"Friends" who demand you rate all their reviews positive

Something I have noticed with the more Netflix friends I aquire...they all just expect you to go through and give all of their reviews a positive rating. I don't see how that is helping anybody. One has even sent a note out saying they will delete anyone from their friends list that doesnt regularly go through and rate all of their reviews helpful. They will of course do it in return but I dont want that kind of feedback. I'll admit that I've written some crappy reviews before and they shouldnt be one of the most helpfuls just because I have a large friends list. How does that help someone deciding wether or not to rent the movie?
I understand everyone wants to improve their reviewer ranking but for what? It doesnt mean anything when all you do is flood your votes. I used to enjoy watching my rank when I still thought it meant something. Now I just write reviews because I enjoy movies, writing, and I sometimes have slow days at work. Getting the highest rank isn't going to make you some kind of e-celebrity. So just judge reviews honestly and find out how helpful you really are.

/rant

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by e manderthal on March 5, 2009 at 12:59pm: Why is your profile page set to "Private"? I would like to see your reviews.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by e manderthal on March 5, 2009 at 1:56pm: You wouldn't happen to be in the Combat! Cheating! Reviewers! group, would you? If you are, how the heck is it goin' in there? Making any headway?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Phatz on March 9, 2009 at 10:10am: Are you sure the people you are attacking deserve the attacks?

Permalink Reply by movieman on March 30, 2009 at 8:44pm: e. manderthal, whats a cheating reviewer anyway? i don't get it. what am i missing? do you mean the clique thing - hackers

Permalink Reply by The Professor on March 5, 2009 at 1:04pm: If you check out Wowwee's ranking group, you can click on all of the top 25, and most of the top 100. There's an interesting mix of review daters, pRon listers, NR listers, and fantastically good people as well. I guess everyone should judge for themselves.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Phatz on March 9, 2009 at 10:06am: well said; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by heapshake on March 7, 2009 at 8:08pm: I don't think putting a date on a review is some type of malicious activity I started dating my reviews after I saw others doing it and I thought "Why not?" Nobody has ever told me that they'll mark my reviews if they are after a certain date. To me it makes sense to add a date because it can put the review into some sort of perspective. Also, after reading your post I looked at several dvds in the top 100 and none of the most helpful reviews had a date, so I'm not sure why you think that people date reviews to be among the most helpful.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Wingz on March 7, 2009 at 8:12pm: My philosophy on reviews is simple. Any well thought, well written review is helpful whether I agree with the opinion or not. I will mark it accordingly. This holds true whether I know the reviewer or not. Other reviews I ignore.

On page three of his forum, Cait says, “I've realized that reviews have no meaning anymore. Almost every movie page, the top review has a date at the bottom, so they can tell their friends to mark their newest reviews.”

That’s an opinion, Cait, but you’re using it to judge others. In my case you are just plain wrong. I write a lot of reviews and put extra effort into every single one. After I’ve seen a film, I research the director and cast. I search for information about the production and try to find a context for the project. After I've thought about it, I write and rewrite. Then I submit.

My reviews frequently have information not found in the box synopsis and my opinions are based on opinion plus knowledge from study. My objective is to make every review as helpful as possible for anyone who cares to read it. When I’m done I add the tagline, “I hope my thoughts are helpful.” I do this because I hope my thoughts are helpful. It’s my show of appreciation to the reader and respect for their time.

Next, I place the date of submission. We all know Netflix looses stuff. Having hundreds of reviews, tracking is difficult. When I submit a review that doesn’t get posted, I can retrieve my original in seconds. If a posted review disappears, I can tell Netflix when I originally submitted it, when it was posted and when I noticed it was missing. Since there’s no search function for the reviews, I can rapidly click through pages by checking the dates.

There’s something else. I read reviews posted by my NF friends but not every day. When they date their reviews it makes it easier to find where I left off regardless of how many new reviews they've written. When I add a new friend, I go to their very first review and read through to the most recent. If they have a lot of reviews, I may not do it all at once. Dates help.

I’m saying this because I was told people are targeting dated reviews claiming dates mark a cheater. I don’t even know what that means - but I’m not going stop posting my submission dates. At this moment my avatar is gone and I’m missing reviews. Some are from top front pages.

I enjoy putting extra effort into making my reviews helpful and if I'm rewarded with positive votes, great. If that’s cheating then something is certainly wrong and it’s not me. I hope this information is helpful. til nxt tme ~~~Wingz; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kristyn on March 8, 2009 at 1:05pm: Well said!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Schplynder on April 5, 2009 at 6:41pm: I have so much respect for this guy! He is very honorable, thoughtful, and impressive. People like him make it a joy 2 b a part of this community!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jumpspeed on April 5, 2009 at 8:36pm: Thank you; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JoeD99 on March 5, 2009 at 3:58pm: What I've also found interesting is that people ping a review as "Not Helpful" just because you wrote a negative review of a movie.; ▶ Reply to This