(UPDATED) When Baldrick Joined Ciao. (ciao.co.uk)

Member Name: shabbie

Product:	ciao.co.uk
Date:	29/10/01 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Show off your writing talent.

Disadvantages: For nothing.

**Update at end of opinion**

Now, as many people may already know, Ciao, the other opinion site similar to Dooyoo, has recently made some drastic changes which affects their members. Many members are very angry, not only at the changes, but in the way the whole situation was handled. The notification was sent out to members late on the Saturday evening, informing them that the changes would be implemented at midnight. Dooyoo have made recent changes too, some of you may think. Well keep reading and see where the comparisons end.

So let's start with how Ciao broke the news to it's members. They waited until the news of the Online Star awards were announced, then let it rip. BTW, the results of the aforementioned awards were:-

Chats & Community.

www.uboot.com......13366
www.ciao.com..........8211
www.dooyoo.com....6284.

Oh, and Google won hands down in the Search Engine catagory.

Now, while awaiting these results, I'm sure Ciao enlisted the help of Baldrick, from Blackadder, who had a 'Cunning Plan', along the lines of, "Throw everything you can think of at them at once and confuse everybody. By the time they realise what's hit them, the dastardly deed will be done".

This notification which was 'cunningly' entitled, New Ciao bonus programme, was also worded in such a way, it was like a speech a headmaster would deliver to Primary One pupils.

So what is this new bonus programme? Well the old bonus programme has been re-evaluated in order to, a) Control spending. (fine, that's at least honest), b) Reducing abuse. (oh, really?), c) Improve website quality. (???). Now, the notice claims these features are aimed at all Ciao sites, but hey, those in the UK are special, and are getting extra features, to make the site more 'Interesting 'and 'Convenient'

Right then, here we go with the special changes which will make th
e UK site more 'Interesting and Convenient'.

1. Submission of opinions will no longer be paid, and readings will be paid 1p per read, but only in certain catagories, (those with coloured bands).The catagories are as follows:-

The first list is categories which now pay per read; the second list is exceptions to the first list, which will not be paid. A total of 21629 products are currently paid per read.
Note: all categories are eligible for Premium Fund payments.

1.Categories to be paid per read:

-Banking and Personal Finance
-Cars and Motorbikes
-Electronics and Photography
-Health and Beauty
-Family
-Telecommunications
-Food and Beverage (new)

2. EXCEPT:

-Banking and Personal Finance/Information Sources
-Banking and Personal Finance/Member Advice
-Banking and Personal Finance/Funds and Trusts
-Cars and Motorbikes/Motoring Resources
-Cars & Motorbikes/Motoring Issues
-Computers/Computer Resources
-Electronics and Photography/Member Advice
-Health and Beauty/Spas & Beauty Clinics
-Health and Beauty/Member Advice
-Family/Member Advice
-Telecommunications/Member Advice


Well I will admit, when I read this I found it very interesting. I certainly didn't find it convenient, in fact it was interesting only because I found it inconvenient. I had to laugh though, when I read the bottom of this section. "For more information, please see the Make Money page". Great, I thought, a new catagory; Members Advice on Forgery. Well let's face it, that's about the only way many are going to make any money on Ciao from now on.

2. The Premium Fund will be reorganized to reach twice as many members, ranging from £30 to 12p, even though we're halving the amount we normally pay out. (the PF in the past has been a sum of £2000, which is secretly awarded to members for exceptional opinions.A bit like doo
yoo crowns only ranging from £15 to £1).

Now I found this one very interesting too, but this will only be convenient for the £30 jackpot winner, and probably an insult to those who get the booby prize of 12p. If they must cut the total amount paid out, why not make it fair to all members. Why not give 1100 top opinions £1 each instead of awarding a select few and thumbing their nose at the rest. These top few (Ciao tend to pay the larger awards mainly to established members), may produce consistant quality ops, but they alone cannot keep the site going, and that's what very well may happen.

