Agreed. I feel the same way and Airen gave you wonderful info.

Again, votes are personal.

There have been times I've found a review useful or somewhat useful simply because the reviewers writing style was hard for me to read. Or because info was repeated so often I was bored and could only manage to skim. Or because it was all specs and cleaning info with nothing that gave me a sense of how the person liked the toy.

No one is obligated to tell anyone else how they can improve. If someone voted one of my reviews useful, then told me how to improve, I'd laugh.

Seriously.

I write how I write and people are allowed to find my reviews less than perfect but, truly, most people do not appreciate being told how to fix minor issues. The difference between useful and extremely useful is minor.

A lot of the time people will leave comments, but I think that is another reason why they started the mentor program. I know I usually vote based on more than just the content- for example, spelling and grammar are something I personally look for. I.E if someone writes, "ThAT dIcK wAs SOOOO GUD" - I know people can't all be english masters, but there is a line between writing decent and just being immature.

I know there are lots of different writing styles, but it might just be a matter of personal opinions on how well you did, I guess? I hate getting a bunch of useful reviews as well, but it's better than not useful

Also, it is very annoying to me when I write, say, two or three reviews that get rated useful or extremely useful (as well as being active here) and my rank doesn't budge :p I guess if it was easy to do then we wouldn't have anything to work for!

Happy reviewing!

"The difference between useful and extremely useful is minor." This doesn't get stressed enough. It shouldn't be a big deal to get useful votes, and we shouldn't feel bad/guilty if we get them. We can't please everybody.

Take, for example, what Lauren said about her Cone review. She said she spent hours on it and tried to think of everything. I've seen a lot of other reviewers say similar things. "But I tried to include everything I could think of!" etc. I'm one of those people who doesn't think *everything* needs to be included because I really can't stand to see a review that's super-long.

I'd much rather see 600-800 words of what you think is the most helpful/relevant content than a 1000+ word review that includes every little detail from here to next year. And I've seen some that are way, way longer than 1000 words, too. I just don't feel like reading a four screens of text for a review. Of course, in those cases, if I don't read the review, I won't vote. But if I do read it, it's likely not to seem extremely useful to me, if I have to wade through everything (or like Carrie Ann said earlier, "could only manage to skim.").

But that's just me. Everybody is different and has different opinions on what makes a review useful to them.

Rank takes awhile. It really does. Lauren and I have been reviewing for EF since 2007. The rest of the "top" reviewers have all been at it at least a year, most of them even longer.

Be patient and keep at it, you'll move up eventually.

Yes, I've definitely learned it moves slowly. It's frustrating some days when I put out 3 reviews that week and not move up at all in rank. However I try to think of it this way, the longer it takes to move up in rank, the longer I will get to review for this lovely company. The more motivated it makes me to try harder and learn new things and improve with each review. It's fun. I try not to stress about it too much.

I'm trying Patience is not my strong suit. But as sexysweetieshan has said, it is definitely a pleasant experience for me to write my reviews. I love doing it, and it polishes my writing

I consider my rank as a reflection of my skills as a writer and my experience on this site. Granted I have only been here for 6 months, but I have seen contributors who have only been here for a couple months, wrote 2 or 3 reviews, and are already WAY higher rank than me. I don't take it personally, but it does help me to see where I can improve to increase both my skills and rank.

HAH! I have only been here...not a year. I don't know how long. Like 10 months actively I think.

It does take awhile though. I know that each one of my rankings anymore must take about 15 to 20 reviews for me to budge and that's with activity. It really depends on how active everyone else is. If everyone else is posting reviews and whatnot, your participation percentage compares to others which makes it lower.

@Rockin' - I'm a bit on the middle. Sometimes my reviews will go over 1000 words, but I seriously don't think most people can fit all of the useful information within 600 words. I'm sure it'd be possible, but it'd still be missing something. I try to keep mine in the 800-1100 area. I wish EF had more room in the Standard Template for longer text (especially when you consider the Extended has a ton of room.)

As for the votes thing, I know I used to let the "Useful" thing get to me, but it seriously doesn't affect your ranking at all. And no matter what you do, someone's going to find something wrong. Not enough detail, too much detail, not long enough, too long. It's just better to focus on the Extremely Usefuls instead.

Same here, I joined last September-ish, but I didn't start reviewing til December 31st, so I've really only been at it about 9 months or so, lol.

