Reading and Writing Reviews

I don’t feel that people understand the value of reading and writing reviews.

As a smart consumer, I am doing more and more research before I buy something. With the use of social media, I find that I’m bombarded with items that are easily bought on impulse. I see a lot of ads that sound like they would be a great product to have. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that many things are not as they seem.

I am learning that before I buy anything online (or any big purchases at the store), I am doing research and looking at the reviews. Things that sounded too good to be true are usually too good to be true after reading the reviews. I like to look at the number of reviews given, the recent reviews, 20 of the top reviews and 20 of the bottom reviews (if there are more than 50 reviews written). Usually, that gives me the big picture of what the item is really like.

When we go to a town that we don’t know anything about, I look up restaurants in the area through Yelp. I like to see the ratings and what people say about the restaurant. Usually, we can pick a good place to eat by using this process.

When we travel, I go on to TripAdvisor and look up things to do at the location we will be in. Usually, I can learn a lot by what people have written about the area and we can fine tune our itinerary using these reviews.

I was telling my husband today that I’m guilty of not reviewing items that I’ve bought, and I should. I know how much I valued the reviews that other people give, and I need to add to the community. If others were slack like I am, then I wouldn’t benefit from everyone else’s opinions. I need to write reviews of where I’ve eaten and places I’ve been too.

A good lesson to do with students is to have students review specific items. Before writing the review, talk about specific things that people might be looking for when reading a review. Then have them review a product, a restaurant, or a town/city.

Here are some possibilities for product reviews:

·      Did you like it and why?

·      Did it do what it was supposed to do?

·      What were the good or positive things about it?

·      What were the bad or negative things about it?

·      Is it durable?

·      Battery life if applicable.

·      Was it worth the money paid for it?

Here are some possibilities for restaurant reviews:

·      Did you like it and why?

·      What food did you order?

·      Was the food tasty?

·      Was the service good?

·      What were the good or positive things about it?

·      What were the bad or negative things about it?

·      Were the prices reasonable?

·      Would you go back to it again?

Here are some possibilities for travel:

·      Where did you go and how did you get there?

·      How long were you there (hours/days)?

·      What time of year were you there (season)?

·      What was the weather like while you were there?

·      What things did you do there?

·      How much did those things cost or were they free?

·      What were the good or positive things about it?

·      What were the bad or negative things about it?

·      Would you go visit there again?

What other things would you like people to mention in reviews? Please share.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash