Mouth Shut, Mind Open. Review on Mouthshut

This is in response to some of the events that have been taking place over past couple of months out here on MS. Having been associated with this site for the past 3 years, and witnessed many goings on, I just wanted to share my thoughts on it, and clarify a few view points, raised by some members.  I have also written on other consumer sites like Ciao.com and E Pinions.com. Plus I have some of my poems and articles published on sites like Boloji.com. One reason why I have stuck to MS for a long time is simple, the feedback. Nothing motivates one better than feedback, and  that’s one reason I am here, in spite of my mixed experiences out here. I just want to put things in perspective out here.

One common complaint I heard in recent times, is that Mouthshut does not do, what it is supposed to do, that is give useful information about the product. It really does not inform reviewer about the pros and cons of product. The fact is there is no way you can say this is how you should review a product. Some would want to add a personal touch, some would want to be more technical, some would want to spice it up with humour. To each their own, as long as it does not deviate from the main topic. This is a consumer site, and consumers are going to write their own feelings, I repeat, their feelings on the product. How they write it, its their own business. We just cannot dictate that a review should be like this. People come here to express their views, let them express it in the way, they best feel comfortable with. If some one wants to add a personal touch or humor, let them, why not. A non technical person writing on Ipod or Xbox, would add his personal experiences with the product. Now you can’t dictate that just because he is not a techie, he should not review on product. By that logic, I should not be writing on books or music, because I am a techie by profession, and not an author or a musician. I write a review on Handling Depression, I would write it more from my personal perspective,  but a person from a medical field on the same topic, would look at it from a more clinical view. Now to a person who suffers from depression, my review could be useful, if he is looking to handle it more personally.  But if he suffers from a serious case of depression, he would maybe look for a review by a professional doctor.

How useful or not useful a review is depends on what the reader is looking for and it should be left to the reader alone. But going on a personal crusade, calling people names, behaving as if you are fighting for a greater cause, come on that is taking things too far. That said and done, there are areas of concern here, in Mouthshut, and I still believe that something needs to be done about them. One is the plethora of junk reviews. A common grouse I heard in recent times is how people tend to comment on reviews by writers with whom they know, leading to some sort of cartelization. And the basic reason is the amount of junk. When you log into Mouthshut, and find that out of 10 reviews on home page, 6 are crap, you tend to ignore the rest 4. Now those 4 reviews could be genuinely good, but they are not read, because of those 6 crap ones. Again for a working professional like me, it is just not possible to read each and every review on home page, and decide which is good, which is bad, who needs to be mentored. I just don’t have the time for it, so I tend to read only those reviews, written by those on my trusted circle. It’s a simple analogy, you go to a market place to buy vegetables, and you find that most of the shops are selling rotten stuff, you tend to stick to the vendor whom you know for long. In such a market place, a new vendor would find it tough, because people either walk out, seeing that most of the vegetables are rotting, or stick to the vendors they know. Who loses? The answer is quite obvious.

I again emphasize let there be some people who can review what is written, and then allow it to be published. The factors could be how relevant it is to the topic, and whether it sticks to the guidelines given. I have worked hands on in content management, and I can say for sure, too much of useless stuff, puts pressure on the resources and performances. It creates storage problems, bandwidth problems, and is not at all advisable. There has to be some minimum standards enforced, else it is going to be a mockery of the very purpose. I guess in this case, Management can take feedback from members and brainstorm on it. Also the issue of Star Writers, I have gone through the profiles of some of these people, and am very sorry to say, they just don’t deserve it. For me I still can never understand what is the criteria in being a Star. Also the Star Writer tag has become more of an ego massage. While many don’t take it too seriously, and some even reject it, a whole lot of people, behave as if they have won a Booker or Pulitzer. They try to sound so intellectual, very intelligent, and carry off  a  “look at me I am so superior to you attitude”. Relax folks, MS is not real life, you being a Star Writer, means nothing out in the real world.  I mean I don’t understand why some people out here get so worked up over comments and ratings here. Why they put on airs of being intellectual, when in reality, their IQ is no better than that of a  5 year old.

Also I feel many of the entertainment topics can be scrapped in one go. And a majority have to do with  the Ten Best and Twenty Best stuff. You take 5 critics put them in a room, ask them to come up with the list of their best movies, and you will not find a single point of convergence. In that sense,  how can we make this 10 Best Movies or 20 Best Songs stuff, what is best is up to the individual. For me a majority of the topics in entertainment section make no sense at all. Instead of arguing over which heroine is more beautiful or which actor is more handsome, it would be better if we could add really good movies to the list. It was shocking to see none of Hitchcock’s classics in the list of movies, and it was only through requests on Mouthpad, that I could add some. Frankly a majority of the topics in entertainment section can be removed.

Now coming to plagiarism. One word, not acceptable at all. Yes I do Google and Wiki for information, but copy pasting a whole article, and claiming it as yours, simply not acceptable. I myself have exposed many of those copy cats, and I would continue doing so. Again while you are welcome to add your personal touch or humor, let it not be at cost of facts. Putting lies and half truths in name of freedom of expression, no way I am going to accept it. And one more thing, I hate is abusing people in the name of race, religion, caste and class, it is just plain sick. It just shows how shallow a person’s mentality it is. I have often seen many people indulge in “You bloody Indians” sort of abuse. Such sort of reviews and comments should be deleted, and people who give such abuses should have their account terminated at first go.