tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post3187400199860420640..comments2024-03-29T04:54:50.435-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: Why you shouldn't trust 'amateur' reviewsPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-4225824085924502612010-11-29T11:26:50.034-06:002010-11-29T11:26:50.034-06:00Funny, but I've never let an anonymous (as in ...Funny, but I've never let an anonymous (as in "a person unknown to me") book review determine my book buying decision. If my brother recommends a particular book or author, I'll give it a read. If Peter or Tam or Marko or Matt G (or any of a handful of other bloggers I usually read) recommends a book or auther, I would likewise tend to give it a go.<br /><br />But, to buy a book based upon the reviews of people I've never met, nor had the time to read and "get to know" through their blog?? No way! That's how you end up reading crap like Twilight.Shrimpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-44966511192969038212010-11-29T11:07:28.082-06:002010-11-29T11:07:28.082-06:00I have determined at least for most products (thou...I have determined at least for most products (though I can't say how well this would work for book reviews) that the most enlightening reviews are always the negative reviews. By reading negative reviews you can determine whether the product is flawed, or whether the user has unreasonable expectations or otherwise didn't RTFM. Amateur positive reviews are for the most part useless.tpmoneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-14884705416602050692010-11-29T03:29:56.070-06:002010-11-29T03:29:56.070-06:00I'm not sure it says much about a reviewer by ...I'm not sure it says much about a reviewer by looking at their history. If anyone is actually paid for writing false reviews, I'd guess they are smart enough to keep up appearances with their profiles. <br /><br />It's really not that much work to create say 30 profiles with a short bio for each one, and then pick a few of them for each review, alternating between positive reviews of your books and negatives about others, and throw in a few more for books you dont really care about to make it more difficult to see a pattern.<br /><br />I'm sure Amazon could use datamining to spot patterns like that, or at least the most obvious ones. <br /><br />But you can usually get from the review itself if it's written in good faith, it's usually fairly transparent if it's not written by a person with their own opinions.Eriknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-43226811217596216852010-11-28T21:37:36.853-06:002010-11-28T21:37:36.853-06:00What I want to know is this: is the team of "...What I want to know is this: is the team of "amateur reviewers" that Amazon put together getting free books? And if so, where do I sign up??FarmGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07109427921448753169noreply@blogger.com