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Have you seen the latest controversy about abuse of Amazon reviews? This time, the anger isn't directed at bad reviews posted by enemies of authors. Instead, its directed at an author who gets fans to click "Report This" on negative (three stars and below) reviews so that those reviews are automatically pulled.
However, in related discussions about how the Amazon system can be fixed, I think people are going too far. Many people want to take away some of the features. For example, because of abuse,some people want to do away with the "Not Helpful" button. But many reviews are not helpful. I like having the option to click "Not Helpful" when someone gives a one-sentence one-star review that tells me nothing about the book, or when someone gives a glowing review that tells me nothing about the book. I also love giving "Not Helpful" ratings and reporting one-star reviews that complain that the reviewer never got the book.
Also, some people now want to do away with the Comment feature on Amazon reviews. Yes, those are sometimes abused by authors, and in some areas (such as political books), there are silly flamewars. But more often, I've seen them used by readers to point out errors in reviews, ask questions of other reviewers, or even thank people for well-written reviews.
Finally, some people want to limit the reviews so that only people who bought the book through Amazon can post reviews. This would be hugely restrictive because most people still buy books in bricks and mortar stores, and their opinions can be just as valid and just as useful. Also, this would make it awfully difficult to find out anything about older out of print books as they are only available through Amazon Marketplace. Often reader reviewers on OOP books are the only source available, and I'd hate to see that limit put in place.
P.S. Yes, I know a lot of people argue that the Amazon reviews are useless and untrustworthy, that people don't buy books based on them, etc. But readers have admitted that Amazon reviews (both positive and negative ones) have helped them decide whether or not to buy the books. I also think that the reviews can be a great tool, and I'd hate to lose the reviews and associated features because of some abusesr.
However, in related discussions about how the Amazon system can be fixed, I think people are going too far. Many people want to take away some of the features. For example, because of abuse,some people want to do away with the "Not Helpful" button. But many reviews are not helpful. I like having the option to click "Not Helpful" when someone gives a one-sentence one-star review that tells me nothing about the book, or when someone gives a glowing review that tells me nothing about the book. I also love giving "Not Helpful" ratings and reporting one-star reviews that complain that the reviewer never got the book.
Also, some people now want to do away with the Comment feature on Amazon reviews. Yes, those are sometimes abused by authors, and in some areas (such as political books), there are silly flamewars. But more often, I've seen them used by readers to point out errors in reviews, ask questions of other reviewers, or even thank people for well-written reviews.
Finally, some people want to limit the reviews so that only people who bought the book through Amazon can post reviews. This would be hugely restrictive because most people still buy books in bricks and mortar stores, and their opinions can be just as valid and just as useful. Also, this would make it awfully difficult to find out anything about older out of print books as they are only available through Amazon Marketplace. Often reader reviewers on OOP books are the only source available, and I'd hate to see that limit put in place.
P.S. Yes, I know a lot of people argue that the Amazon reviews are useless and untrustworthy, that people don't buy books based on them, etc. But readers have admitted that Amazon reviews (both positive and negative ones) have helped them decide whether or not to buy the books. I also think that the reviews can be a great tool, and I'd hate to lose the reviews and associated features because of some abusesr.
For example, I recently read a review that started with "Now that you have read the reviews herein written by the author's family, agent and publicist I hope you will take a minute to look at one from an impartial reader." What a jerk. Other than that, the review looked helpful, but I refused to click it as Helpful because he started out with the assumption that if you disagreed with him, you are related to the author.
