How do you reviewing product/s at Ciao?
By owelm0408
@owelm0408 (1011)
Philippines
November 29, 2008 8:02am CST
hi fellow mylotters,
I've posting reviews at Ciao for almost 2 months now.Most of my reviews are the gadgets that i use or had used, music that i listen to or movies I watched...
But recently i noticed that a lot of members are reviewing products by just giving the specs or some overview of a particular product, mostly laptops and cellphones.For all i know, based on the policy of ciao that reviews must be based on user's own experience and not merely sharing the specs or just based on readings somewhere.
For me, I really get sick of reading/rating those products review that is not based on user experience. Do you think this is an abuse or its just okay to do, especially now that ciao had reduced the review pay??I'll be glad to hear your opinions.thanks!!
6 people like this
15 responses
@josephcs (125)
• India
29 Nov 08
Well.. "Review" actually means trying a product and then sharing your likes/dislikes about the product and the same is carried on in some mobile review sites like GSMARENA and MOBILE-REVIEW.. Reviews should be written only if the person has personally tried the product. The same should be done in CIAO.. What you are doing is totally right. But people have become used to copy/pasting Specs which is totally off-topic.. And this has also become a trend there.. And am not able to judge if this is right. But according to CIAO, reviews should be written only after personally trying the product..
@owelm0408 (1011)
• Philippines
29 Nov 08
agree with you, those kind of reviews are becoming a trend.somewhat contrary to whats ciao's purpose is.
1 person likes this
@mamacathie (3928)
• United States
29 Nov 08
I just joined ciao and was hoping I could review anything that I used but I am only finding you have to choose things they have listed. Am I looking in the wrong place or have I totally misunderstood how to use Ciao? Any of your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and God bless you!
3 people like this
@sirrob (4108)
• Philippines
29 Nov 08
Try searching the product that you are using or have had in your house, specially movies that you watched and the TV series that you are so die hard. There's a search bar in your "my Ciao" page, which is located on the right side, I am sure there are a lot of products to choose and for sure there should be one or several of them that you are using in your house. There are a lot of cellphone brands and model, also several choices in home appliances.
1 person likes this
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
30 Nov 08
It is up to the website owner to enforce its own rules. Apparently from what you are saying these people are still getting paid and not doing the work. It is too bad as it will dilute the quality of the site. I have not made any reviews on the site as I have not had the time but I certainly would become bored with a site that just lists specs that can be found elsewhere.
1 person likes this
@Rainegurl (2156)
• Philippines
30 Nov 08
hi, owelm 
i have been with ciao for almost a month now and i like it because despite the decrease to 25 cents per review, my earnings increase day by day even if i spend only a few minutes with the site.
anyway, at first i was hesitant to make reviews because i am helpless with these specs thing. i wouldn't know what to write. however, when i tried it, what ciao is requiring is, like you said, personal or user experience after all. that means my own experience with using the product, right? so that is what i do. i am baffled with other members because they write the specs. it's like they just copy it from the box.
have a nice day! 
i have been with ciao for almost a month now and i like it because despite the decrease to 25 cents per review, my earnings increase day by day even if i spend only a few minutes with the site.
anyway, at first i was hesitant to make reviews because i am helpless with these specs thing. i wouldn't know what to write. however, when i tried it, what ciao is requiring is, like you said, personal or user experience after all. that means my own experience with using the product, right? so that is what i do. i am baffled with other members because they write the specs. it's like they just copy it from the box.
have a nice day! @owelm0408 (1011)
• Philippines
1 Dec 08
yah that's right.its not bad at all to include specs or some product details but that should not be all.most importantly, you have to include your own experience at the end..for me, thats what i do.
@owelm0408 (1011)
• Philippines
29 Nov 08
the main objective of reviewing at ciao, suppose to be,is to share your own experience of the product to be able to guide potential users/buyers in their purchasing decision. its not prohibited to include some significant info about the product like the specs, a little description, etc., but the core heart of the review must be your own user experience.
