Comments on: Small Crowds Aren’t Very Wise

By: Miladysa

Miladysa — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:35:48 +0000

This is all news to me. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

I can see the point you are making although I lean more towards Morgan’s way of thinking.

By: Eli James

Eli James — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:01:41 +0000

Then perhaps Lexy’s suggestion to remove numerical scores in reviews is the best. At least, until the crowd becomes big enough, it should work.

I have no contention with fans. I do, however, have a problem with fanboyist reviews – they are not objective and they do not help other people find the best stories in sites like PU. I agree that they have a right to say whether they like a story or not, but I believe fanboyist reviews is ultimately more detrimental to the credibility and effectiveness of a blook filter.

And, besides, fanboyism is easy enough to detect and get rid off – I’m talking about very little substance and extremely high scores.

PS: I can think of many other publications that apply numerical scores to works in order to assist reader choice – Metacritic is the first example that springs to mind.

By: Morgan O'Friel

Morgan O'Friel — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:29:34 +0000

I agree with the basic premise of the article — PU is a small fish in a big sea, and a fish that primarily devours only two types of food. Other groups are somewhat similar in that concept — Epiguide is another ‘home’ for web serials, though they specialize in the soap opera-style.

However, I think the idea of having mods step in and take away ‘fanboy’ ratings isn’t a great one. Fans are readers, and they deserve to have a say in why they enjoy a series just as much as somewhat who didn’t. Perhaps a better idea would be having mods who will take away malicious reviews, but then, how does one tell if a review is malicious or honest? Fiction tastes being as subjective as they are, I think that ascribing motives to reviewers is a quick way to get bunches less of them.

By: Eli James

Eli James — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:47:53 +0000

No problem, Adam. Headsup, though: Alexandra Erin has somewhat addressed this issue by suggesting the removal of numerical scores in reviews. Interesting development, this.

By: Adam Kamerer

Adam Kamerer — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:08:13 +0000

Great post with lots of good points. I certainly agree that as more and more people start reading online stories, the types of genres will blossom.

Thanks for the link, by the way.

-Adam