Sachin Tendulkar is a great batsman. Probably the greatest India has ever produced. Possibly, one of the finest this game has ever seen. But does it mean he is perfect? Does it imply that he is infallible? Are we to assume that there is no scope for improvement? I am sure he knows the answers to these Qs much better than we do.
So what does this have to do with reviewing MS? It was just an analogy which we shud all be able to relate to. Pardon me for being a cynic but I have been following this thread about ’’REVIEWS ABOUT MOUTHSHUT’’ and I must confess that everyone has been trying to outdo the others trying to sing praises about the site. I have read enough about ’’how people are able to let their creative juices flow’’, ’’how they have found new friends’’ , ’’how much they have grown thanks to the liberal flow of diff ideas’’ blah blah.. Point taken! I have also heard the odd voice raising politically right concerns (I admire their guts to atleast try sthg new) but I have seen very few people call a spade a spade when it comes to toking abt MS. Cmon, somebody’s got to cry ’’The Emperor’s not wearing clothes’’. Since I have always believed in plainspeak, I think its time to be frank, fair and forthright.
Here are just a few points that I think MS cud consider worth looking into:
A. How exactly do you decide to approve creation of new categories?
I have often found that common place topics like a review on a new book or movie gets approved easily whereas sthg offbeat is a NO NO. Just to give a few examples, someone I knew has tried to post a review on FANTASY FOOTBALL - a web based game on BBC (something on the lines of SUPER SELECTOR) and it never saw the light of the day. Personally, I wanted to review a personality, Ismail Darbar but couldn’t do it. When I too things into my own hand and posted it under DEVDAS movie review with due apologies to all readers, it was unceremoniously removed.
At the same time, topics like ’’BEST 5 REVIEWERS AT MS’’ is being approved and encouraged. Beats me! (On second thoughts, it’s such a smart move coz it fosters CHAMCHAGIRI)
I recently recommended MS to another pal of mine who’s in the US. He told me he’d heard of many such consumer sites, had tried them too and was sick of their bias. However he offered to try MS out. Here are his comments verbatim. Worth a dekho !!
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I posted two profiles simultaneously - one male and another female, wrote similar kind of reviews. And u know how the response has been - yes, people fall over their heads to give ’’the lady’’ good ratings, whereas they are at their critical dissecting best with ’’the male’’ :-) Some things never change !
This Trusted Circle thing is a nice concept. What you simply do is identify 4 half decent writers, go to all their reviews and rate them VERY USEFUL. They lose their rational - after all , everybody likes to be flattered - and yes, develop a soft corner for you and start reading your reviews and giving u good ratings even if u don’t deserve it :-) This leads other people who trust these ’’stars’’ to also rate the reviews as VERY USEFUL...Don’t you folks call this Word of Mouth - unfortunately working the wrong way.
I know you hate stats. But have a look at these 4 very good writers - See how they have rated each others articles, see people have rated them after the other stars rated them. My numbers speak for my argument.
(I am not disclosing those stats and those names but much as I hate to admit it, they were true and it disappointed me)
As a new member to MS, how do u get people to read your review, leave alone getting them to rate/comment on it ...Of course the bare necessity is a good review but this is necessary, not sufficient. People don’t rate reviews here, they rate you. Its almost impossible trying to drive traffic unless you form a Trust Circle, a group which will definitely give you a hear - And quite often you have to sell your conscience to do it..All the more reason why I don’t see u doing well here :-))
OK...One more stat for you :-) Nobody in this website of urs seems to like to KISS (Keep It Short and Simple)..While details are necessary, most of the VERY USEFUL reviews ramble on, digress and still get away with it. Theres loads of STYLE but little SUBSTANCE.
Someone probably needs to remind them that the length of a review is directly related to the endurance of the human bladder. :-)
I could go on and on but I don’t want to burst your bubble. I am not saying MS is all F’ed up. In fact, its a nice initiative, i’ve even seen some very promising writing. But don’t kid yourself that its perfect. This mutual back slapping gets to me and so I think I will let you send me the best of MS rather than spend all my time digging up some genuine reviews.
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I know I am not gonna win brownie points for this review. Like it matters..But if this review sets a lot of people thinking, I have accomplished my mission.
And yes, much as we love Sachin’s rasping cover drives, exquisite flicks, it hurts when he throws his wicket away playing across the line , pains to see him fail consistently during finals..As they say, there is always scope to do better, achieve greater heights ! And u bet, I will keep watching and writing about SACHIN :-)