I Or No I

It's not technically proper to write any opinion or argument piece with the word "I" in it, since it is implied these things are from your point of view and the term is redundant.

That being said, besides about one third of my personal brain, nobody on this site is a known stodgy English professor that will write you off forever for letting an "I" into your reviews, and really as long as your writing is informative I (bwahahaha!) think impropriety of this (tiny) scale should get a pass.

For regular reviews - I think what may have been said about using the word 'I' is mostly to try to keep your focus on the product itself, instead of the review being to tied to your opinion. I think if you cover the important topics, and paint an adequate picture of what the toy would be like in the hands of any user... it really doesn't matter. Try to be objective in your summaries, save your personal opinions for the personal experience section, and use your best judgement on the rest.

The thing I find most useful in a review is not a repeat of the toys description - unless the toys is different than the description. I tend to go straight for the reviewer's report 'Personal Comments' & 'Experience' on how they used the toy and how well it lived up to their expectations.

There are some reviewers that all about product - I don't even bother reading them.

These are great responses! Thanks guys!

I truly don't know what Eden says about the use of the word "I", but it's a great question. I am an English major and have always been told that it is usually inappropriate. However, the reviews on this site are also from personal use and points of view. The reviews should be as unbiased as possible, but I do voice my experience with the product because as with all things on Eden, everyone will react differently. My experience may not be someone else's and I feel it important to acknowledge that in a review. My experience may also help someone decide whether or not the product is right for them. In reviews, I think that personal opinions are important, but Eden has made a section on the reviews for this purpose and I personally have to remember that that section is where I can voice my real opinion about the product.

But sometimes, it's so hard!

Yes, you can and you should. Most reviews are about your personal experience but how you think this will apply to others with similar or different preferences. I don't know why anyone would think we're not supposed to. That's just.. weird.

Description reviews do not typically use a first-person POV because they are SUPPOSED to be in-depth descriptions, like a continuation of the product page.

If you were writing reviews to show your opinion of something in English class and used "I," you'd be marked down. I know it because I have many such old rough drafts of essays from my childhood where that's marked. Being that it's a review, the point of view is already obvious and one doesn't need to keep saying things like "I like," "I think," "I enjoy."

However, this is a site for sex toys and their reviews and a normal person would use "I" to talk about something constantly. I wouldn't trust an upright, "proper" review honestly. It feels like someone isn't being genuine and is simply trying to make me purchase something.

So, use all the I or i or eye you want.

I think it's important to include "I". Writing sex toy reviews includes your own personal experience.

I voted other because for regular reviews, I always include the word "I". I wouldn't say something like "I think it's a big dildo", instead I'd say, "The dildo is quite large measuring in at..." but if I'm talking about my own experience, I absolutely use the word. When writing DRs, I tend to watch out for the "I" word though.

Even for descriptive reviews you can use "I". For DRs you should still be as objective as you can, but there's nothing wrong with stating facts like "I found it to be too ___ for myself, but those that like ___ will probably like it more." That is a fact that it didn't work for you, or whatever.

I don't think it matters that much really. DRs are the only ones you have to be objective in, so it doesn't bother me to see other reviews that are completely opinion based, because they can be. Are objective reviews sometimes more helpful? Sure. But some people don't want an objective report, they want somebody else's opinion on the matter and that's where the subjective reviews really shine.

If you read the questions on your template, they ask you to include your personal experience and you should. It should be kept minimal and you should say just because I found it____ doesn't mean you will too.

I agree with Beck, I try not to overuse it, but if there is something "odd" in the product, "I found X to be..." is perfectly fine, I would think.

I try to limit it. A feel that if it couple if "I"s are there it's on big deal.

Regarding this "don't use 'I'!!1" business we all learned in school...

I teach writing at the college level. It is not improper to use "I" in a personal narrative. It's not, as a matter of fact, improper to use "I" in an academic argument, either. Writing teachers ask students to avoid "I" to encourage them to find other ways to construct their sentences; left unchecked, most people will default to starting every sentence with "I think..." and "I feel...". There's nothing wrong with that, but writers should use those constructions purposefully and meaningfully, not because they can't think of another way to start a sentence.

Whenever you're writing explicitly about yourself and your personal experiences (like your experience using a toy), there's no need to hesitate to use 'I'.

I don't think it should matter.