The Extra Cool Group! (of people Michael is experimenting on) discussion
Pertaining to the project
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The Top Reviewers List: Are you a pandering vote whore?
I AM NOT A B!!!not for this anyway.
and very few of my reviews are over 60; i just have a lot of reviews. i think i have maybe three over 60.
i mostly stopped floating reviews... mostly. if you want me, come and find me....
I vote if I liked the review. Whoring doesn't bother me. It's not like I'm a horny priest in denial. I vote if I wanna. Um somtimes I'm yay we both like ice cream high five voter.How do I get more trolls?
i'm sorry karen, i meant "that bee." just kidding, that's mean. but i just meant you get like 60 votes a day.
did you see what i just did that was awesome?? you sorrow, i respond!
yes, but now i just feel cheap. i really am a whore.
this is what happens when you call me a "b'.
Joel wrote: "so many different words start with B."hmmmmm.....
brain!beauty!
broad-ranging reader!
brangelina!
hey i apologized for that. no one deserves to be called a Bee.
Ways to get trolls:
1. Abandon the book midway in disgust or boredom, write a review about how you abandoned it, citing the fact that it is boring, or disgusting. Apparently, you can't have an opinion about something you "didn't like" - which is what a one-star means - if you didn't experience every awful minute of it.
2. Write a negative review of middlebrow popular fiction about hot button issues, like La Petite's review of The Kite Runner, Meredith's of The Help, or Daniel's of Three Cups of Tea. (I might come back with links, but I'm too lazy right now.) Trolls will call you an elitist, and accuse you of being a stick-in the mud.
3. Write a negative review of books by polarizing and/or canonical writers. Bonus trolls if the primary readers of these authors tend to be more one gender than the other: Joyce, McCarthy, Austen, Roth, etc. Trolls will call you a uneducated plebe, and accuse you of not getting it. Bonus trolls will tell you are a sexist, or a chauvinist. Because you are.
There's other good ways to get trolls, I just can't think of them. Oh! This one is hard to predict: give something that you liked just fine three stars - which means, ahem, I liked it - but have someone freak out that you gave their most favorite book ever only three stars. How could you hurt them like that?
Edit: more bonus points if you can do all of these things at once. Maybe hard though. Some of these books are mutually exclusive.
1. Abandon the book midway in disgust or boredom, write a review about how you abandoned it, citing the fact that it is boring, or disgusting. Apparently, you can't have an opinion about something you "didn't like" - which is what a one-star means - if you didn't experience every awful minute of it.
2. Write a negative review of middlebrow popular fiction about hot button issues, like La Petite's review of The Kite Runner, Meredith's of The Help, or Daniel's of Three Cups of Tea. (I might come back with links, but I'm too lazy right now.) Trolls will call you an elitist, and accuse you of being a stick-in the mud.
3. Write a negative review of books by polarizing and/or canonical writers. Bonus trolls if the primary readers of these authors tend to be more one gender than the other: Joyce, McCarthy, Austen, Roth, etc. Trolls will call you a uneducated plebe, and accuse you of not getting it. Bonus trolls will tell you are a sexist, or a chauvinist. Because you are.
There's other good ways to get trolls, I just can't think of them. Oh! This one is hard to predict: give something that you liked just fine three stars - which means, ahem, I liked it - but have someone freak out that you gave their most favorite book ever only three stars. How could you hurt them like that?
Edit: more bonus points if you can do all of these things at once. Maybe hard though. Some of these books are mutually exclusive.
i did the last one but in this case got yelled at for giving the book only 4 stars.
Mod
It's nice to get votes just because it's a sign that my reviews have entertained people, but I'd much rather generate conversation than get votes. And, when I first made it onto the review board, I paid a lot of attention to which reviews were getting votes, who was voting, etc. Recently, I haven't paid that much attention, just because I don't have enough time on goodreads, and I'd rather be conversating, writing reviews or reading them. There's not enough time to think about votes.
Bonus trolls if the primary readers of these authors tend to be more one gender than the other: Joyce, McCarthy, Austen, Roth, etc. Been there, done that with Jane Austen. People got PISSED when I gave her one star. I mean, they were personally offended -- insinuating that I was insulting them for liking Austen.
that's big of you, michael.please, if you are considering voting for a review of michael's, toss it my way. he won't mind!
(in all seriousness i do agree that a lot of comments is more fun than a lot of votes.)
Only misogynists hate Austen!!!!!!
I can't believe you hate women and, therefore, me.
I can't believe you hate women and, therefore, me.
I had no idea people did this. I just try to write good reviews because it helps me think about the book I just read and put it into words. If people like my reviews and vote for it then great. If they don't, that's fine too.Sometimes I see that one of my friends have put a book I just reviewed on their to-read list. This gives me more satisfaction than a vote.
Tell you what: please don't vote for the review now. The reverse psychology worked on me. +1 vote from me.
Brian wrote: "I hate to link to a review of mine in the middle of a discussion about "Are you a vote whore" (especially when I already said "no"!) but the discussion thread on my Twilight review seems relevant t..."WINNER!
