Discusson: Product Review forum

[GrnEyedDvl]

I have contemplated this for a while, setting up a Product Reviews forum where forum members can post stuff about things they have bought. Recently a discussion on this forum brought it to mind again. I ended up buying something because of this discussion, and I actually really like it and it has led to other stuff. Thats another story.

The upshot here is that I never would have tried it if not for that thread, and more specifically I asked for a brand name from John. If you read his first post, it seems he was a bit hesitant to actually name the brand (in fact he said he wouldnt talk about it much) and I think this is one instance where the no advertising policy might have had a bit of an adverse affect. I had to actually ask him for the brand name. Now once I did that, he was certainly in no danger of being popped for advertising something, and he wasnt really in danger of it before that considering how the discussion was going and the fact that he is a very long term member of TWC. We know for certain he isnt a bot or a typical spammer who joins a site only to post a link. At most it would have simply been deleted, and that got me to thinking about this again.

Product reviews arent exactly new ground for TWC, we see them all the time in the Basement for hardware. But setting up a subforum dedicated to them will certainly attract spammers. So I would like some input on this. Here is what I am considering for rules/setup with this forum.


1. New forum to be placed in the Games, Activities, and Chat section, named Product Reviews.

2. Only Full Members may post (25 posts 1 week membership).

3. You MUST be the end user/consumer of the product you are posting about.

4. You may NOT work/gain income from the product you are posting about. You must be totally unassociated with it from a production/income point of view.

5. We set up some form of template for the first post that must be followed.



Because of the nature of this forum, we may certainly attract more spammers. To help prevent that we can make the forum invisible to anyone who isnt a Full Member, though I would not want to do that right off the bat.

Another option is to require Citizenship to post a new thread there, but let Full Members respond and anyone can view. The reason I am suggesting this vs the Full Members starting a new thread is that Citizens have a lot better grasp on what TWC is as a community and in my opinion will be more likely to treat this as it is intended, whereas new members may be a bit spammier.

Thoughts?

EDIT: New Rules

The thread title must contain the item name and model number only.
All submissions must use the template in the sticky thread.
All submissions must include a public poll with 5 options.
All submissions must be professionally written? (How to word this??)
Duplicate threads are not allowed. Use the original thread.
Website reviews are not allowed, but stuff like reviewing a hosting company will be allowed. (Want to avoid website wars here). Maybe we word this to only allow reviews of a product or service.

[Robin de Bodemloze]

You're never going to be able to verify #3 and #4, otherwise a good idea. People should also be able to request reviews - i.e. "I want to buy one out of X, Y and Z - what do people think?"

I'm opposed to this being citizens only. You're likely to get far better behaviour but the level of activity would be way lower.

[m_1512]

GED's suggestion is actually a good idea, if you come to think of it.
Remember the modding summit?
Whilst the main thread open to all fell to spam, the one in Prothlamos was still having on-topic discussion.

Also, he has said that only citizens create new threads, but everyone post.

But the main points are:
#3 - Cannot be verified. Plus, people can have insightful information by observation of their friends or acquaintances using those products.
#4 - Also, cannot be verified, but necessary.

[Ishan]

Extremely useful and productive idea. I will support this merely for the inclusion of the feedback we might get for latest electronic products that TWC users might purchase or have.

And this should be for every regular\active member not just citizens as i know a lot of TD and basement posters personally who are mature enough to not spam it like that. Will increase the workload of site moderators a little bit but it's something they can handle.

As for how legit the review is, well it solely depends on how much we personally trust that member and how much research we do ourselves before we invest our money in it. Lastly a disclaimer should be stuck in that forum by TWC staff.

[m_1512]

Yes, I agree with the disclaimer.
Also, if not citizens solely, at least it should be full members.

[Pontifex Maximus]

I think it would be incredibly useful, especially in light of my recent PH&A thread about the filthy rat infestation of my rental house. I would like to know what products of pest control work the best given my personal financial/ethical needs. Over the course of several months/years I can definitely see where such a forum would become useful.

[m_1512]

That said, we will need a solid set of guidelines to avoid spam, flame, troll, and mockery. Like GED said, a template should be there for reviews, and categories for reviews.

[Aikanár]

^Ishan +1!

Concerning the potential spammer attraction, how about more moderators (even local ones) in case spam gets out of hand?

[GrnEyedDvl]

But the main points are:
#3 - Cannot be verified. Plus, people can have insightful information by observation of their friends or acquaintances using those products.
#4 - Also, cannot be verified, but necessary.

There will be a bit of trust here, and obviously someone can abuse that trust as we do not know what everyone here does for a living. But I also think that self serving posts will be fairly obvious, and if anyone is confirmed to have promoted their own stuff they will be forum banned.

Yes, I agree with the disclaimer.
Also, if not citizens solely, at least it should be full members.

Full Members only to start. I threw the Citizens solution out as one possible response to spam.

^Ishan +1!

Concerning the potential spammer attraction, how about more moderators (even local ones) in case spam gets out of hand?

We will see how that goes.

That said, we will need a solid set of guidelines to avoid spam, flame, troll, and mockery.

Trolls and flames should be dealth with harshly. Posting a negative review should absolutely be allowed, but all reviews need to have an air of professionalism. Flamy or spammish reviews should be deleted.

Like GED said, a template should be there for reviews, and categories for reviews.

