Writing 101: Trust or Popularity?

One of the hardest questions a reviewer – whether in print media or online – needs to ask him- or herself when starting out is “Do I want to be trusted or do I want to be popular and get a lot of hits to my reviews?”

In a perfect world, the answer is “both,” of course.  We humans tend to seek some reassurance in being admired and well-liked, and those of us who want to eke a living out of writing tend to want popularity, critical acclaim, the respect of our peers and the reader’s trust, sometimes too much so.

Unfortunately, on planet Earth nothing is perfect, and more often than not it becomes difficult to strike a healthy balance between writing what is truly in the writer’s mind and writing what some readers might want to hear, not out of conviction but to get those “helpful” votes at Amazon or other consumer review sites.

For instance, I discovered early on in my “career” as an unpaid reviewer at Amazon that when you try to express an honest opinion that runs counter to the prevailing popular taste of the day, it matters not if you can write movie reviews as well as Janet Maslin or Roger Ebert.  If, say, there are 45 reviews which state in no uncertain terms that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the worst movie George Lucas ever made, think long and hard before you write a “minority opinion.”   Chances are that with rare exceptions, most of the reviewers who wrote “This Movie Sucks” in that product page are going to flood your review with “Not Helpful” votes no matter how balanced and fair you believe your assessment of Episode I is.

This unhappy situation doesn’t happen much in sites where you get paid to write reviews, but even then there is still a drop-off in readers when you write a review that expresses a contrarian opinion to that held by a vast majority. 

For instance, my review of The Phantom Menace has been on the Web for over five years, and in all that time it has earned very few page-view hits.   I gave it four stars rather than the three or less that others were giving it, yet it has not earned a full dollar’s worth of Income Share at Epinions. 

Maybe if The Phantom Menace had been more widely accepted by Star Wars fans, this would not have happened.   Perhaps, if I'd written that the movie was a disservice to the franchise’s fans and accentuated the negatives, maybe that review would have gained some traction and earned at least $5.00 in all the time it’s been available online.

But, I am not wired that way.  I was taught by my journalism teachers in high school and college that a good reporter wants to be known for honesty and talent, not for going with the flow just to get readers’ popularity.

© 2011-2012 Alex Diaz-Granados.  All Rights Reserved