What would Epinions be like if I were at the helm.
Oct 04 '00
I am participating in this write-off with several other Epinionators that also find the well being of Epinions.com very important. Please take a moment to check out some of the ways they think Epinions could change for the better. I decided to join this write-off because the topic seemed interesting, and also a challenge to come up with valid reasons. Topic: If I Ran Epinions, Three Things I Would Change.
1.Age Restrictions. I would change the age restriction to allow children over the age of fifteen to write on Epinions. A great majority of the products and services covered by Epinions are used by teenagers.
When I use Epinions to research a computer game I am thinking about buying for my children, I would like to know what other teenagers think of the game. A lot of the games that I find enjoyable the kids find boring, so I want an opinion written from a teenagers perspective of what is fun. The same goes for books. An adult might find a book to be well written and cute, where as kids find it sappy. Let teenagers write on the products most used by teenagers.
I would put stipulations on teenagers between 15 and 17 to write on Epinions. The most important one would be that they would have to be sponsored by an adult. If they abuse the right to write on Epinions, it would show up on their sponsors account.
2.Change the way ratings are posted. The way it is handled now, every one see's who rates what, and how they rate. I would change it so that the only person who see's who rates an opinion is the writer of that opinion. Reason being that many rate by seeing who has rated it before, and rating the same as others that they are familiar with. I think that if the names were not up for all to see, people would rate more honestly. All people really need to know before reading an opinion is if it is highly recommended, recommended, somewhat recommended, or not recommended.
3.Qualifications for being an advisor in certain categories. The way it is now, if you write a lot of opinions in a certain category, and they stay in the rating of highly recommended, you are qualified to apply to be an advisor. In categories that deal with higher technology such as computers and medicine, I would like to see advisors who actually work in that field.
I know that advisors rate on how well the product is covered and writing style, but, if an advisor highly recommends a review, I want to know that all the facts given in the review are accurate. I admit that I don't know every thing about computers and that I would make a lousy advisor in that category, for I would not know if all the facts given are true or not. On the other hand, I work in the medical field and am knowledgeable in that category. I see people who are advisors in health highly recommending reviews that are factually incorrect and dangerous. If the advisors in this category actually worked in the medical field, the chances of incorrect information getting high ratings would be less likely. Advisors should be experts in the field they are advising.
This opinion is simply that, my opinion. I know many of you will not hold the same views and will probably have great reasons against mine. After spending the time to write this opinion, I now know why I write opinions and others run the site. If I ran it, it would probably go bankrupt.
Please check out the others writers that were part of this write-off.
KCFemme, Menomonee1, Gym-378, Bonniesayers, Mythor, Robertopaul, Mcgina, Tinasamuels, Shelxland, Arachnia47, Bluehawq, dndn4kidz, littledebby
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Epinions.com ID:
menomonee1
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Alan Wenberg
Location: Olathe ks
Reviews written: 82
Trusted by: 72 members
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