Those darn voters.

Eden can truly bring out the passive aggressive in me from time to time. So, we all know those voters that after you've slaved on a review, resized the pictures, made sure your cat's hairball is cropped out, gone back 3 times to add a piece of information you just remembered, and fixed that one typo you overlooked, a review feels like a masterpiece for some of us. Especially on lower end items that didn't work all that well for you.

So.. when someone votes me just "Useful" when I've done all this work, I do get peeved.

Now, I know that Useful doesn't hurt a rating and it's still a compliment, but is it really? Especially when it's quite apparent how hard you've put into a review, and we all know that sometimes a review just looks like it took a lot of work. When every fact is included, it's hard to overlook that Useful when you know you earned a step higher.

I've often asked those who voted me just Useful what I can improve and often times I get no reply, but they comment on the review, so I suspect they're just there for their points and really didn't take my review into consideration at all. At least it isn't a "Not Useful" rating, right? But I'm wondering if I'm the only one who raises my eyebrow at this. I've seen it happen to other contributors as well that most certainly earned an Extremely Useful rating. So...

When handling it by simply asking what I can improve didn't work, I would overlook the culprit's profile and find they themselves, have submitted reviews at least, but don't include any pictures/missing facts in theirs. So I immaturely have voted Useful on their reviews before. I smacked myself on the wrist and haven't turned to such passive aggressive behavior since, but am I the only one peeved? Maybe it's the perfectionist in me that feels like, Hey, I now know that person really didn't take the time to think about their vote. And if it wasn't worthy of a higher vote, they could've commented something more than "Thanks for sharing."

I digress. Just needed to let out some steam. less

Contacting people about their votes is seriously frowned upon around here. It puts people on the spot and forces them to explain themselves. I once described it to someone else as the loser of an election walking around and knocking on doors and asking why the occupants voted for the other guy. In theory, it sounds like a great way to get feedback but it's just rude.

Accusing people of committing actions specifically for points is also quite rude, and off-putting, and unwelcoming. Again, seems like a good way of shaming people or stopping the behavior, but all it does is make people stop participating out of fear of being lumped into the next big witch hunt.

All of that said and now aside, we are making changes to the voting process and we will announce it when it's in place. less

This topic has been discussed many times already and quite honestly, it's wrong for you to generalize that these contributors are point farming. Think about how unwelcoming these threads appear to newer contributors. We sound like elitists. Not every review will satisfy every reader in all ways. It's a fact. And no contributor is required to justify their vote. Asking them to do so, no matter how nice and genuine, is potentially harassment. To top it off, what you describe as your own actions is basically retaliation and down voting (even though Useful is not a negative vote). If this is bothering you so much, I suggest you take a step back from the review process. less

I am super excited now that I know the voting is going to change--you guys have been super busy this year!!!!

Now, for the question--not every review is going to be useful for all the members reading it. You could have every point covered, just like all the other reviews of that item, but no new points, alternative uses, or just what the person is trying to find out about an item. Some people are looking for specific fact and are not sold on the item as reviewed by you or someone else.

REMEMBER--these reviews are for the consumer, not necessarily for the members and voters on EF. EF's voting is a great start, but the final use and usefulness is for the consumer who reads your review and makes a decision on purchasing or not purchasing the item. Just keep the knowledge of a well informed and complete review was produced by you to help others in decision making--do not focus so much on the votes!!! It will make you crazy!! less

Contacting people about their votes is seriously frowned upon around here. It puts people on the spot and forces them to explain themselves. I once described it to someone else as the loser of an election walking around and knocking on doors and asking why the occupants voted for the other guy. In theory, it sounds like a great way to get feedback but it's just rude.

Accusing people of committing actions specifically for points is also quite rude, and off-putting, and unwelcoming. Again, seems like a good way of shaming people or stopping the behavior, but all it does is make people stop participating out of fear of being lumped into the next big witch hunt.

All of that said and now aside, we are making changes to the voting process and we will announce it when it's in place. less

Eden can truly bring out the passive aggressive in me from time to time. So, we all know those voters that after you've slaved on a review, resized the pictures, made sure your cat's hairball is cropped out, gone back 3 times to add a piece of information you just remembered, and fixed that one typo you overlooked, a review feels like a masterpiece for some of us. Especially on lower end items that didn't work all that well for you.

So.. when someone votes me just "Useful" when I've done all this work, I do get peeved.

Now, I know that Useful doesn't hurt a rating and it's still a compliment, but is it really? Especially when it's quite apparent how hard you've put into a review, and we all know that sometimes a review just looks like it took a lot of work. When every fact is included, it's hard to overlook that Useful when you know you earned a step higher.

I've often asked those who voted me just Useful what I can improve and often times I get no reply, but they comment on the review, so I suspect they're just there for their points and really didn't take my review into consideration at all. At least it isn't a "Not Useful" rating, right? But I'm wondering if I'm the only one who raises my eyebrow at this. I've seen it happen to other contributors as well that most certainly earned an Extremely Useful rating. So...

