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| #1 | |||
| Passionate Fan   Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 3,605
| What do you think of Amazon customer reviews? Do you use them to decide which book to buy/read? Have you ever written one? I always use the customer reviews when I'm trying to figure out what to buy. They can be particularly useful in instances where the publisher's description is either insuffient or misleading. I just wish Amazon did a better job of weeding out the garbage submissions. There seems to be more "comments" than actual reviews. Also, does that button "yes, I found this review helpful" really do anything? Those yes/no buttons can easily be manipulated. I've only written 2 reviews myself. Anybody else? | |||
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| #2 | |||
| Addicted Fan  Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,875
| Sometimes the reviews are helpful, but I've found that bad reviews help me a lot more than the good ones. I don't like the "Was this review helpful?" at all! The fans just go through and give all low ratings negative votes without even reading the reviews. I used to write reviews but my rating is pretty bad because I dared to say I didn't like some popular books and fanboys and fangirls retaliated against me. Also, some of the reviews reveal spoilers and I've found some other objectionable reviews too (like multiple reviews of Publish America books that are obviously written by the author under a bunch of assumed names)- and I reported them to Amazon, who did nothing even though they say they remove reviews that people complain about. I like Amazon recommendations and the Listmanias are totally addictive.  Last edited by Soz : 02-03-2005 at 03:38 PM. | |||
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| #3 | |||
| Addicted Fan  Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,446
| I usually only read them when they're about books I've already read, to see what other people thought. The one time I used a review to make a decision it was about the cd of music from "Moulin Rouge." __________________ "When the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over." "What's all over?" "It." | |||
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| #4 | |||
| New Fan Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3
| I think they can be helpful. As with anything some are more helpful than others. Susan  | |||
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| #5 | |||
| Fan Forum's Finest   | Quote:
__________________ ~Stephanie~ Hayden Christensen's board is Celebrating 100K posts | |||
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| #6 | |||
| Master Fan  Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 15,641
| Sometimes they can be helpful when trying to decide if a purchase is "worth it" or not, but there are some drawbacks...they have a tendancy to include spoilers, for one thing. I don't look at them before I read a book anymore, because they can color me against a certain work from the very beginning, or make me set my expectations too high and then end up disappointed. Best to make your own calls, I say.  | |||
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| #7 | |||
| Extreme Fan  Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 2,526
| Quote:
__________________ + Susan "Everything I've touched has been diminished." | |||
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| #8 | |||
| Dedicated Fan  Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 780
| I do tend to read many of the reviews but also agree that many do post too many spoilers in the actual review. I also love the Listomania lists. __________________ Trory Leather Librarian | |||
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| #9 | |||
| Master Fan  Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 12,829
| I have to say that I'm always glad when there are at least some reviews to read when I have to choose a book. Not that it's a major criteria in my final decision but it's always good to know what other people thought of a particular book. Furthermore it kinda annoys me when there are no review at all : it kinda seems to me that no one actually wanted to read the book in question. __________________ The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast : the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed' | |||
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| #10 | |||
| Master Fan  Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 12,641
| some of them are helpful but usually they just annoy me. People have a tendency to write only a few sentences and call it a review. plus, i've been to some that the grammar is so bad i couldn't bring myself to finish reading it. i think amazon needs a way to like filter their reviews. maybe requier them to be so long or something. __________________ He had told her once that he liked kissing her, but Mac didn't think that counted as a form of commitment. Well, other than Dick's own commitment to himself to do stuff that felt good. | |||
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| #11 | |||
| Master Fan Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 12,829
| Quote:
 __________________ The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast : the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed' | |||
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| #12 | |||
| Master Fan Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 12,641
| Quote:
__________________ He had told her once that he liked kissing her, but Mac didn't think that counted as a form of commitment. Well, other than Dick's own commitment to himself to do stuff that felt good. | |||
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| #13 | |||
| Passionate Fan  Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,348
| I don't mind them. I say, "To each its own". I also believe if everyone had the same opinions on books, movies, shows, and other things the world would be a boring place. | |||
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| #14 | |||
| Extreme Fan  Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,055
| I rarely do unless it's an author I'm totally unfamiliar with but mostly I make up my mind for myself because some books that I thought were really great some of the reviewers don't rate them so highly. __________________ The love I have for you is the best of me. What would I be without that? | |||
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