I don't trust reviews anyway. I look for mentions of features I might be interested in or aspects that would bother me, but I put zero weight on any "opinion" about something. That said, affiliate links make a site look really sleazy, it's essentially the lowest form of business model so it signals that the author is less likely to be someone who has put a good package of information together.
How do other people use (product) reviews? Are you putting value on the reviewer's opinion?
How do other people use (product) reviews? Are you putting value on the reviewer's opinion?
With the exception of Consumer Reports, I ignore all reviews that appear in commercial publications, review websites, etc.
I do put value on a review coming from Joe Random's hobbyist website, assuming that they aren't using affiliate links, weren't given the thing they're reviewing for free, and weren't otherwise compensated.
But I put the greatest value on people that I personally know telling me about their experience with the thing, followed by people I may not personally know, but that I've been paying attention to for long enough that I have an idea of what their tastes are.
It's very hard to know how to interpret a review (about a product, yes, but also about things like books, movies, music, etc.) without knowing a fair bit about the reviewer. Different people value different things, and a review has the most value to me when it comes from someone who values similar things to me.
Comments
I don't trust reviews anyway. I look for mentions of features I might be interested in or aspects that would bother me, but I put zero weight on any "opinion" about something. That said, affiliate links make a site look really sleazy, it's essentially the lowest form of business model so it signals that the author is less likely to be someone who has put a good package of information together.
How do other people use (product) reviews? Are you putting value on the reviewer's opinion?
With the exception of Consumer Reports, I ignore all reviews that appear in commercial publications, review websites, etc.
I do put value on a review coming from Joe Random's hobbyist website, assuming that they aren't using affiliate links, weren't given the thing they're reviewing for free, and weren't otherwise compensated.
But I put the greatest value on people that I personally know telling me about their experience with the thing, followed by people I may not personally know, but that I've been paying attention to for long enough that I have an idea of what their tastes are.
It's very hard to know how to interpret a review (about a product, yes, but also about things like books, movies, music, etc.) without knowing a fair bit about the reviewer. Different people value different things, and a review has the most value to me when it comes from someone who values similar things to me.