I think as reviewers start 'filling their plates' so to speak, with assignments from several retailers and manufacturers, they tend to find one general way to review that works for them across all their assignments, even if it is not the norm on the site they're reviewing for at the moment.

I have most definitely noted this pattern.

Some of the same people who clamored for what seemed to be expected 'standard' information now can't be bothered to include it in their own reviews. Just look at comments on reviews 6 - 10 months ago and you'll see what I mean. There were often comments asking where the cleaning instructions were, asking more about the material, the batteries and so on.

Interesting... less

The way I took it, SD was saying because we are getting the toys for free that we should write a very thorough review but I do also agree that reviews are about personal experiences, of course. If they weren't, we would never actually -use- the toys because we could just describe them without trying them. I think a good review finds a balance between the specs and our personal experiences. less

The way I took it, SD was saying because we are getting the toys for free that we should write a very thorough review but I do also agree that reviews are about personal experiences, of course. If they weren't, we would never actually -use- the toys because we could just describe them without trying them. I think a good review finds a balance between the specs and our personal experiences. less

Well... I have to say I disagree with a lot of you. I certainly don't mind very thorough reviews, but I personally might shoot myself if I had to include all that information in every review I write. Repeating cleaning instructions, for instance, gives me a headache. I can't stand it, and I feel like when I do include it, it comes off really dryly. I guess I'm not creative enough to be able to incorporate everything and make it sound like I'm NOT a broken record, so I just opt not to.

I have to disagree with Sleeping Dreamer that because we received the toys for review, we are obligated to include all of this information. That is not, in my opinion, what a review is. A review is a written version of a personal experience. If I did not think about something in my personal experience (for instance, if a toy is the average 1" in width), I will not mention it. If, however, the toy is too big for me, I will mention its diameter.

As others have said, the battery question is the most ridiculous. There is no possible way you're going to get me to time my batteries, especially because they're rechargeable. less

I think as reviewers start 'filling their plates' so to speak, with assignments from several retailers and manufacturers, they tend to find one general way to review that works for them across all their assignments, even if it is not the norm on the site they're reviewing for at the moment.

I have most definitely noted this pattern.

Some of the same people who clamored for what seemed to be expected 'standard' information now can't be bothered to include it in their own reviews. Just look at comments on reviews 6 - 10 months ago and you'll see what I mean. There were often comments asking where the cleaning instructions were, asking more about the material, the batteries and so on.

Interesting... less

I agree that we should write thorough reviews. However, I don't like reviews that privilege specs over personal experiences. So I try to write reviews that *I* would want to read. If I read the first 3 paragraphs of a review and it's all specs... I really just want to stop reading. less

But my reviews don't exist just for customers. And I'm talking about my blog reviews, here. I don't write with "the customer" in mind. I do review-writing for fun, because I enjoy writing. If I think too much about "the customer" it becomes really not fun anymore.

As for the "experience" section, that only seems to make sense for me with description reviews. Otherwise, I'm putting my experiences in the regular section, where I believe they belong. less

That is all I try to find out...if a toy is super hungry for battery juice, then I don't want it. I don't expect anyone to time how long they last- I sure don't time it. But if they say in their review "the batteries died almost as soon as I put them in" then I want to know if that is minutes or hours later..
Maybe I should stop asking anything about batteries because that does seem to be my big hangup... less

I think as reviewers start 'filling their plates' so to speak, with assignments from several retailers and manufacturers, they tend to find one general way to review that works for them across all their assignments, even if it is not the norm on the site they're reviewing for at the moment.

I have most definitely noted this pattern.

Some of the same people who clamored for what seemed to be expected 'standard' information now can't be bothered to include it in their own reviews. Just look at comments on reviews 6 - 10 months ago and you'll see what I mean. There were often comments asking where the cleaning instructions were, asking more about the material, the batteries and so on.

Interesting... less

But my reviews don't exist just for customers. And I'm talking about my blog reviews, here. I don't write with "the customer" in mind. I do review-writing for fun, because I enjoy writing. If I think too much about "the customer" it becomes really not fun anymore.

As for the "experience" section, that only seems to make sense for me with description reviews. Otherwise, I'm putting my experiences in the regular section, where I believe they belong. less

But my reviews don't exist just for customers. And I'm talking about my blog reviews, here. I don't write with "the customer" in mind. I do review-writing for fun, because I enjoy writing. If I think too much about "the customer" it becomes really not fun anymore.

As for the "experience" section, that only seems to make sense for me with description reviews. Otherwise, I'm putting my experiences in the regular section, where I believe they belong. less

This is a standard I only hold for onsite reviews and really only description reviews. Blog reviews should be done however the author deems necessary and their unique styles should really shine. The only time I have anything negative to say is that when those who do offsite reviews for EF, write around 200 words or just barely above and don't even really talk about the product, how they used it, or what it did. It's irritating when someone writes an offsite review to only get traffic to their blog or promote their blog with little regard to the product they're using to pave the way.

The description reviews should really be the most informational reviews a customer could ever read as they're what is basically selling the product. Other onsite reviews should adhere to certain standards as well but should not be brought to the informational extremes like description reviews. less

That is all I try to find out...if a toy is super hungry for battery juice, then I don't want it. I don't expect anyone to time how long they last- I sure don't time it. But if they say in their review "the batteries died almost as soon as I put them in" then I want to know if that is minutes or hours later..
Maybe I should stop asking anything about batteries because that does seem to be my big hangup... less

This is a standard I only hold for onsite reviews and really only description reviews. Blog reviews should be done however the author deems necessary and their unique styles should really shine. The only time I have anything negative to say is that when those who do offsite reviews for EF, write around 200 words or just barely above and don't even really talk about the product, how they used it, or what it did. It's irritating when someone writes an offsite review to only get traffic to their blog or promote their blog with little regard to the product they're using to pave the way.

The description reviews should really be the most informational reviews a customer could ever read as they're what is basically selling the product. Other onsite reviews should adhere to certain standards as well but should not be brought to the informational extremes like description reviews. less

That is all I try to find out...if a toy is super hungry for battery juice, then I don't want it. I don't expect anyone to time how long they last- I sure don't time it. But if they say in their review "the batteries died almost as soon as I put them in" then I want to know if that is minutes or hours later..
Maybe I should stop asking anything about batteries because that does seem to be my big hangup... less

Wow, I come home from work and there's two whole pages of posts! Awesome.

Just so we're all clear, this poll/discussion was originally started for unverified and verified reviews. I wasn't talking about Description Reviews or Surprise Me's or any other "very first time" reviews (I know some Verified's are, but...whatever). I like the conversation that has gone on so far, but if we could stay away from debating what should be in Description Reviews, that'd be great. There's another whole category for that.

I agree with those of you who write for the customer, because there's only one reason I'm going to read a review, and that's if I'm considering purchasing the item. The only exceptions here are reviews on items that made the Weekly Round Up or have been otherwise touted as hilarious/entertaining . And I guess I read reviews on here just to read reviews and vote/comment, but I think that's different. (Hope that makes sense)

This isn't a "let's bash people who post questions" post, either, and I think y'all get that. I just wanted some opinions on product pages and reviews and how y'all felt about including stuff. I also feel that being thorough is definitely the way to go with verified reviews, but I kind of have the opinion that all reviews are equal, and should be equally useful, so I'm conflicted for the unverified ones. less

I personally hate the experience section. I'd rather work specs and experience in fluidly (and I prefer people who can do that - description reviews being an exception, of course) but I don't like to split up my reviews, period. The only time I ever use the experience section is in off-site reviews or if I cannot fit my review into the general section. This was the case with my review on the purple bondage kit. I had a lot to say simply because there were several pieces and each sucked hardcore. It was SO difficult for me to figure out what constituted as experience because I was simply experiencing poor quality. But I didn't have a lot of choice because of the word limit. (even using the experience section, I had to trim it) less

"I agree with those of you who write for the customer, because there's only one reason I'm going to read a review, and that's if I'm considering purchasing the item."

I read almost every review posted because.. that's just part of the community. I know I'm not alone because many of us here read and comments on reviews simpyl to be supportive and maybe to support our ranks. So maybe that explains why some of us may feel certain things are more repetitive - because we read more reviews? Because we don't just read as customers. Frankly, I think more reviewers read reviews than customers ever will. It's just the nature of this community and while it doesn't mean we should write sloppy reviews (and I'm not saying anyone here does), it does give you something to think about. less

That is all I try to find out...if a toy is super hungry for battery juice, then I don't want it. I don't expect anyone to time how long they last- I sure don't time it. But if they say in their review "the batteries died almost as soon as I put them in" then I want to know if that is minutes or hours later..
Maybe I should stop asking anything about batteries because that does seem to be my big hangup... less