What?You people must like the passive-aggressive approach; I TOLD you to vote for my reviews waaaay back in comment 31.
Pimpin' ain't easy.
Love her or loathe her, Austen is responsible for some of the finest free indirect writing in existence. Take any passage from her novels, you'll see prose contoured to every nuance and cadence of her characters. It's really remarkable.
Hmm... is a retart better or worse than a plain tart?
Oooh thanks! I'm going to incorporate all of those in one review. Too bad I've already done all the Austens. Dickens? I'm gonna be a troll whore! Watch out, Chris de burgh.
Oh, and I also vote for any review that mentions me by name in a positive, seemingly sincere light.
But I definitely agree that the best way to get a ton of votes is to write a critically strong but funny review of some really popular, usually YA bookWait, wait, wait!
You mean the 80 votes I got for Fallen
Or the 68 I got for Clockwork Angel
Or the 63 I got for Shiver-
AREN'T because I'm the most amazing reviewer, like, EVER! But because I'm pandering to the masses by writing funny yet critical reviews for books in the YA genre?
No! No! Nooooooo!
Yeah, I actually have to agree with that. I don't even like my Fallen review and the Clockwork Angel one is just a 10 page rant/wank. Usually, the reviews I'm most proud of go almost completely unnoticed.
Though, in my defence, I have NEVER written a review for Twilight.
I think the YA and PNR is the last bastion for snobbery left on GoodReads. As long as people keep pandering to my votewhorish nature, I don't really mind.
By the way, David: You know I've like mentioned you in a positive, seemingly sincere light in ALL of my reviews. You just have to look REALLY hard to find it - but it's totally there.
Mariel wrote: "Oooh thanks! I'm going to incorporate all of those in one review. Too bad I've already done all the Austens. Dickens? I'm gonna be a troll whore! Watch out, Chris de burgh."
I love the idea of a troll whore. That's brilliant.
I love the idea of a troll whore. That's brilliant.
I think we should also be considering the pimps. To keep all these various whores in line.
Making a bee-line for the trolls and other detritus?
He pollinates all the showiest blooms.
You're not thinking what I'm thinking, are you? Nah....:D
I prefer vote sex worker. "Sex worker" gestures to the implicit transaction that occurs between reviewer and voter, a transaction that is both calculated and embodied. There is a capitalist sensibly inherent in the Western concept of the "marketplace of ideas"; the term "whore" implies something given away for intangible benefits. A sex worker works, and sex sells.
Or more appropriately, Voteworker for the sake of being both concise and literal in our accuracy.
Manny must be the old whore that has to give it away 'cause his statistics showed that his sex didn't sell.Me? I've got a heart of gold.
Wait... other people are getting actual sex for their votes? I feel cheated!
I live in Florida so I forget how to vote correctly. If I did, then they went in and had sex with the reviewer I didn't wanna have sex with.
Someone said earlier that the best thing is when someone adds a book to their to-read list because of your review. I'd take that further and say that it's best when someone actually reads a book because of your review. Like when Ceridwen read JS&MN because of my review! And Bram started reading Virginia Woolf because of (I can't call it a review) the quotes I posted from To The Lighthouse! And once, Paul said he would consider trying some fantasy book (can't remember what exactly) because of my review. That's a real compliment, and is worth far more than any number of votes.I'm a hopeless voter. Sometimes I don't vote because I just forget when I finish the review, even if I liked it, and sometimes I'm just not in the mood to add to anyone's sense of validation. I often stop voting for people because I get sick of how they write, even if their reviews are as good as ever, or because I think they get more votes than they deserve. These days I basically just don't vote - it saves time and effort on soul-searching.
Miriam wrote: "Wait... other people are getting actual sex for their votes? I feel cheated!"On the votes? Or the sex? Or both? Or the bee?
Miriam wrote: "Wait... other people are getting actual sex for their votes? I feel cheated!"I need to start writing reviews again.
I want a brief summary, an unbiased look at how each component of the book fits together, and what it achieves or fails to achieve. Then a personal reaction. (I don't do this myself, but I'll take the sex please anyway).
Is there really such thing as an unbiased, objective review though.Discuss.
Is there really such thing as an unbiased, objective review though.Discuss.
I'd say so, if you analyse the book on a mechanical level, as a prose doctor.Still. There's no point rating a book that is technically brilliant on every level five stars if you hated it for whatever subconscious reason.
(i tried this recently with We3, which really lends itself to cat pictures, after i got one vote (as always, thanks jasmine!) for what i thought was a pretty funny review. it didn't work.)
but no, i have been known to bump reviews i think are funny to encourage votes. sometimes this works but usually it doesn't and it's probably kind of annoying. it certainly makes me feel cheap. more fun when someone finds a random older review and votes for it, or a new review gathers steam far beyond my friends list (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is my best one with more than 60 votes). (which karen gets daily, that b.) i'm far from a top reviewer overall, though i am consistently on the weekly leader board lately (once i was #19 and i am #30 for the month i guess?)
in conclusion i am a whore but i don't like to make it obvious.