and my own familiarity of the site and how it works, and in this case, familiarity does not breed contempt. I love it, and believe it is a well worthwhile site that could do with a shake up from time to time.

One thing missing from Ciao that is present on Dooyoo is Guides. When I joined Ciao, I do feel that the structure of the site was better, that we did have Guides that were able to help us in our efforts to produce good reviews. Now, however, whilst the site has first rate New Member Guides, that is where the guiding of members stops, which to me is sad and I believe needs a re-think.

I still love the site, and hope that it gets through moments of apathy. I have seen them before, and it always has recovered and the most important aspect from my point of view is not the money. Otherwise I would not be there. It is community, learning and the example shown by writers on the site that are superb.

Rachel

Summary: A good site which promises friendship, freedom of speech (LOL), and possible earnings.