When handling it by simply asking what I can improve didn't work, I would overlook the culprit's profile and find they themselves, have submitted reviews at least, but don't include any pictures/missing facts in theirs. So I immaturely have voted Useful on their reviews before. I smacked myself on the wrist and haven't turned to such passive aggressive behavior since, but am I the only one peeved? Maybe it's the perfectionist in me that feels like, Hey, I now know that person really didn't take the time to think about their vote. And if it wasn't worthy of a higher vote, they could've commented something more than "Thanks for sharing."

I digress. Just needed to let out some steam. less

Eden can truly bring out the passive aggressive in me from time to time. So, we all know those voters that after you've slaved on a review, resized the pictures, made sure your cat's hairball is cropped out, gone back 3 times to add a piece of information you just remembered, and fixed that one typo you overlooked, a review feels like a masterpiece for some of us. Especially on lower end items that didn't work all that well for you.

So.. when someone votes me just "Useful" when I've done all this work, I do get peeved.

Now, I know that Useful doesn't hurt a rating and it's still a compliment, but is it really? Especially when it's quite apparent how hard you've put into a review, and we all know that sometimes a review just looks like it took a lot of work. When every fact is included, it's hard to overlook that Useful when you know you earned a step higher.

I've often asked those who voted me just Useful what I can improve and often times I get no reply, but they comment on the review, so I suspect they're just there for their points and really didn't take my review into consideration at all. At least it isn't a "Not Useful" rating, right? But I'm wondering if I'm the only one who raises my eyebrow at this. I've seen it happen to other contributors as well that most certainly earned an Extremely Useful rating. So...

When handling it by simply asking what I can improve didn't work, I would overlook the culprit's profile and find they themselves, have submitted reviews at least, but don't include any pictures/missing facts in theirs. So I immaturely have voted Useful on their reviews before. I smacked myself on the wrist and haven't turned to such passive aggressive behavior since, but am I the only one peeved? Maybe it's the perfectionist in me that feels like, Hey, I now know that person really didn't take the time to think about their vote. And if it wasn't worthy of a higher vote, they could've commented something more than "Thanks for sharing."

I digress. Just needed to let out some steam. less

I think I shall also begin to not look at votes. I am very excited to see the changes to the voting process. I think in order to be able to vote, you should also be required to comment....but with actual words not smileys. I have been frustrated by those who have left good comments, but voted useful, and those who have voted useful or less and left no reasoning. There had to be a reason for voting that way, right? I only vote on reviews that I consider EU, or if I vote less than that, I always comment as to why I did not leave an EU vote. Anyway, excited to see the changes as I said and am going to take a voting breather for a bit! less

I think I shall also begin to not look at votes. I am very excited to see the changes to the voting process. I think in order to be able to vote, you should also be required to comment....but with actual words not smileys. I have been frustrated by those who have left good comments, but voted useful, and those who have voted useful or less and left no reasoning. There had to be a reason for voting that way, right? I only vote on reviews that I consider EU, or if I vote less than that, I always comment as to why I did not leave an EU vote. Anyway, excited to see the changes as I said and am going to take a voting breather for a bit! less

Useful isn't a bad rating at all, because it's telling you your review is helpful. However, a lot of contributors strive to be Very Helpful rather than just, "Yeah, this was a good/decent review." I feel like if I were working at a store helping customers and customer completed a survey on my service and gave me a "Helpful" score and there were a higher available one, I'd want to know what I needed to improve to be a better worker and do that. It isn't their right to include that information, but you get points and a small boost to your overall rating to vote on a review, and if you get that from voting on their review, the least you can do is let the reviewer know what was good or bad so they can be better. That is, unless you'd rather stay silent and not help that reviewer create a better review in the future that does include the information they missed. Some people may feel too intimidated to tell a reviewer they missed something, and that's okay, but this wasn't to bash a Useful rating. It's definitely still a good rating, but a lot of people out there want to do better than "Good." and help the user better than "Good." It's not a being annoying thing, it's just a "I want to do things right," thing. less

Useful isn't a bad rating at all, because it's telling you your review is helpful. However, a lot of contributors strive to be Very Helpful rather than just, "Yeah, this was a good/decent review." I feel like if I were working at a store helping customers and customer completed a survey on my service and gave me a "Helpful" score and there were a higher available one, I'd want to know what I needed to improve to be a better worker and do that. It isn't their right to include that information, but you get points and a small boost to your overall rating to vote on a review, and if you get that from voting on their review, the least you can do is let the reviewer know what was good or bad so they can be better. That is, unless you'd rather stay silent and not help that reviewer create a better review in the future that does include the information they missed. Some people may feel too intimidated to tell a reviewer they missed something, and that's okay, but this wasn't to bash a Useful rating. It's definitely still a good rating, but a lot of people out there want to do better than "Good." and help the user better than "Good." It's not a being annoying thing, it's just a "I want to do things right," thing. less