On my goodreads page these are my available stats:
886 ratings (3.50 avg.) 27 reviews
Title Idea: Isn’t
it great to be able to read other people’s ratings to help you evaluate a
product? I love Amazon (for their products) and Kindle and
Goodreads, because you can read so many reviews and that can help you make a more informed
decision. Usually. Isn't that what its intent is?
Except when you don’t like what they say and you are dumb enough to
reply. (That was me).
MY LATEST RICIDULOUS THEORY:
If you read my review of the Butterfly Garden,
you’ll know that I really loved that book. After reading it, I posted a review on
Goodreads. I also looked at some other reviews. I read some that were only one
star, because I was curious as to the reasons someone would not be liking something I thought
was so good. There was one review, where the woman, who,in my opinion, ranted about
how awful the book was for five or six long paragraphs. Why would someone put
so much energy into not liking a book? In my stupidity, I posted a reply. Do you
remember the term “flame war?”
THEORY:
People enjoy expressing themselves.
They do not however, like, when they are disagreed with.
HYPOTHESIS:
When most people express their
opinions, they believe they are right. Well, we all think our opinions are
right or why would we express them? (Except for our friend Fred, who enjoys
stirring people up. You probably know someone like him. They're fun as long as you're on to them). Many people do not understand that an opinion is not an
actual fact, and will fight til the death defending their words.
Research
design:
In this instance, all I have to go on is my experience. Being
old is always a good justification for that. Except maybe when it comes to
technology. Although I have been on line for many years. Especially on Ebay.
And I think that may have been where you could get in trouble because they didn’t
have the rating system and monitors they now have.
Back in the day, if you said something someone didn’t
like, you incited a "war." Nasty words flew back and forth and it was definitely
not something you wanted to get involved with. I never did. Not until, well, here’s the story.
In research we call this anecdotal evidence. Which is the
fancy way to say, “oh yeah, this is what happened to me.” This is what we use
when we don’t have any actual statistics to back us up. (Think of this like
insider trading only since there’s no money involved we can’t get arrested).
Now I get to tell a story.
You can check the
year, since I’m too lazy. It was right after Michael Jackson died. I had this
really cute broach which was a Mickey Mouse head, with attached, swinging
gloved hands. It was gold tone with rhinestones and in perfect condition.
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| I couldn't find the pin on line. It must be really rare. |
I had purchased it quite a few years before I decided
that Michael was a sicko, so I decided it might be a good time to sell. I put
it on Ebay and had one winning bid. From a woman named Dawn.
I waited for payment and it didn’t come. I sent her an
email. Her response was an apology but she had bid on impulse and she and her
family didn’t even have rent money etc. so she wouldn’t be buying it and it was
my fault for tempting her. In retrospect, I should have let her go. But blaming
me? That brought out my stubborn. I wrote back that I would inform Ebay and she
would get a negative review. So, before anything happened she wrote an awful
review about me. I don’t recall the deets, but it pissed me off. I had 100%
positive feedback and was not going to let this nutcase get away with this!
I put in a complaint to Ebay because she was wrong, and I
wanted that review removed and didn’t want to pay the commission on money I
hadn’t received.
The next communications I received from Dawn, after berating me,
were mostly her telling me I was the devil and she and her pastor were praying
for me. I think that was her way of apologizing.
At that point I pursued the proper channels. I got them
to drop the charges against her (since I was not looking to do anything more with her) and had Ebay take down the feedback. I never posted anything
negative about her. It was like nothing had happened. Mostly I forgot about it.
Until now.
Working definitions.
Every site
has a different term or format for feedback from its customers. On
Goodreads you
write and give a numbers of stars for a review of a book.
Facts:
I read a
review that I responded to on Goodreads. Honestly, I had no idea that Lucille
would be so offended. As I mentioned she really put what sounded to me, like vitriol
into this review. I disagreed with her reasoning and the only thing that I said
that seemed to set her off, was, “where is all this hate coming from?” (I have since deleted my posts because I didn’t
want them there). I assumed she would
understand that I meant hate for the book. Here is where I will say that I was
picking up something in my unconscious. My training was kicking in. Because
if you read her replies, she actually was rather hateful.
I got a reply
and was a bit surprised at how angry she was. She thought I was calling her
hateful, I think, and then lambasted me for my opinion of the book.
One other
woman wrote something that supported what I said, but then a couple of
other women and Lucile kept coming back with me being an awful person. I had of course apologized initially.
I never meant to say anything hurtful and said so. I also said everyone was
entitled to their opinions. And she wrote back something else. And something else.
I decided,
okay. Another Dawn. I stopped responding. Actually, I only responded twice and let it go. Then, a month later, I get another email
about a new thread. She is still on me and saying something like she’s going to
be happy to ignore me. Huh? I hadn't been writing.
Just another
day in my life. That’s when I deleted
all my posts.
Findings: Most
of the time, reading other people’s reviews of products is a good thing. I like
sharing (as you know since I’m writing this blog) and understand that not
everyone will give a thumbs up. I actually appreciate the negative reviews, you
know, like the product wasn’t well made, the screws don’t line up. Things that
are helpful. I suppose, one should keep this in mind. Reviews of an actual
product that has dimension and purpose is easier to write. about. It can be based on
facts and not just opinions.
CONCLUSIONS:
Reviews, comments, thumbs up or thumbs down are useful
tools. However, they are probably best
used when there is an actual product involved. If you are reading an opinion,
you have to remember that. It is only a person’s opinion. And a person you don’t
know. Looking at the overall stats is probably better than reading the individual remarks. Also, if you don’t like something, it’s probably best to keep it to
yourself. At least in my humble opinion. It's just an opinion. And only mine. It really bears no weight anywhere. Except in my head, and oh yeah,
on this blog.
I don’t want only positive comments.
I would love to have a dialogue. Discourse and disagreements are places where
you can learn. Just be careful where you leave your footprint.
Thanks for reading. As always, your friend in cyberspace.
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| Guess which one is Fred. |