1 person likes this
@tiohwji (133)
• Philippines
30 Nov 08
i just finished composing my first 2 reviews at ciao, about a movie and about my cellphone and it took me at 40 min on each post. and yeah, i've noticed most of the reviews are copycats and with regards to the gadget reviews, they're just copy and pasting the specs. it's kinda unfair for "us" who really based the review from our own experience because it took time for us to compose such review and yet getting paid the same amount of $0.25 per article(am i right? is it really $0.25 per post?) Hope ciao admin will notice those posts and terminate their account :P(peace out).
1 person likes this
@owelm0408 (1011)
• Philippines
1 Dec 08
yah that's right.but lets just do our job well.which is to review based on our own personal experience...thanks for sharing your story
@tammytwo (4298)
• United States
29 Nov 08
I have just started using Ciao and so far I am liking what I see. I do notice that some reviews don't seem to be based on the user's actual opinion of the product, but only the specs. I would rather write my own opinion when writing reviews.
1 person likes this
@kaka135 (14916)
• Malaysia
30 Nov 08
I think we shouldn't write a review by just copying the specifications in ciao. It's a site for the buyers to read reviews, and decide whether they want to buy the products or not. I'm sure they can easily find the specifications of the product anywhere in the Web, so those reviews don't help them in buying decision at all.
I usually do not read and rate those reviews, but I am new there, and I haven't come to any of these reviews yet. 
@ThePaintGuru (541)
• United States
30 Nov 08
Yeah I've got to agree, people don't learn anything from reading this kind of review. Reviews are supposed to be a kind of "off the street" opinion about a product from a real person who has used it, and we all use enough products daily to make this happen. People really just get greedy and figure they can make some money just by writing nonsense reviews, but I am sure they get caught on Ciao eventually if they're copying the specs from somewhere else.
1 person likes this
@sirrob (4108)
• Philippines
29 Nov 08
That's right, a lot of new members are coming into this scam strategy just to earn something, this is one of the reason as well that I became inactive aside from having a problem with my computer. I usually don't go near into this members when I read of the same sort already, I don't subscribe to their reviews anymore. I only read those who have valuable thoughts in their review so I only get notification to those who really write something good. Another thing is, a lot keeps on sending SPAM messages to read and rate their review, include them to your circle of trust and that they already rate and commented in your review and asked you to do the same. They just don't know that it could be a subject for termination of their account once someone reported them.
1 person likes this
@marina321 (4556)
•
30 Nov 08
Most of my reviews are the gadgets that i use or had used, music that i listen to or movies I watched...
Same here I think some people are desperate for the cash and see it almost as a job,have evn read in some posts here about people researching to write a review
I mind my own business on any site I am on anyway, I suppose the mods will be doing their work on those reviews you're talking about but if you want to help them along, you know what to do
I think some people are desperate for the cash and see it almost as a job,have evn read in some posts here about people researching to write a review
I mind my own business on any site I am on anyway, I suppose the mods will be doing their work on those reviews you're talking about but if you want to help them along, you know what to do1 person likes this
@manunulat (604)
• Philippines
30 Nov 08
I have been in ciao for a couple of days now. Hahah, yeah you hit it right! Some aren't actually reviewing, some just want to get even... I own some products and actually used them so that's what I'm basing my experience to write the review. Moreover, I've been writing sincerely with some music, movie and other products and making use of my little knowledge on creative/critical writing skills. Stick to the rules, don't rate the reviews if you don't feel like it. Anyhow, I still go back to mylot because there are friends here who won't bug you to do something in return for anything, so have fun!
add me in ciao igmediodamian
@zalilame (880)
• Malaysia
30 Nov 08
Hello owelm. When I first joined ciao I was excited on rating and writing reviews for the products I used. The, after some times I ran out of ideas. Then, I ran into ciao cafe. It has more options and you can discuss almost everything like mylot. So I decided to stick to that. Most of my posts and reviews comes from recipes. Its good but not as fun as mylot.
1 person likes this
@LotterHan (30)
• China
30 Nov 08
What is Ciao?We can earn money from it?Could you give me more detail about it?
Thanks very much!
:)
