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Originally posted by
Not Here Anymore f/k/a Happy Lady
(I have no water today thanks to the freezing temps... i.e. NO COFFEE... so please forgive if I ramble)
I think I read in a previous forum thread where Victoria stated that submitting 2 reviews doesn't necessarily get you into the
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(I have no water today thanks to the freezing temps... i.e. NO COFFEE... so please forgive if I ramble)
I think I read in a previous forum thread where Victoria stated that submitting 2 reviews doesn't necessarily get you into the "advanced level" reviewer program. I have also seen some forum postings by reviewers asking when they would be upgraded and when I clicked on their profiles they had more than 2 reviews posted - one of them even had 6 and is still not upgraded last I checked.
I always check the status of the "OH MY GOODNESS I CAN'T BELIEVE HE/SHE WROTE THAT" reviews/reviewers and most of the time it seems those reviews are non-verified by non-advanced level reviewers.
While I despise reading those, I think if someone honestly wants to become part of the advanced level reviewer program, those "bad" reviews have to be published and the community has to comment on them so that person will know how to improve. If the writer of said "bad" review isn't interested in anything more than free toys and isn't getting upgraded, chances are he/she will stop writing reviews anyway.
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Thanks, Happy Lady, for remembering my post! You are right about the decision to upgrade not being based solely on the ‘2 review criteria’. We even state on the website outside of forum posts that it’s a minimum of 2 reviews and that activity will be factored in the decision as well.
I have been here 2 months and I’ve changed the way things are being done. I currently have a few dozen upgrade requests, in the last week I have approved exactly one of them.
The reason for this is that the applicants in the queue are not ready to be approved – they need more time to learn about the community, engage, and polish their writing skills. I could outright decline any of them, but I prefer to wait and let them have a chance to grow, to be inspired by others and to “get” the tone - which for some, can take a while. I upgrade based on writing quality and overall activity.
Most of the phenomenally bad reviews are written by Basic Level reviewers, those reviews are Not Assigned (and therefore not ‘verified’) and get published immediately upon submission. I see them after they’ve been on the site for however long since I last worked in the reviews page and I don’t remove them unless they are spam. Obviously, if these “bad writers” apply for an upgrade, they won’t get approved – and your observations are correct, when they don’t get approved right away, we don’t hear from them again…it’s clear to me that they were only interested in the free toys, not the community itself.
The best way for someone to get upgraded is to make themselves known, not by pestering me with whiny emails but by being active in writing more than 2 reviews, by commenting on other reviews and posting in the forums when they have something to share. I want to know that this new reviewer will be a good neighbor so to speak. I also think it helps our community to know that new reviewers have earned their place among them. In this case, I am the mighty gate-keeper.
My boss, the owner of this company, understands why I am being more “strict” – I made the case when pointing out the bad reviews and when showing the improvement of those contributors that have heeded my suggestions (which I give privately in email). It’s working…but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
We’ve actually been discussing, for weeks, a new upgrade process that is interactive. I won’t go into detail now because it is not ready to launch and requires some serious programming. You would be surprised at how many things we have in the pipeline – it just takes time to make them all happen.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can always email me: victoria@edenfantasys. com