Well I am just continuing from my previous review Just_some_thoughts.(I am mentioning that here because I hope there will be more hits on that review…LOL).
Why Write..?
Well if you say for the five points then I think that is gross. I have to admit here that first few of my reviews were born out of a different kind of motivation, which I have mentioned in my previous review.
Firstly, Writing at MS according to me is self expression.. It helps you voice your opinion, guarantees that people read it (at least some do read, rate and comment, few just rate even without reading and the others just keep writing reviews neither read nor rate nor comment!!!).
Writing is not just self expression, as I have mentioned in many of my comments, writing is also to help other members form opinion about products and services . Now there are times when a member who already has strong opinion about a certain issue, might differ from yours, use the comments section. Now there are suggestions from members that a debate is better on M2M than on comments section. I beg to differ. When there is a difference of opinion, if that’s debated on the comments section, other members too learn from that debate. Only thing to be careful here is that a healthy debate on opinions is helpful, but insulting statements and ego clashes, let’s try and avoid them. If you can’t help being combative, then probably use M2M.
Writing is also a great stress reliever . When you strongly feel about a certain issue ( especially if you feelings are of dissatisfaction), it takes a lot off your heart, when you are able to put it across to someone and probably get to know that there are others too who feel the same as you do. Also when you know, that your suffering and its mention has helped a few members to avoid a bad experience, there is a small sense of gratification. Also in some ways writing on MS is morale booster or to use crasser words a great ego healer. I mean I feel very “nice” when I find acceptance in a community, of course there are heart burns when you feel you have opinions rejected or some what rejected by members without assigning reasons for doing so.
What to write..?
Well there is no limit to what you can write on MS. There is something for everyone here at MS. Write about anything but make sure you write only about things of which, you have had a first hand experience. After all this is an opinion site, there is always a chance that your opinion might influence another person. Be sure of your facts and figures. Include anything and everything that you think will make the review complete. I have seen a lot of members come up and write what I call “hate reviews” …even I have done that once. Just because I decided that I am not going to recommend a product (Thums Up), I just gave all the negative points that came to mind without mentioning a single good thing about it ( it’s a different matter that I got suitably rewarded for that…LOL). I have seen a lot of reviews on products that have only negatives or only positives in it. Now can a reviewer justify that product which has been in the market for say more than 25 years, has just negatives and no positives at all….. Are consumers that foolish..??
As far as possible try and mention the pros and cons bout the product you are reviewing .
When to write..?
This is a radical comment. I believe that MS should make it mandatory that any new members read at least 5 reviews (from star writers preferably not compulsorily) before he/she starts writing reviews. That would ensure that a new member gets to know something about the site and writing better reviews. I know there are born reviewers, who might not need any such initiation, but many ordinary mortals could do with some help. Since we are on the issue of timing a good option would be to regularly look at the opinions wanted section, if you find there is some product/service that you are well aware of try and write reviews on them. There is school of thought as to why write review on a product that’s not in fashion or a movie that’s out of theater, I would suggest if you really have strong feelings about a product/service go ahead express yourself, without bothering to see if its in fashion/ demand or not.
Long or Short….?
Well length has always been an issue hasn’t it (I mean of the reviews, nanda U cheap mind). I will say in my opinion SIZE DOES MATTER (strictly speaking about reviews again). I can’t understand how a product or service can be described in a comprehensive manner in 100 words. We aren’t trying to send a telegram are we..? Incase you don’t have more than the mandatory100 words to spare for a review; I would suggest you rather post it as a comment on review about the same product/service. I don’t mean every review has to be to the maximum limit of 8000 characters, but when you have the choice I guess it’s better to put it good use. Lengthy reviews can often tend to be boring ( I can see some of you yawning already...) but then it can be useful to the few who are really looking for details.
Where to write..?
Try and find an appropriate topic, if you can’t then use the Mouthpad….it works brilliantly!
Produce or Reproduce…?
Reproduction, is an art that is not new to us Indians, is it (Not just talking of reviews here)? I don’t se anything wrong if a member uses information gathered from other sites, books, journals etc to add to the informative nature of review. But cloning, well I don’t support that. I mean it’s a cheap thing to “lift” a review straight from another site, book or magazine and present it here as yours . When taking info from other sources, it pays to keep in mind a few things
i. Present it in your own style.
ii. Quote the source…give credit where its due
iii. Use information from credible sources
To format or not….?
Well to me, one important reason for writing a review is for others to read. I believe that a formatted review is more readable than one that’s just typed I whatever way possible.
i. Use of capitals where ever needed
ii. Use of punctuation
iii. Breaking up the review into smaller paragraphs
iv. Maintaining a flow between paragraphs
v. Judicial use of “bold” and “italics”
vi. Don’t write in all caps….for obvious reasons.
vii. Spell Check…. I can understand grammatical errors, but spellings, all that you need is to type your review in Microsoft word and get the spell check done and get it pasted in MS. I have read a lot of reviews that talk about carelessness and callousness of service providers, written with least degree of carefulness or concern. Lets stop being hypocritical. If we can’t be careful with 1000 odd words, how do you expect some else to…..Occasional mistakes are fine, but not about a dozen every 50 words.
Besides all this I would also like to mention that, I personally prefer a little bit of humor in what I read, so when the subject is such that little humor can be introduced, please do by all means. I don’t mean pick a topic and start reeling of jokes after jokes, humor out of the context of the review is no big deal.
That’s all for now, waiting eagerly for the comments, as I said lets thrash out any differences in opinion.