Dog Community

Forum Request for "Review of Products" Section.

miranadobe

Posted : 2/10/2010 2:29:38 PM

Before we present this to Laurissa, I wanted to hash it out with you guys about how we could manage this.

http://forum.dog.com/forums/p/101579/832443.aspx#832443

I personally think dog.com might be wise to learn what their consumers actually like, recommend, and would buy - so I think it would be useful to them. But I think we have to be conscious of forwarding people outside dog.com, so how would we manage the "here's where I found/bought it" links?
I don't want new users coming in just to give "reviews" - ie, advertisements, for their products.
I'm also concerned about arguments like "prong collars are eeeevil!"
Would it be a one-place-for-all? Having one thread clearly doesn't work, because it falls off even when stickied. Would it be one area with sections, or just one area with multiple threads for different types of products?

What other concerns would you have, or ideas to manage it?

Sera_J

Posted : 2/10/2010 4:01:10 PM

Hmm. Interesting notion.... I agree, lots of potential problems and abuse.

I would think, first of all, it would need it's own section (ie General Chat, NDR, etc) so a "Product Review" area of the board. Otherwise it will take over a section, I'd be willing to bet. Maybe we could have a NDR and a DR related part to it?

To post/see this section it should be members only? So someone who is just searching the net wouldn't necessarily even see it?

Reviews are allowed, constructive, helpful reviews. If you don't agree with the product such as "ecollars are evil..." type things, they are not welcome, it's not constructive. If they want to debate the evils of ecollars take it to the training part of the board. Period. That will have to be very black and white. "I don't like THIS ecollar vs. I don't like ecollars EVER". It will be a bitch to moderate, that's for sure.

As far as linking, there will just need to be a line where it goes from helpful to spam and it will be solely at our discresion which is which.... I hate to say it, but that's really the only way to make it work. I wish it could be clearer cut, but if someone shows up and puts 5 posts in the Review Section off the bat.... that's abuse, no matter what they try to say.

My concern would be the spam/abuse, but if we make it our sole discresion and Members Only, it may make it easier.

miranadobe

Posted : 2/10/2010 4:47:47 PM

Sera_J
To post/see this section it should be members only? So someone who is just searching the net wouldn't necessarily even see it?

Me LIKE this....

Sera_J
My concern would be the spam/abuse, but if we make it our sole discresion and Members Only, it may make it easier.

I think that mitigates the peeps who join just to hack their wares. Our group is very good about reporting spammers/adverts, so I think they will help in this regard. So, if some troll is watching the board, they will have no idea that it exists to begin with. It will be the peeps who join, discover it, and *then* decide to pop crap on there.

I think we have to be careful about the wording that intro's it. I think it's perfectly legit to say "You may like that xyz, but I found it left a stain/burned through the dog's bowl/gave her gas/made him neurotic" whatever. What about giving bad reviews "Hey, I bought Ladeedaah and it broke in 2 seconds, don't waste your money." Do we allow those?

The other thing is I do NOT want "hey, have you guys heard about this? Is it any good?" No, none of that. Use General Chat for that, or search, or something. I want this to be simple statements of "I bought this, I used it for this, I liked it, and thought others should know about it."

.

Sera_J
it would need it's own section (ie General Chat, NDR, etc) so a "Product Review" area of the board. Otherwise it will take over a section, I'd be willing to bet. Maybe we could have a NDR and a DR related part to it?

Agreed.

Product Review with subheadings:

Toys (do we need subcategories?)
Leashes/Collars/Harnesses/Gear (booties, etc)
Training Tools/Gear (maybe?) - agility jumps, article bags
Food (I am REEEAALLY hesitant on this, and treats... I honestly don't think it belong here. Let that stay in Nutrition, is my opinion - it's waaaay too debatable and individualistic - my dog did great on some foods.. for a while, and then.. so, I don't want it in this section, personally.)
Books (training, behavior, nutrition, fun stories, all of it in one place)
NDR... I see peeps posting about iphones and vacuum cleaners, so maybe, but I'm a little hesitant on it. I think I'd rather create the section without it, then add it later if we felt it would be wanted & used.

kpwlee

Posted : 2/10/2010 7:47:26 PM

sorry ladies been out all day long

I like the idea of a Review section - with the members only proviso and being adamant that it isn't an area for debating.

As for sections I don't think its necessary, just more for us to move around - just a rule that the title is the name of the product. Like "everlasting fun ball", The Other End of the Leash, etc. Using the search function you could put in the product you want to learn about or post additional reviews.

I suppose some may be looking for advice on a product and they could put "everlasting treat ball?"

I don't know I am so tired tonight my brain is fried!

Sera_J

Posted : 2/12/2010 2:01:22 PM

I've spent the last few days, kind of just thinking about this... and think yeah, it'll be a pain in the butt, but it's worth bringing up to Laurissa. If it causes a lot more workload we will need to ask for another mod. But, considering this site is sponosored by dog.com I think it could be ultimately very helpful to them.

I'll send an email out.

Thanks ladies :o)

kpwlee

Posted : 2/12/2010 9:12:36 PM

email looked good - thanks Lani