Hi friends,
I know it quite well that this is a bizzare topic to write a review on, but I couldn’t help penning down what I have been noticing at MouthShut over the last few months. Reading a review...
Well the first question that arises in my mind as I write this piece is that how does one read a review? Or rather, what should one keep in mind when planning to click a link to read a view?
The answer is simple - Check that your eyesight is perfect. If not, still you will not be deprived of the priviledge of reading a review of your choice provided you do have spectacles or contact lenses.
Well, jokes apart, reading reviews is a serious business. After all, this is the main thing for which MouthShut exists... reading a review and informing the world about something you like/dislike. So what are the basic requisites that are to be considered while reading/not reading a review? Let’s find out!
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Readers normally check out many things before reading a review. These are based on my personal example, which are:
1. The product that is being reviewed.
The reviewer.
The title of the review.
Reviews that are written by Star Writers.
Reviews that appear in the ’Hot Reviews’ section.
Reviews that are on the Frontpage/Latest 50 reviews.
Movie Reviews and Advice on some important things.
Now let’s analyze these various aspects and decide whether or not to read a review.
First and foremost, the product that is being reviewed. This plays an important role in determining the number of hits your review will generate. Generally, movie reviews attract more hits than anything else. This may be called a thing of the past, as it’s raining movie reviews at MouthShut of late, thanks to the ongoing contest.
So basically, the reviewed product plays an important role when the reader decides to read a reivew. Suppose if I see a new review on something that I want information on or something that I plan to buy, I will obviously give it a read. On the other hand, if I see a review on something like, say, Ten Worst Films of Mithun Chakrabarty, I will surely give it a skip.
Every member wishes that his/her review gets noticed by a majority of members. An important thing that a reviewer needs to keep in mind is that there are certain types of reviews which will keep on getting hits by members/non-members even after a long time. Like if I write a review on a film personality, then people will read the review when it is newly posted. But whenever people need info about that celebrity, your review will be visited. No matter if it’s more than a year old.
Next comes the reviewer. Normally, a review by a famous member at MouthShut will get more reads by people than a review by newcomers. Now this shouldn’t be the case. Agreed, popular members do have an edge as far as hits are concerned, but what we tend to forget is that the particular popular member also was a newcomer once. Each of them should be given a fair chance. The thing I’m trying to say is that if I browse through the Latest 50 reviews, I shouldn’t look out for the member who has written the review, but for the thing I’m interested in!
The title of the reviews is very important. People don’t have the time to read all reviews that are posted, so reviewer’s should make the title attractive in order to express your feelings in a large way. This, however, doesn’t go to say that the title can be out of place.
Reviews by star writers are read with a lot and lot of expectations. A star writer gets recognition by his/her name, with photo, being flashed at the homepage of the website. This makes people expect moons when they read a review from any Star Writer. So a SW needs to be consistent in writing good reviews, and not to let their fans down! However, non-SW’s, who consistently write good reviews, also have a huge fan following.
Reviews that feature in the Hot Reviews section also gets a lot of attention. These reviews are done automatically based on the response to the reviews. People generally read most of the reviews that are featured on that page, which is a great advantage. No point attempting to get your review out there as it solely depends on how the members’ react to the reivew.
Most of the reviews that are featured on the front page or in the Latest 50 reviews are noticed more by readers than the reviews which are a bit old. There are a few exceptions to this, as I pointed out earlier!
However, lengthy reviews are a big no-no for the readers, specially if they get boring after a point of time. What I normally do in these cases is I rate the review according to what I have read, and I do read the last para, alongwith the pros and cons, and also considering whether the reviewer had.had not been successful in what he/she wanted to say TILL THAT POINT.
Movie reviews and advices are, by and large, received with a greater enthusiasm than reviews in any other category. Reviews of new movies become famous, and good ones do make it to the ’Hot Reivews’ and the ’Review of the Day’ in practically no time at all. But this should not prevent people from writing reviews on other products.
So this review of mine is meant for both, the reviewer and the reviewee. I know there’s no word as such, but couldn’t get a better one. Do let me know you opinion on this!
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Though this review emphasises on reading reviews, rating and commenting on reviews is equally important. Kindly do so now!
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© Aliasgar Poonawala, 2005