Cafe/Speakers Corner debate

duskmaiden wrote:

Loke most of the speakers Corners reviews on Dooyoo I enjoy reading them in a car crash, glutton for punishment way. I like to read them because i know they will be appalling!

Hey, I do that too sometimes. Though usually I just log off before doing it.


[Admin Note - This is taken from the product of the week thread as it went WILDLY off topic but this could still be debated here.....]

Sorry to disagree but there are some great things in the speakers corner if you are selective.

Your disagreement has been noted. Now bugger off!

I think SC is very hit and miss - mostly dependant on the topics chosen, but I have had fun in the past writing on some topics.

Peanut Butter Wars..........!

FFS

koshkha wrote:

Sorry to disagree but there are some great things in the speakers corner if you are selective.

I do agree with that...when I am being selective by category for reading often take a quick scan down SC.

However..some bad habits are creeping in i.e. 20 q challenges etc..I hope they dont multiply too much more.

helencbradshaw wrote:

koshkha wrote:

Sorry to disagree but there are some great things in the speakers corner if you are selective.

I do agree with that...when I am being selective by category for reading often take a quick scan down SC.

However..some bad habits are creeping in i.e. 20 q challenges etc..I hope they dont multiply too much more.

For some reason you seem to have detracted from the purpose of this column by toalking about Dooyoo under the Ciao section. But why do people complain about SC/Ciao Cafe reviews? That is what it is there for, for people to share some creative interest and learn more about their fellow review writers. Take the recent 20 questions thing, I for one took part in that, but I did so because I thought it was interesting. I rarely take part in the cafe side of things but if a topic (or set of questions) comes up that I find interesting, then of course I will take part... that is what it is there for after all. And on Ciao there is no way that people should have the right to complain about Ciao cafe reviews as they are unpaid and of no benefit to a consumer. Hence why they are in an area of their own. Although that said, maybe I have missed something.

I disagree. The Cafe was turned to that purpose from being a general non-consumer area by (IMO) idiots that were/are so desperate for community points/a new dot that they'd post almost anything – jokes, 'challenges' etc. The community, which I consider to be inherently selfish, should self-police these things but they never do, often rushing past each other to slap everyone on the back when someone posts generaic answers to generic questions.

While I have no qualms against members getting to know each other better, this fake, spoon feed method of learning about each other is something that primary school kids make up for each other. Where's the interesting stuff that requires some thought and is interesting? There have been some anomalies - ex-member Angus Reid's "Challenge Idol" was a great hit several years ago that encouraged people to get involved and produced some great stuff – On The Couch, Moral Dilemmas and a few others.

Very few challenges are worthy of a place on any website IMO. I, for one, am glad Dooyoo has mainly avoided such tripe.

I am interested in finding out what makes some review writers tick - people that I think are good writers or who have something to say, but I've no interest in 99% of Ciao members or the colour of their bloody duvet.

I think people complain because they have a similar point of view to mine namely that the vast majority of Ciao Café stuff is poor quality at best and pointless at worst.

TheHairyGodmother wrote:

helencbradshaw wrote:

koshkha wrote:

Sorry to disagree but there are some great things in the speakers corner if you are selective.

I do agree with that...when I am being selective by category for reading often take a quick scan down SC.

However..some bad habits are creeping in i.e. 20 q challenges etc..I hope they dont multiply too much more.

For some reason you seem to have detracted from the purpose of this column by toalking about Dooyoo under the Ciao section. But why do people complain about SC/Ciao Cafe reviews? That is what it is there for, for people to share some creative interest and learn more about their fellow review writers. Take the recent 20 questions thing, I for one took part in that, but I did so because I thought it was interesting. I rarely take part in the cafe side of things but if a topic (or set of questions) comes up that I find interesting, then of course I will take part... that is what it is there for after all. And on Ciao there is no way that people should have the right to complain about Ciao cafe reviews as they are unpaid and of no benefit to a consumer. Hence why they are in an area of their own. Although that said, maybe I have missed something.

I dont believe I did ANY detracting..it was OT before I commented.

And I did say there are some interesting SC/Cafe reviews. Believe it or not in my 300 reviews I have even ventured in there occasionally (although very rarely to spill my guts on the WWW to strangers!)

however...there is a lot of tosh...and most of it in Ciao is point chasing garbage.

The examples of which are far too numerous to mention.

Nor have i ever been the biggest complainer on Ciao...easy come easy go is me..I have been more than tolerant in public about the cafe in the past.

And I hope that doesnt make its way onto dooyoo in its entirety...as that is not exactly revenue generating stuff for dooyoo...and simply costs money for the site.

Oh and my bedspread is brown and cream (I don't do duvets..)

Ciao's Favourite Member wrote:

While I have no qualms against members getting to know each other better, this fake, spoon feed method of learning about each other is something that primary school kids make up for each other. Where's the interesting stuff that requires some thought and is interesting? There have been some anomalies - ex-member Angus Reid's "Challenge Idol" was a great hit several years ago that encouraged people to get involved and produced some great stuff – On The Couch, Moral Dilemmas and a few others.

.

I agree with your post in general...although I have to admit I didnt enjoy all the challenges you mention here either..!

As for top 20 questions that has plagued Dooyoo lately...

How long does it take to get rid of someone selling you something on the phone??

If you buy something for 99p do you want the penny back?

Do you lick the foil top of a yoghurt??

If you had the choice between a petrol chainsaw and a bread knife, which would you use for felling a small tree with a 1" diameter trunk? (WHAT!!!!)

What proportion of the CDs you own are in their original cases right now?

How accurate is the time on your watch?

