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The site is based on a simple, time-tested premise: People value, trust, even crave, word-of-mouth advice when deciding how to spend their money. Always have. And just as everybody with a belly button has an opinion, Epinions.com has opinions on almost everything but belly buttons: CDs and movies, computers and mobile phones, cities and restaurants and cruises, and cars and campers. The list goes on. The site offers what the Mountain View (Calif.) company calls "brutally honest" consumer reviews of more than 100,000 products and services -- plus reviews of the reviewers to help you decide whom to trust. There's even an incentive for reviewers to take their jobs seriously, rather than simply say any stupid thing that pops into their heads. They get paid depending on how often their reviews are read. To arrive at an informed opinion on all these Epinions, I compared the reviews of the masses with those of professional critics at other sites and in old-media sources. PACIFIC PLATITUDES. I started with travel, a Net category I know well as a travel writer. I'm a big fan of the magazine-quality travel writing and instant bargain-hunting capabilities I find on the Net. I'm planning a trip to the Northwest, so I checked out the Seattle reviews others deemed "highly recommended" on Epinions and found few that offered much depth or even anything more than a mediocre brochure. Take one: It told me Pike Place Public Market is a must-see because it's a "famous market that's featured in movies/shows." The same person says Pioneer Square offers "plenty of bars/restaurants to choose from." The Space Needle "is worth a visit to get a good view of the city." You don't say. Another read like a postcard scribbled in a hurry: "During our short time living in Washington, we have quickly fallen in love with the area. Washington is overflowing with beautiful scenery, friendly people, and an endless variety of things to do." Fodor's it's not, but this was also a top-rated review. Given that, I don't especially want to see the reviews that get panned. Yes, you can find quality entries if you look hard enough. One describes Seattle as a city that "has more of a Northern European feel than American" with stone streets, old buildings, outdoor markets, a stoic local culture, and liberal-minded people. That told me something I wouldn't have thought of in quite the same terms. Another provides a detailed walk-through of the Experience Music Project, Seattle's new Paul Allen-funded tourist attraction. Fortunately, Epinions' well-organized and easily navigable site also provides quick links to excellent reviews by pros from the likes of Fodor's, CNN, Salon, Yahoo! Travel, and BizTravel.com. So you're not completely at the mercy of the amateurs. The inconsistency baked into this opinion free-for-all pervades many categories, but books, movies, and music reviews seem to be Epinions' strength. The best seem more engaging and useful than the pomposity dished out by too many professional reviewers. One review of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie is graced with a simple, poetic eloquence: "Albom's affectionate portrait of a brave man dying a terrible death transcends any limitations of style, presentation, or language in the book.... Could I behave half as well as Morrie if faced with such a prospect? Could you? We don't know the answer to that question, of course. God willing, we may never have to learn. But you will know more about it and be prompted to spend some important hours thinking about it if you read Tuesdays with Morrie. It won't take much more than a Tuesday evening to read it. You may not soon spend a more enriching evening." That's more like it. Impressed, I checked out the Epinions "profile" of the reviewer, Howard Weaver, and found that the Sacramento newspaperman is a veteran cyber-reviewer, with 22 Epinions to his credit. I'll be reading more of them. WHY GOD MADE EDITORS. I was slightly less impressed by the e-commerce capabilities of Epinions. Product reviews offered a good starting point for thinking about, say, a guitar or some cookware. I relished reading about the sound quality and ease of playing of some acoustic and electric guitars, and found excellent links on buying, repairing, playing, and caring for your instrument. And reviews of the latest CDs by the Counting Crows and No Doubt persuaded me to buy both. But the site's "Buy Now" links don't necessarily provide the best deals. The bottom line: Even in stronger Epinions categories like music reviews, getting to the good stuff entails suffering through the chat room pap and the just plain silly. One "highly recommended" review of a No Doubt CD and lead singer Gwen Stefani begins: "Yes, perhaps I like No Doubt because people say I look like her (do I? Maybe I should go blonde?) and Gwen was voted one of the most beautiful women of the year -- Gwen, Gwen, Gwen." More like oy, oy vey. Now we know why God made editors and why everyone with an opinion doesn't qualify as a professional critic. Gately writes about travel, music, and the Web from Baltimore |