I didnt think of categories. I do not want to set up a bunch of subforums for that, so we can either build it into a template or maybe setup some thread prefixes.


Also, thread titles should specify the item. For instance I just bought a new motherboard, so the thread title for that one should be:

Asus M5 995-Evo

No BS thread titles like This thing sucks! or This is awesome!


We could also use the Poll system to setup something like a rating. 5 options, if you own the item then select 1 - 5, with all votes being public.

Does someone want to take a stab at creating a template? I am going to edit the OP with a few things.

[Ishan]

Yeah prefixes are a must. PC hardware\software, widget etc.

As for template right now i can only think for MOBO\electronics in general since you mentioned it:

1) Introduction
2) Board Layout - Focusing on screenshots of south, north bridge and ports etc it has from a few angles.
3) Brief info on chipset it has.
4) Packaging and its contents - SATA cables and all that stuff that comes with it. Very important to mention. (most of them sometimes also provide free games with it)
5) BIOS explanation - nowadays every BIOS has new features and stuff that we can brag about.
6) Software disc - Every MOBO provides a few apps that are company dependent and gives additional features to users on their new PC.
7) Installation and performance - Probably the most longest part one could write by first mentioning his test bed.
7.1) CPU\3D performance on the board - Another thing that can be explained with graphs and such - easily built with excel.
7.2) Overclocking - Yeah we need that.
8) Value and conclusion - Price etc, whether such an investment is worth it or not and finally our conclusion about it, Yay or Gay etc.


And a for a product like say a smartphone, one should review it like:
1) Introduction - Brief intro of the phone & its key features etc.
2) Retail package - All that stuff that comes with the phone, warranty etc.
3) Close up - Screenshots, mention of weight and its dimensions etc.
4) User interface - Our impression of the UI, is it slick\smooth or not etc. Is there any customization possible or not?
5) All software features - like file manager, FM radio, organizer, Gallery, camera of how much pixel etc. Video player how many formats are supported by this phone etc.
6) Connectivity with PC\Internet - Brief explanation about that and whether additional addon apps are easy to install or not etc.
7) Conclusion.

[M D]

GED, this is something I thought of asking about as Im never sure on advertising policy..

Great idea, I think maybe have citizen only posting new threads for a certain period of time, just to set the atmosphere?

[Ishan]

Great idea, I think maybe have citizen only posting new threads for a certain period of time, just to set the atmosphere?

See this Game reviews section MD. Most of them are submitted by regular members, so spamming is not an issue, only a few troublemakers will get themselves infracted and forum banned, which is usual.

Lastly reviews are also a contribution so i don't want anyone restricted just because of the fear from some people who might spam in it.

[General Brewster]

^Ishan +1!

Concerning the potential spammer attraction, how about more moderators (even local ones) in case spam gets out of hand?

I think that a team of LM's to patrol it would be a good idea.

=
Great idea, I think maybe have citizen only posting new threads for a certain period of time, just to set the atmosphere?

Can you explain this a little more? I think the best test is letting the full members post if GED/HEX doesn't like how it's going sharp the rules or delete the forum..

Generally I like the idea

[Akaie]

People are always saying the Curia is useless. Logically, at least it's logical to me, we would give it something completely new to do instead of doing things like tethering moderation to it and so forth. Perhaps we could explore ways for the curia to manage this particular forum?

[m_1512]

People are always saying the Curia is useless. Logically, at least it's logical to me, we would give it something completely new to do instead of doing things like tethering moderation to it and so forth. Perhaps we could explore ways for the curia to manage this particular forum?

Well, as it is being discussed here shows that curia has a meaning after all.

There will be a bit of trust here, and obviously someone can abuse that trust as we do not know what everyone here does for a living. But I also think that self serving posts will be fairly obvious, and if anyone is confirmed to have promoted their own stuff they will be forum banned.

Not much of a problem then.

Full Members only to start. I threw the Citizens solution out as one possible response to spam.

Well, as Ishan says, full members could be tried out at first.

I didnt think of categories. I do not want to set up a bunch of subforums for that, so we can either build it into a template or maybe setup some thread prefixes.

Thread prefixes would be cool.
But how about a stickied thread with links to categorized reviews? That should be really helpful as it would be time saving that searching for something we are not completely sure of.

[M D]

Ooh thats an interesting idea

[Legio]

We have product reviews in the Gamer's Gazette. I'm interested to see how this idea works out if only to have another pool of writers for my palace of death.

[Harry Lime]

This sounds dangerously like Capitalism rearing it's ugly head into our Communist paradise.

It would also require a change in the Off-Topic rule...

Unsolicited advertisement for any website, product, service, or facility not first approved by TWC staff

[Ishan]

It would also require a change in the Off-Topic rule...

Unsolicited advertisement for any website, product, service, or facility not first approved by TWC staff

Good catch Sir Harry. Moderation staff has to add additional words like "with the exception of xyz forum".

[Aikanár]

This sounds dangerously like Capitalism rearing it's ugly head into our Communist paradise.

It would also require a change in the Off-Topic rule...

Unsolicited advertisement for any website, product, service, or facility not first approved by TWC staff

How about
Unsolicited adverstisement of any website, product, service or facility posted outside the official review forum or not first approved by TWC staff

Edit: @Template and Shankbot:
I agree, but your proposal could be expanded, just slightly.
A quick google search for product review template delivers:
1st hit
2nd hit
Both read pretty reasonable.