Am I wrong by doing this??

Contributor: LQ LQ
Wow. I hope this is just one of those hot topics & isn't much of an issue in reality. I hate to think there's a crowd of people out there going through checklists when rating reviews.

A couple posts here just made me go "Huh?" because they seemed to express an attitude of “Well, this is the way I want it & if you don’t cater to my personal preference I’m going to rate your review lower! So there!” *insert sticking out tongue and stomping foot*

If you like product information repeated in the body of a review, that's fine. If that's one of the factors you take into account when rating a review, okay. If it's the only factor that makes you give a different rating than you'd otherwise give: To me that feels a bit rigid. Realistically, there's no way for a reviewer to take everyones' preferences into account. Let's say, as a totally fictional example, I find stats being repeated in a review really distracting & wish people wouldn't do it. Am I going to give a lower rating to a review that included those stats & otherwise followed Eden's review format well & thoroughly? No. Because I know that's just my personal quirk & doesn't mean the reviewer failed to do what they were supposed to do. And how were they to know that I had an issue about it?

I'm mentioning this because it's relevant from the perspective of newer reviewers. Had I not happened to read this thread, I would have had no clue that anyone cared about the stats being put in the body of the review. I'm fine with mousing over the Product Info. icon to see them. It just never crossed my mind that anyone would find that a bother. OK, now I see that many people prefer the stats in the review. Good to know.

But what about the reviewer who starts up a month from now & doesn't see this thread? They're doing their best, following the review format correctly, & overall doing a great job, but their reviews are being rated lower than they'd otherwise be due to something they a) aren't required to do and b) don't even know about? That just seems weird to me.
10/25/2011
Contributor: chicken12 chicken12
Quote:
Originally posted by LQ
Eh, I guess I was thinking of people with 200 reviews, 100 reviews... Same point though. There are excellent reviews & reviewers that don't include stats. There are also reviews & reviewers that include them, but are less informative ... more
I agree a lot with this. When I read a review, I'm looking for a subjective, not objective review. One of my main concerns is noise level, so I like reading peoples' opinions on how loud they think the toy is and what their methods of determining the number of bees are (e.g., turned toy on, put on bed, went outside bedroom, closed door).

Numbers don't mean as much to me as other examples or comparisons do. A vibrator next to a pen or held in a hand is a lot more informative to me than knowing that it's X inches. In my reviews so far, I've compared the size of my toys to fingers on my hand. The reader can just look at their hand and get a general idea of what it's going to be like.
10/25/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by LQ
Eh, I guess I was thinking of people with 200 reviews, 100 reviews... Same point though. There are excellent reviews & reviewers that don't include stats. There are also reviews & reviewers that include them, but are less informative ... more
I understand. Thanks for being cool about it. I do Descriptive Reviews (the ones on the Product Page) and it is always necessary to measure (especially things like the bondage scarves I wrote a while ago and was just published but also for vibrators, dildos and other toys) because the info is sometimes not accurate.

I'm a detail person and things like this are important to me.
10/26/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by chicken12
I agree a lot with this. When I read a review, I'm looking for a subjective, not objective review. One of my main concerns is noise level, so I like reading peoples' opinions on how loud they think the toy is and what their methods of ... more
I really want to see the circumference of toys, especially those that will be used vaginally or anally. I like large toys vaginally (at least 4.5 inches in circumference) and medium or small used anally (less than 3-4 inches in circumference.) Size is a huge factor in my buying a toy, because if it's too narrow, it just doesn't do it for me. Same for length; I prefer 7 inches or more of insertable length, because otherwise it doesn't hit my A spot when I'm aroused.

This issue pops up from time to time, and I think most Mentors cover it, so I don't think too many people are going to miss it.
10/26/2011
Contributor: Hot 'N Sexy TexasMama Hot 'N Sexy TexasMama
Quote:
Originally posted by chicken12
I agree a lot with this. When I read a review, I'm looking for a subjective, not objective review. One of my main concerns is noise level, so I like reading peoples' opinions on how loud they think the toy is and what their methods of ... more
Not to pick on you - I promise - but I hate comparisons next to people's hands. Let me explain why though.

I have large hands - my ring finger is size 12. My middle finger is 3 1/2" long. I can't wrap my fingers completely around my write (large bone size) and it is between 7.5" and 8" circumference for my wrist.

