I have been writing at Ciao.com since October of 2008 and when I first started there where many real writers there. Now there are many cheaters there who either plagiarize, spam or churn out hundreds of nonsense reviews on a daily basis. A consumer product review site is about the experience and opinion of a product that the writer has used and/or owns. It should be more about what you did with the product and what you thought was good and bad about it than the specifications and what the products company says it can do. It is our analysis from our standpoint. Unfortunately many people that don't even speak English come to the site and start writing editorial reviews just stating what the product is and what it can do because they go tot the products website and research it just so they can make a quick buck. They don't write their opinion because they don't have one.
Having said this, in the recent past it has been hard for the real writers to be recognized because these idiots flood the site and start clicking cartels where they give each other endless exceptional ratings and the real writers have been partially passed by and not recognized. We are working hard to get these people out, reporting plagiarists and nonsense reviews and I think it is paying off. In the last 3 months i have recieved two diamond awards for two of my reviews and I am thankful they were noticed. My "Prying" review I actually almost expected a diamond because it is just genius and I was actually impressed with myself on that one and it is hard to impress myself. But my last diamond was awarded to a review that I never thought would have been recognized because it was not some long epic novel. After rereading my review I realized that it was the content and style of writing that I on the award for. I tend underestimate myself at times because I set higher standards for myself, but I do know that I am a skilled writer even though I actually hate writing.
I am grateful to Ciao for their hard work and time trying to get rid of the crap writers and for recognizing those of us who deserve recognition and I am thankful to my friends at Ciao who have helped me in this battle and who appreciate my writing skills. Thank you.
