Picture from here
Though previously I wrote (a bit tongue and cheek) that I was writing reviews because I had nothing else to write, that’s not the complete truth. Granted it is part of it, but here I am writing about writing reviews and not actually writing a review, I’m just writing (I wanted to see how many times I could use the word writing and make the sentence coherent). The other side reason I have for writing reviews is there are some other communities I’ve wanted to contribute to that I haven’t. Most of these are review sites. The main two are All Consuming and Amazon. Though there are some other sites I’ve wanted to contribute thought and effort into such as Netflix and Google Books.
Reviews are a mainstay of communities, especially online ones. The old psychological study on mirroring proves we relate better with people like ourselves. When someone shares the same thoughts and ideas we have an attraction to them, a kinship. Writing reviews and contributing to these other communities give me a bound and a vested interest in these communities. I think moving into movie, book, and game reviews were a natural progression for me after signing up for Yelp. I joined Yelp to check it out and I find it intriguing. Review the restaurants you go to, sharing the experience with the world.
In the new era of personal publishing and media, we’ve all become food reviewers, movie critics, book analysts, and game raters. The power is to the people. Our voices may not be strong, but they exist. When we find people with similar tastes in the areas that we love, we trust their reviews. I’m not saying I’m an expert, I would never pretend to know what you like or you enjoy in your heart. I can show you what I enjoy and maybe we’ll have a mirroring relationship. One that spurs on conversation and gives us a two way street in which we can share and trust reviews from one another. Not everything will be a perfect match, but I’m sure it will lead to some interesting discoveries.