If I were to describe mouthshut.com in a single line it would be??Voice of a consumer-whether it is to praise or criticize a product?. I remember I first came across this website when I was searching reviews for bikes coz I had to buy one. Google directed me to this site and frankly speaking I just read the first 3 rvu?s on various motorcycles that a person can view without any membership. I had no plans to become a member of this website coz I had got what I required. But then I realized if other users can help me by giving their important and particularly ?unbiased? advice so why can?t I? It was at this time I become a member of the Mouthshut community (and I am extremely happy with my decision).
INTRODUCTION:
So what exactly is Mouthshut.com?
Mouthshut is a consumer oriented website which allows the most important lot of the market (Us-Consumers) to give their unbiased reviews on various products. No wonder I feel Mouthshut is the fastest growing community of people on the internet.
So what do I get at mouthshut if I join it?
Well u can write ur own opinion on any product whether it is a music album or a book, whether it is on sportsman or a particular sport. There are hundreds of products on which u can write an rvu. U can reveal ur anger or frustration or u can praise a product u have acquired and also recommend it to others (This means u can test ur writing skills here (lol)). U can rate other?s rvu?s, comment on them and best of all make friends here and become a part of the Mouthshut community which not only consists from people from India but all over the world.
Is it paid?
Not at all. It?s totally free. U just need to become a member of this community and key-in a few details and start writin. (As simple as that).
Now that we have learnt what Mouthshut is let?s see what Mouthshut has
Features and advantages that Mouthshut offers are:
=>The site is completely user friendly, no problems of navigation. One can easily find the required product and can get whatever info he/she wants.
=>More and more people are becoming part of the Mouthshut community. This means more and more rvu?s will be added everyday and so we get a clear picture about the product we need to buy according to our needs. Its not true everytime when companies market their product by saying ?we r the best? in the form of advertisements. But here u get a clear picture of what u r going to get when u r choosing a product.
=>When u write an rvu here u can get Alerts rite in ur mailbox about who has read ur rvu, who has commented on them, who has rated them and how much? The rating system encourages a user to write more. When I wrote my 1st rvu I got an overall VU rating which inspired to write another rvu and since then I have written 20 rvu?s till date(which are quite less compared to my other ms friends who have more than 50 rvu?s to their name lol). What?s more is u can learn from others how to write by reading their rvu?s (not copying). U can write as many rvu?s as u want.
=>Once u write an rvu and post it u?ll be known here. People will read ur rvu?s, comment on them and generously rate them. If u r wrong u?ll be told. U will be featured in other?s trust list and if u r good enough writer then u?ll be featured in other?s people?s trust list. U can also trust and distrust people here.
=>When u want to add a new product at mouthshut there is a service called Mouthpad through which u can post the required product and then when the product is added into the website u get an email from Mouthshut that the product has been added and u can write a rvu on it (if u want to).
=>If one is not satisfied with particular info on certain product or needs more information then new reviews can be requested which will be directly posted on the homepage of mouthshut so that the writers come to know about the product and can write a rvu on it.
=>U get ur own space in the form of ur Profile page. Here u get info about the profile u have made, ur rvu?s, the ratings u have assigned, comments u have left on other?s rvu?s, Visits to ur rvu?s, people whom u trust and distrust, people who trust/distrust u and how many ms points u have accumulated. People come to know about u from ur profile page.
=>If u want to personally contact a particular member than u have M2M service whereby u can send an e-mail to a member through mouthshut and convey ur message.
=>Sections like Community Centre, Review of the day, Hot reviews, Star writer, Current Contests are very useful for a member because through these one can check out gr8 and well written rvu?s and look for gr8 writers, take part and win some contests as well.
What Mouthshut expects from you:
=>One should share true experiences and need not plagiarize rvu?s from other websites or magazines. The members here are sharp & intelligent and will find it out if someone has used other?s info and report it to MS so membership is liable to be cancelled.
=>There is cleanliness drive going on at mouthshut which tells us to make out plagiarized rvu?s and report them to Mouthshut HQ.
=>Language used in an rvu should not be offensive. If u r angry or dissatisfied by a particular product u should not write words which can be odious.
=>If one has already posted an rvu on a particular category then it shouldn?t be posted again on under some other category. This does nothing good and wastes people?s time.
Now some flaws as well:
=> The rating system sometimes is revenge prone. Well if sum1 doesn?t like a rvu (in his opinion mind u) and gives it N.U. rating then there is a tendency of human nature that if he/she?s given me a NU rating why should I give him/her a VU or U rating so the latter one also gives a NU rating to a good rvu. This is not the system?s fault but there?s a need to change it.
=>The Mouthpad service is sometimes very slow. I had requested a product to be added to the site through Mouthpad and the product wasn?t added. I requested second time and then it was added.
=>E-mail Alerts are delayed. Many a times I don?t receive alerts at all. Then I need to personally check out my review?s and update my knowledge.
This concludes my review on Mouthshut.com. Comments and suggestions to improve my review are as always welcome.