J. Tupone

Is it only me, or does it seem like people give a star to the reviews that they agree with, not that they think is helpful.

I’ve noticed that some of my shortest reviews receive the most helpful votes. That is: my shortest & most superficial reviews that are clearly one-sided. If I say “Buy this book – it is so awesome” then people tend to vote for it as being helpful. If I try to provide a balanced, objective review, the votes tend to be only slightly higher for the helpful “yes” side. I find that very odd indeed. And it’s not only for my own reviews, but most reviews that I read. If a review is critical of a book or a video, I’ve noticed that people tend to vote against the review being helpful, regardless of whether or not the review provides a reasonable explanation for why the reviewer is critical of the product.

I’ve also noticed a clear bias in voting for helpfulness versus not helpful. It would seem, at least anecdotally, that people disapprove of a review if they disagree with the outcome of the review. E.g. If someone gives a negative review to a popular product such as a blockbuster movie, it receives relatively few helpful votes & mainly “No” votes. This trend is quite clear – look at any highly popular product (video/DVD/Blu-Ray disc or book or CD) & take note of how many helpful votes the negative reviews receive. A reviewer could write the most objective, rational negative review of a blockbuster product & the outcome will be that the review is deemed to be mostly not helpful. I find it disturbing that so many people can’t respect another individual’s point of view & that there is clearly a tendency to vote against a different point of view, rather than look closely at what is being said.