So when I see things in someone else's hand I can not tell how well it will do for me. Do they have larger hands? Smaller hands? The camera angle doesn't always show that.

This is why I like measurements (for me). I need wider and longer toys as I'm pretty much a size queen I think.

Anyway - just my .02 and I thank everyone for reading. Y'all have given me a lot to think about - most of what I came to this thread believing came from my experiences as I got private notes about my first review (and then later reviews) about what folks liked and didn't like. I had just "assumed" that measurements included was the community standard since so many folks mentioned it to me.
10/26/2011
Contributor: LQ LQ
Quote:
Originally posted by chicken12
I agree a lot with this. When I read a review, I'm looking for a subjective, not objective review. One of my main concerns is noise level, so I like reading peoples' opinions on how loud they think the toy is and what their methods of ... more
Nod, I'm a very visual thinker, so I tend to use comparisons and also I enjoy seeing others use them. It's easier for me to mentally picture an object than an inch. *shrug* Just how my brain works.

It's not always easy to come up with good universal comparisons, though! I pretty much run out after "average-sized banana" & "soda can." I was probably quite amusing the other day running all over the house, looking in the fridge, cupboards, etc. for size-comparison objects.

I've started to use hand comparisons a couple of times & ended up not doing so because hand size varies so much.
10/26/2011
Contributor: LQ LQ
Quote:
Originally posted by P'Gell
I really want to see the circumference of toys, especially those that will be used vaginally or anally. I like large toys vaginally (at least 4.5 inches in circumference) and medium or small used anally (less than 3-4 inches in circumference.) Size ... more
RE: "I do Descriptive Reviews (the ones on the Product Page) and it is always necessary to measure... I'm a detail person and things like this are important to me."

Totally hear ya there. I was in an editing position where I was the last defense against mistakes before articles went live, so I'm big on fact checking. I'm always remeasuring items if the product information doesn't look quite right, etc.

I think it's great that there are so many writers here who do go the extra mile on those things rather than just doing "good enough." The overall quality of writing here vs. other sites that take reader contributions is much higher!
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RE: Circumference - I totally agree with you on that info. being important. It's one of the first things I look at when shopping. If the size is wrong, any other bells and whistles kinda don't matter.

I just happened to use it as an example of something I usually look for on the Product Page vs. the review body. As long as there's accurate information about it somewhere, I'm good.
10/26/2011
Contributor: LQ LQ
Quote:
Originally posted by Hot 'N Sexy TexasMama
Not to pick on you - I promise - but I hate comparisons next to people's hands. Let me explain why though.

I have large hands - my ring finger is size 12. My middle finger is 3 1/2" long. I can't wrap my fingers completely ... more
I agree. While hands are certainly convenient, they just vary too much to give a very clear size picture. I have small hands but long skinny fingers, so my grip is actually larger than it appears to be. I wear kid-sized watches a lot because my wrists are super-small. But if you assume that means I want skinny toys, I'm going to giggle at you.

RE: "I had just "assumed" that measurements included was the community standard since so many folks mentioned it to me."

Nod, and I assumed the opposite because I never heard anyone say anything about it. LoL. So it's educational to read some varied viewpoints on that here.
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EDIT: I was just reading about how review ratings actually affect your overall status & found out that a vote of "Useful" vs. "Extremely Useful" makes little to no difference. So that helps with my previous concerns about peoples' votes based on whether or not stats were in the review body. I was thinking those different votes would be more significant than they apparently are.
10/26/2011
Contributor: Princess-Kayla ♥ Princess-Kayla ♥
I think that constructive criticism always nice. I personally like knowing why people vote for my reviews like they do. I think as long as you're careful to not be rude about it, then you're probably fine. Just keep in mind that some people can get easily offended about things like that.
11/04/2011
Contributor: PrettiGirlRock PrettiGirlRock
Quote:
Originally posted by AndroAngel
When I look at a review, I'm looking for information not on the product page. I don't care too much if they cover diameter, etc, because I've already considered those things if I've moved on to the review. I'm looking for material ... more
This is exactly how I feel. I don't think someone should be scolded or penalized because their writing style or views on what"s most improtant if it is well written.
11/13/2011
Contributor: Sex'и'Violence Sex'и'Violence
I like that kind of comment personally, but I suppose it's a preference thing.
11/13/2011