The Way Things Ought To Be. Review on Rating Reviews on MouthShut

Unfortunately, I cannot have a MouthShut Utopia in which every user rates fairly, Revenge Rating is abolished, and Clicking Cartels are unheard of. Instead, I can only advise new members to at least CONSIDER the following suggestions and information.

The Clicking Cartel: These are groups of buddies who get together and read each others' work. Then, they give the work perfect ratings every time regardless of content or thoroughness. If an editorial consists of nothing but ''Yeah! That movie rocked!'' some people would still give it very high ratings - simply because that's their friend from down the hall in their college dormitory. This is unfair to the writers who are producing high-quality, in-depth, and honest work, ladies and gentlemen: By giving a sorry review a high rating, you are helping it float to the top in its category, thus pushing down the ''real'' work that others have contributed.

Revenge Rating: If somebody gives you a low rating, common courtesy dictates that they should leave a polite comment explaining why. ''I just didn't get much out of it - perhaps you could re-work it and add more detail about your experiences/the product?'' is always a good note to leave for the writer. However, some writers get upset when you give them poor ratings - regardless of how deserving the work is - they go to that rater's own work and give it low ratings. Revenge rating is not only childish and petty, it is also unfair. Most of the writers here are pouring their hearts into their work, and are doing wonderful jobs of giving us the information we want. By giving an obviously outstanding review a poor rating, you are damaging the writer's credibility, but also your own. People will see that fifty users gave the work a high rating, but you were the only one to not recommend it. Yeah. You'll be getting LOTS of additions to YOUR Circle of Trust.

Disagreement: You can thoroughly and completely disagree with someone and still give high ratings. If the review is well-written, and clearly expresses the writer's point of view, then it's probably worth at least a ''recommended.'' We are not here to agree or disagree with each other but, rather, to share ideas. For example, I don't like certain records that are on the market, but I will read opinions of them and, depending on how clearly the writer expressed his or her point of view, I will rate accordingly.

Promoting Your Work: If there are eight opinions in the category you just contributed to, the thought of giving them low ratings in order to help yours float to the top might seem like a good idea. WRONG! The people here at MouthShut are, for the most part, very intelligent members. If they see you doing this, you'll definitely be added to some Distrusted lists - and, if you annoy the REALLY moody ones with your actions, you'll probably get a special mention on their profile page under the ''Cheaters'' section they've put up.

How DiFranco01 Rates

I try to read a variety of work from all different categories so that I can get a more rounded view of this site and its members. I also check out Circle of Trust lists to find other writers that the author obviously has positive thoughts about.

Not Recommended: This is generally reserved for people who are obvious cheaters (plagarism, multiple accounts, et cetera). I sometimes leave a comment explaining my rating, but often figure that the cheater in question will figure it out for him or herself.

Somewhat Recommended: I don't give this rating very often, because it's such a dastardly low one! I understand that most people are trying very hard, and that English is not the first language for some of us. So, with all of that in mind, I give Somewhat Recommended if it's obvious that the writer is not making a serious effort to do anything more than collect points. ''McDonald's sux, why do ppl even go there,'' et cetera will generally get a Somewhat Recommended rating - with a polite comment.

Recommended: This is saved for work that is obviously well-thought, but not thorough enough for my liking. While I am obviously not the most detail-oriented person here, I DO require more than one short paragraph about a new stereo system in order for me to give the writing a higher rating.

Highly Recommended: Most of my ratings are Highly Recommended, because I am simply looking for a thorough expression of the writer's knowledge regarding the product or service. If you have made every effort to give me as much information as possible without being long-winded (and boring me to death with stupid details that NOBODY cares about!) then you'll most likely get this rating. I will then go to your profile page and look at your other work: If I find that you are consistently getting my Highly Recommended ratings, then you're going on my Trusted List for all the world to see.

Simply put, be honest when you're rating, and don't try to manipulate the system. It won't work nine times out of ten and, besides which, you'll be found out anyway by another user.

Don't neglect to leave comments if there is something you would like to say to the writer - just ensure that the notation you leave is polite and on-topic, and try to make it useful to the writer and other readers.