What you wearing right now? (sounds like it belongs in a different type of chat)

Do you, in the most fundamental depths of your soul, give a crap about the extinction of the Red Cockaded Woodpecker?


Well...hard to believe anyone sees the value in knowing that about strangers tbh..

helencbradshaw wrote:

Well...hard to believe anyone sees the value in knowing that about strangers tbh..

I agree! These kind of questions are not anything that tells you much about someone, nor are they in any way informative from a consumers point of view. On Ciao, yes they have a community point system (which I don't care about) but members do not get paid for writing reviews in the ciao cafe (nor rewarded diamonds). Hence I see these reviews as more of a novelty value and not in any way sidesteppgin the whole purpose of the site as they are in a different section. Having said that, I would have thought it a better idea to remove the community point reward for these types of review so as not to upset those members who feel that people are getting rewarded for nothing. Personally I couldn't give a cows bot bot if Ciao scrapped the whole community point thing because I feel it creates more arguments than it does satisfaction. Moreso, I think Dooyoo should also stop paying for reviews in the speakers corner section. Again, this would stop money being wasted by paying people who write reviews that ramble on about nothing in particular and from a commercial point of view, any reduction in expenditure can only be a good thing. As much as I don't feel such reviews should be rewarded, I do feel quite strongly about the value of having them there. It gives people (members not consumers) the chance to air their views on certain topics or to let their hair down in parallel to writing quality consumer reviews. I didn't mean to cause any offence Helen, and I didn't mean to suggest that you were detracting from the original topic. I understand that it had already been detracted from - if that is proper english! I am not a massive fan of ciao cafe/speakers corner reviews myself, and I have only written 2 on Dooyoo and 2 on Ciao, but I do feel that members should have that area, almost like a staffroom or smokers room. I didnt't mean to offend you Helen, I was just trying to make my point.... badly lol. I'll just hide behind my book now

I'm not offended - I have broad shoulders..!

Nor do I think it is up to me as to the content dooyoo and ciao allow on their site..however with 6years on both places...I can see how these things snowball...

On ciao it is a dot chasing rate me E cancer prevalent in the cafe.....its not like that on dooyoo thankfully but these kind of reviews are definitely on the increase.
.

koshkha wrote:

Sorry to disagree but there are some great things in the speakers corner if you are selective.

i agree there are some brilliant wel agued thought provoking pieces then there are the ones by the people who will write about any issue as they see it as an easy option
N.B. it is quite intersting that Angry mob by kaiser Chiefs is on th radio whilst writing this post!

Sorry for bringing it off topic. I was only saying the POW reviews are guilty pleasure 9or totrture) reading like a lot of the Speakers corners reviews on Dooyoo. Now to get back onto topic. Semi skimmed milk. Discus in 3000 words!!with full recipe book, name of cow, history of milking techniques and inform me milk is not auitable for those with lactose intolerncies!

Sorry to continue the blurring of lines between the two sites but I think Speakers Corner whoops Ciao cafe by a mile because of the tighter content control. I mean who ever approved 'everthing that begins with.......' which is an open invitation to write about abso-bleedin-lutely anything at all and yet still people stick stuff in the wrong places.

My personal hate is school and college work posted under 'essays' which is in the creative writing section. They've been the recipients of most of my OT ratings.

However when Ciao is as full of crap as it is at the moment, I go to the cafe ahead of the general ciao section.

But remember, nobody has to read anything they don't want to on either site. If you don't like the cafe or SC then don't read the reviews.

koshkha wrote:

But remember, nobody has to read anything they don't want to on either site. If you don't like the cafe or SC then don't read the
reviews.

Most people who belong to sites such as Optors, tend to take their review writing seriously and think about the quality of work being added, not just individual reviews/Cafe pieces, but entire categories.

If the sites are going to pander to the members' wishes to a certain extent, then I believe that influence should be used to keep crap topics off the site (either site) as well as add good topics to it and encourage a way of thinking that reminds people that Ciao is a business and not a social networking site like MySpace. As I've already said above, I think that the Ciao Community is inherently selfish, so people don't think of the site as a business or the community as a whole, just themselves, so shit categories are suggested (and sadly added)

I may not read any of the pieces posted in "Why I lick yoghurt foil tops" in the Cafe, but I know it's crap category and would hope that either site would not add such rubbish.

On Ciao, there's little to be lost except reads. However, there are reads given out to work posted in crap categories that could be diverted to better Cafe pieces or even to consumer reviews. On Dooyoo, everyone gets 3p per read, so keeping crap out of SC is paramount.

I'd encourage everyone on Dooyoo to email either Dooyoo themselves or contact any guide if they see crap topics or stuff that might need changing (e.g. does the " Should smoking be banned in public places?" still have a place on the site?). Unlike Ciao, Dooyoo will take your concerns under consideration and I do agree with K that Dooyoo's editorial control makes SC a lot better than Cafe.

(Perhaps a nice admin would like to split this topic and send the Cafe/SC debate into the GENERAL REVIEW SITE CHATTER forum?)

Ciao's Favourite Member wrote:

(Perhaps a nice admin would like to split this topic and send the Cafe/SC debate into the GENERAL REVIEW SITE CHATTER forum?)

I'll give it a go when I get home tonight, Aaron.

It should be pointed out that as well as being guide for Computers Aaron also has responsibility for crap reviews in SC in a support role to Rachael who is training the young lad.

Feel free to e-mail him all instances you spot.

Yes, I'm starting an adoption scheme and creating a Happy Birthday category for my own personal use...

You're not allowed to report those!

Split as requested.

Superb. Cheers Drew.