You Knew It Was Coming: The “How I Rate” Essay…
Feb 21 '01
The Bottom Line The best thing to do would be to sit down, have a "by myself meeting", and think what elements are important to you in a review, then rate accordingly.
Apparently, you can’t get away with not writing one of these “Let Me Explain How I Rate” opinions. Some have opted to put the abridged version in their public profile, while others chose to go all out and just type up a complete opinion. Honestly, since I’m a little low in the opinions department, I decided to do the complete opinion.
I actually decided not to write this last month. I went over to the member forum and saw that there were roughly umpteen million of these manifestos already there, so I decided to pass. However as I rated more and more opinions I saw many inconsistencies. I noticed some very well written opinions were NH’d and some poor ones were VH’d. I did read the comments, but most did not offer suitable explanations as to why their ratings deviated from the majority to that extreme. So as a service to those Epinions members whose opinions I have rated or will rate, here is my take on the Epinions rating system. Sit back and enjoy.
The dreaded “Not Helpful”
To say that this rating should be rare is an understatement. I reserve the NH rating for situations where the writer gave absolutely nothing useable on the subject specified. To be specific, this rating should only be given if the opinion is:
Off topic – The subject discussed in the opinion has absolutely nothing to do with the selected topic.
Inaccurate – The information in the opinion is completely incorrect. Example: “The movie ‘The Matrix’ is about a baby pig trying to gain acceptance on his farm…” Uh, no.
Offensive – The opinion contains hateful, slanderous, or derogatory statements which most people would find distasteful. Don’t these people have anything better to do with their time?
Plagiarized – The opinion is copied, whole or in part, from another source, publication, or opinion. C’mon people! We read the same articles you do. We’ll know.
In my opinion, an NH rating requires a comment unless it is painfully obvious as to why I gave it. Otherwise, how else is the reviewer going to learn? Also, I will never give you an NH just because I disagree with you. Oh, and I don’t revenge rate either. Sorry, I’m an adult.
The inadequate “Somewhat Helpful”
I give this rating when the reviewer obviously tried, but missed on one or more of the following points:
Spelling and grammar – I’m sorry, but it does take away from the overall review when I have to break out my Star Trek decoder ring just to decipher what you’re trying to say. Please take your time and spell check.
Details – I like as much information as humanly possible, so please describe what you’re reviewing, how it looks, what it does, who makes it, who was in it, how you felt while using it, etc. Just saying, “it looks cool” won’t cut it.
Your Opinion – I feel stupid for including this, but it has come up already. Writing your opinion means telling us how you feel about the subject. Objectivity is for reporters, and I’m not Dan Rather. You’re probably not either.
The reasonable “Helpful”
The reviews that receive this rating basically missed on one or more of the same points as the “Somewhat Helpful” rating, but to a much lesser degree. No big explanation here. You did it, but it can be done better.
The coveted “Very Helpful”
This rating denotes a review worthy of everyone’s time. It is almost professional in every aspect. The review is organized, well written, grammatically correct, detailed, informative, and accurate. The reviewer offers intelligent supports and comments, and gives convincing reasons as to why the reader should or should not buy the product, service, or whatever else the case may be.
Some quick points to hit in a few of my favorite categories that will help me give you a VH:
Music – Be sure to include a few song lyrics, give any guest appearances by other artists, and producers who collaborated on the effort. The fold-out in the CD is your most valuable tool.
Video Games – The four elements of video game reviewing are graphics, sound, gameplay, and replayability. Hit all these and I should have no problem positively rating your review.
Software - Please list what OS you’re running it on, its purpose, and how well it works. If it’s a Microsoft OS, please list how many times you had to reboot (kidding).
Electronics – Try to describe the unit and compare it to any comparable unit if you can. Tell about its features, and how easy (or difficult) it was to use.
All in all, I truly try to rate fairly. If I feel I have some input on your opinion, I will type up a comment for you and you can feel free to email me with a response. I will rate everything I read, because for me, the rating system is feedback that justifies my hours spent typing opinions when I should be working (oops).
So this is how I rate. If you don’t like it, email me your Epinions ID and I will do my best to avoid your opinions like the plague.
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Epinions.com ID:
madtheory
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 - Top 100 |
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Location: Dallas,TX
Reviews written: 485
Trusted by: 590 members
About Me:
DON'T CALL IT A COMEB... wait. I guess you actually can call it a comeback.
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