I just came across an article in WSJ, headline being "Paid to Pitch-Product reviews by bloggers draw scrutiny" and going through the 1300 word article, a lot of things came to mind. And to be honest some of them made sense too. Bloggers in the U.S. get paid, they are also "sought" after by companies who get them to write good things about their company/product. Wow!
There is one lady mentioned in the article Jessica Smith, who writes for Ford Motor Co., Electronic Arts, and Wal-Mart Stores. And she received a Ford Flex Crossover as a SUV, wow! Electronic Arts took it one step ahead, they got her to "work-out" with Oprah Winfrey’s personal trainer. Although, I can’ find the logic behind this, on the face of it, this looks lucrative.
Do we in Mouthsut do any different? Rather, IMO, MSians are the most unbiased reviewers(at least some of them) I am sure companies do track the reviews that we post and a few good ones who are responsive also address the complaints of the customers who have turned reviewers.
But alas, we get MS Points, a few review ratings and if we were good with writing we get a few invaluable comments, but nothing close to Ford Flex Crossover or a "workout" with Oprah Winfrey’s trainer. Can we do something? Obama said "Yes We Can" to almost everything that is troublesome currently, so being optimistic that I am, I think we can do something. How about being able to translate the MS points to gifts. Oh yes, but we can’t do that directly, coz mouthshut is free, anyone can register and start. Can we make two versions(to start with) paid and free. Members of the paid ones should be able to translate points to gifts. Members of the free one, can continue on the free space and gradually move over to the paid one. Will it work? Is there anything better that will work.?