I know I used to let the useful votes get to me too, but yes, like everybody else says, it's really not a big deal. You can't make everybody happy, no matter how hard you try, so just keep doing what you're doing

Sounds about right. I'm coming up on one year and flirting with 7.0.

Touche, although I swear I beat video reviews, because I remember them being this whole new revolutionary thing, lol.

I remember that too

This this this.

It's a good vote. You've done your job but voting is really subjective. In fact, most of the time the difference between Useful and Extremely Useful for me is a gut feeling.

And I totally get and respect that. To some it isn't as useful because they don't want to read it all. That is the wonder of the ext. template. Just jump to where you want. Some people do appreciate a completely rounded all aspects covered review to know the most for what they are buying ( I know I do-but there is a point. I hate repetition in like every section!). This is why I do it more for the expensive toys and not for the lower ones. If you are spending that much money for a toy, and one as especially unique as the cone...I'd want to know all I could about it.

P.S. Thanks for reading and voting on the ones that you have!

It wouldn't be so rewarding if it came over night

You are doing great cherry!

OMG it took me forever too! I also joined when it was one a month and that was it, no matter what.

It took a lot longer to get to the 6 point than it did the get to like 8 for example and it was because of the addition of all the new features.

I really do appreciate the sectioning provided by subtitles. Even if the extended review is not available for a product, I create my own bolded subtitles so people can quickly find the information that they are looking for without having to wade through the entire review searching for it.

Me too. I like how it looks and since I know some of my reviews are very detailed, I think they help the eye find what it is looking for.

For example if I know a lingerie etc. company. I might already trust material etc, but want to know something specific so it's nice if I know where to skip to.

The only way other than repeating, that I don't appreciate long reviews is if they don't have headers. But it's prose and you have a right to write however you want.

I've personally never seen a problem with the wording of the votes, but I do like your idea for those people out there whose feelings are hurt easier. But then again, I'm USUALLY one whose feelings are hurt easier. Lol.

UGH! LOL. See, I hate that. I want my standard reviews to read the way they always have, in paragraph, free flowing form. Headers interrupt my flow of reading - which is why I choose standard over extended. When I see standard reviews all formatted to look like extended, my eyes cross.

Yup, always been the same but I like your list better. It does seem friendlier and would make me feel less bad about giving someone a "C" than I do now.

Your system would be a good system, Lauren. I, too, don't really get "worth reading, but not useful." I always think, "This is a 'what not to write' review." So, it's "worth" reading. ???? I like your rating critique and suggestions a lot.

I don't think anyone should feel bad about a "Useful" the way the system is now. Sometimes, your review was very good, but just didn't "move" the reader as much as it could. I get "usefuls" from time to time, too. I just figure, "I have to move that reader next time." It spurs me to work harder, especially if it's someone I admire. I don't take it personally, nor do I expect an explanation. Recently, I got one "useful" from a reader, who usually rates my stuff "ext useful" and all the other ratings on that product were "ext useful." I just figured that reader didn't get as much out of the review as s/he thought I could have given them, or the review just didn't "hit" them the way they wanted it to. So, my mission is to work towards better material.

I don't really think a "useful" is a criticism, but if someone takes it as such, remember that Constructive Criticism is a GOOD thing, especially if it comes from people you know are also good writers and reviewers and take it as one more thing to work towards. It's best not to take it personally.

But, Lauren, I really really like your system. It is a little more friendly and I think it's a good idea. (I know the staff is busy as hell and changes take time. But, this was a good critique of the ratings.)

Reactionary and spiteful ratings are an other story, and thankfully, we don't see much of that (as I have been told things were changed regarding ratings, soon after I arrived at Eden and started reviewing.)

If a person just writes a really bad review that doesn't even relate to the product (I've seen a couple), it's not useful at all to me.

If they write a really bad review that didn't describe the product, but it did include a funny line or something that made me chuckle, it's worth reading but not useful.

Gary wrote a forum post a while ago about "How not to write a review". You (generic "you") should check it out.

Damn it, JR--you beat me to the punch! :-p I, too, have read reviews that have been amusing or interesting in some way while also not useful as a product review, and that's why I used the "Worth reading, but not useful" vote.

Thanks! I would also feel less bad about giving a "just adequate vote". It would be the staple of-"You did your job and the review serves as an adequate positive contribution"