reviews

I do write reviews but I do not vote for reviews unless it is exceptionally good. I look for personal experience in every review. I would also look for cost, quality, customer service, lasting value, how long since the product was purchased are other factors that I would look for.

I'll tell you what I look for in a good review! I look for deep detailed information about the thing that is being reviewed. Pictures of it are also good and videos are even better. I want to know why I should or shouldn't buy this item! I want to know all the good and bad things about it no matter how small. A bad review is a review that lacks important information! A bad review is one that just says how much you like or hate the item without any other information about it. Such as "I really like the wii it is the best game console ever! I don't think they will ever make another game console like this! Go nintendo! Go nintendo! I love the big N! You just need to buy one of these right now! Just buy a wii it is that simple! You'll thank me for this review!" I want to know even the smallest of detail about why you like or hate "X" about that item! I want to know any and all potential problems with the item and I want to know why it will be a problem. Examples with the Wii are, " The Wii's lack of processing power could lead to games with graphics no better than last gen consoles." and " The Wii's lack of a hard drive could limit the number of games with downloadable content beacuse the 512MB of flash memory just isn't enough." Just do your best not to leave out any information that could be important! Know the prouduct!

The main reviews that I read are book reviews and movie reviews. I don't normally read that many product reviews. I also write a fair number of book reviews for a couple of online sites, which happily keeps me flush with books or ARCs (advanced reader copies). What I think is important is the reviewer's take on the book or movie with an overall look at the work. I do not appreciate detailed reviews that tell me every action (and ending). Instead, I am looking for a comprehensive view of the whole along with whether the writer thinks it's worth spending my time reading the book or seeing the movie (and why). Some folks just tend to go overboard and write a lot more than most people want to read. I think it's better to keep it concise. Everyone is short on time, and if I spend a lot of time reading the review, I'll never get to the book or movie. Worse, I may know so much detail about the book or movie that I've lost interest in the product. Just my two cents. Good luck with your writing! What sorts of reviews do you do?