Information AboutEpinions |
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Epinions.com is a shows or Movies . There is no maximum opinion length, but the minimum opinion length has changed several times. Currently, the minimum length is 20 words. Epinions is a place where members can write reviews, as well as other kinds of opinions. To post a review, members must rate the product or service on a scale from 1 to 5 stars, one star being the worst rating, five stars being the best. For several years now, all opinions also comes with brief Pro and Con sections, and a "The Bottom Line". Epinions.com originally had both an Eroyalties plan and an Income Share Plan. The Eroyalties plan paid writers per read of their opinion. The payment per read has steadily decreased and finally been unilaterally abolished, partly because this system was being gamed. Epinions still offers Income Share, which ostensibly rewards reviewers for how much help they've given users in deciding to purchase products. Epinions even claims that you are also rewarded for helping visitors not purchase an item. It is not possible to verify either claim, as the Income Share Formula is secret. Another service, which ended in 2002 are referrals, where you get paid for telling people about Epinions. Since the end of the dot-com era, payment dwindled and then plateaued to a level that is much lower then the earlier days and non-existent for many users. Certain categories, such as electronics, pay better than other categories, such as movies. All members can rate opinions by others as Off-Topic (OT), Not Helpful (NH), Somewhat Helpful (SH), Helpful (H), and Very Helpful (VH). Opinions shorter than 200 words are called Express Opinions and rated "Show" (S) or "Don't Show" (NS). Members can also decide to "trust" or "block" (formerly known as "distrust") each other. All the trust and block relationships interact and form a hierarchy known as the Web of Trust. This Web of Trust (WOT) combines with rating to determine in what order opinions are shown. The order members see depends on their own ratings and their own trust and block choices. The order a visitor sees is determined by a default list of members a visitor supposedly trusts. The WOT formula is secret. Some members have titles that designate certains roles, status, privileges or benefits. These roles, the titles and the way members are selected for these have changed more than once. Since 2002 the main titles are Advisor, Top Reviewer and Category Lead. The Advisors have greater rating weight and access to an additonal rating, Most Helpful (MH). The Top Reviewers have all their opinions shown above those of others, even if the others are higher-rated. The most powerful title is that of Category Lead, a Category Lead enjoys all the Advisor and Top Reviewer benefits, has even greater rating power and can choose the Advisors and Top Reviewers for a category. A Category Lead can even add new products and services to the epinions.com database for others to review. Category Leads are members that have become temporary epinions.com contractors; they sign a temp contract, receive an undisclosed fee, and enjoy access to privileged information after signing a non-disclosure agreement. CRITICISM OF EPINIONS.COM Abuse of the site has always been a problem. There are so-called Rating Circles whose members "trust" and "rubberstamp" each other's reviews and are often aggressive towards members who dare to give them anything but the highest rating. They play these rating games to gain more rating power and skew the Income Share payments. These so-called "circle-raters" often "block" good members who do not play along with their gaming of the system. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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