Regarding the new Banded Catagories, Ciao are now saying it's members can write in any catagory as before, but only certain ones will merit the new 1p per read.(see above list). By implementing this Ciao are actually dictating what members must write, as very few are willing to write for nothing. This is like saying to Stephen King that from now on all his novels must be Romances, and Barbara Cartland (yes, I know she's gone), must only write Science Fiction. Now if they don't do this, their books will be published, but they won't earn a bean.

So here we have Ciao members in the same situation, but what about the consumers Ciao hope will increase their use of the site? I'm sure these consumers will love reading about what products some male member uses to remove his mascara or his nail varnish. Now let's take it a step further. What if these same consumers want to know something about the latest film, book or CD releases? They won't find these answers on Ciao, BUT, they will on Dooyoo, where there is a vast amount of this type of information, which is being updated daily. So perhaps some of these consumers will decide to use Dooyoo in future, as everything they need is there for them. What will happen to Ciao then?

The other wonderful change Ciao have introduced, having already done so on their European sites,
is a Community Points system. They describe it as follows:-

Ciao UK is now instituting Community Points, a system already used in the other European Ciaos to recognise a member's contribution to the community.
Actions which help the community, such as writing Very Helpful opinions, earn a member a certain number of points, which register in the colour of the dot which appears next to the member's name. New members have white dots; the members with the highest level of participation in Ciao can eventually earn orange dots.

Here is an example of how Ciao members are now valued, and how their coloured status is achieved.

For every Opinion written..30points
Comments written...3points
Ratings given...1point

Readings received...2points
Very Helpful...6points
Helpful...3points
Fairly Helpful...-6points
Unhelpful...-12points
Members who Trust you...80points

You then add up your total, and your colour dot status is as follows:-

Community Status Levels.
level 1 white from 0 Community Points
level 2 green from 1.000 Community Points
level 3 blue from 5.000 Community Points
level 4 violet from 10.000 Community Points
level 5 red from 20.000 Community Points
level 6 orange from 50.000 Community Points

So members are now all colour coded and placed in little boxes. I believe the term for this is 'Depersonalization'. Not only does it strip members of their identity, but can increase abuse and lead to very unfair treatment of those in the lower coloured ranks. It can also paint a very false picture. I know it may appear, and indeed is meant to show, which members are active in the community and which ones aren't. Well having had a day or two to examine this scenario, it obviously doesn't work. I have found, for instance, churners with red dots, who have hardly rated anything, but achieved this status
by all the 30 points they made by churning alone. One of those I came across appears to have only Helpful for every op.

Then you have those who are Blue or Green. What does this mean? Well actually it can mean anything. It may be a new member who is working hard, or it could be a churner who is doing nothing but churn. I have also noted several comments made by some who claim they are reading and rating as much as they can to move up to the next coloured dot. Then again, I believe this was all part of the initial 'cunning' plan. Members were all supposed to be so excited about upgrading their colour status, that perhaps they wouldn't bother too much about the other issues. (Baldrick is into psychology now too).

Anyway, that's my view on the Community Points. I don't like being classed as a number or a colour. If someone wants to know how active a member is in the community, it only takes seconds to click onto the members page, and a quick glance will tell you all you need to know.

So there you have it, the new interesting and convenient changes at Ciao. Dooyoo are also having to implement changes at the moment, due to the financial climate, and we may not be too happy about it, but at least we are not being asked to write for nothing, and are being treated like rational human beings, and not like idiots.


UPDATE. 17/11/01

In November, Ciao will begin the new Premium Fund of £1100 per month. According to the original plan, prizes were to begin at 12p in order to reach a larger number of writers. However, they have received e-mails from some members who have expressed concern that a 12p award is insufficient to reward quality. Based on this feedback, they have redesigned the distribution so that the prizes will begin at 50p. The top prizes under the new system will still be £30 (three prizes) and £20 (ten prizes), as previously announced.

So, credit where credit's due, Ciao have at le
ast listened to the members, and at the end of the day, 50p may not be a fortune, but it's better than 12p.

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