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Note: This account is no longer active.
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Opinions from a 29YO cat-loving, childfree, Miata-driving geek. What could be better? :-)
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Activity Summary
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Reviews Written: 34
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Member Visits: 1,185
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Total Visits: 10,884
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About e-diva
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I'm a 29 year old single woman who lives in Washington, DC. I have a wonderful sixteen year old Russian Blue cat that I've loved living with since I was twelve years old.
I can't resist anything related to the Internet, which is why I got a career working for an Internet company after I graduated from college. These days I configure routers and networks. Most recently I've been fighting with my home computers, putting up webcams for my home page on the Internet. I see any computer that doesn't do what I want it to as a personal challenge. My biggest flaw in this field is that I continue beating my head up against a wall if something doesn't work, which usually prevents me from seeing the simplest solution to a problem.
I enjoy writing reviews and have in the past reviewed software for a magazine for government I.T. professionals. I hold a degree in Journalism with a minor in English, which I think partially explains my obsession with writing about nearly anything.
My Rating Of Epinions
I always find the obligatory explanations of each individual rating just a tad overdone (dare I say pompous?) on people's about me sections. There's a good reason to know why people rate opinions the way that they do, but hearing that someone only HR's well-written and well-thought-out opinions doesn't make me feel better when they've only "Recommended" something I wrote that I thought was a masterpiece.
Nonetheless, I do want to make a statement or two about my Epinions ratings. First off, I don't rate every Epinion that I read, even when I go on a "Rating Binge". If I read your Epinion and don't rate it, chances are I'm too steamed, put off, or just downright confused by something you did in your writing to be bothered with dignifying the darn thing with a rating.
I usually HR longer Epinions that look like a lot of thought was put into them. Hard to read Epinions, due to spelling and grammar errors, or short opinions that don't fully explore the product or service being reviewed, only get "Recommended" from me as well.
I SR Epinions that are potentially valid but highly difficult to read due to spelling errors, formatting problems or show a general lack of caring about the item reviewed. If a writer can't be bothered with communicating effectively then I can't be bothered with giving the opinion an HR. If I feel that the person earnestly doesn't realize how poor their writing is, I try to include a note about why I SR'ed the opinion so they can change it if they want to. Distressingly few do.
Thoughtful Writing
Finally, I'd like to ramble aimlessly about writing thoughtfully for a bit. I've been an Epinions writer for a month now and I'm shocked by some of the things people pass off as opinions.
We all make spelling errors and format errors, but some opinions I read are nothing but babble. If you don't care enough to write a well-thought out opinion that others can read then for goodness' sake, don't bother submitting one. I find, especially, that negative opinions are guilty of just being a few slapshod paragraphs making claims with absolutely no facts. Not all negative opinions are this way, but a disturbing number are.
Which brings me to my last point: If there's one thing every Epinions writer should remember it is this - Stating something does not automatically make it so! Saying a restaurant sucks, that waiters are terrible, and that you hated everything about it is all well and good but do you really expect that to convince someone? Back up statements, particularly negative ones, but also positive ones with examples of why you made that statement. Otherwise, you end up sounding like an irrational person with an axe to grind and that hardly makes for convincing opinion writing now does it?
Thank you for letting me use this spot to get on my soapbox and completely go off about the things that are bugging me most at Epinions right now. I'll probably take this down soon enough, don't worry.
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