One great thing about the web is all the ways you can get minor validation. Social networking, PbEM’s, Digging… there are many little ways short of doing serious damage to your self or your property in a viral movie to know that other people think you are right about something.
I just checked my Netflix page, and found 53 people found my glowing review of “Brick” helpful. This is huge jump from the 6 who were helped by my “meh’s” of Shaolin documentary, The Road to Perdition, Battlefield Earth (which proved that just about every theology and mythology on Earth are better sources for film than Scientology), and several indie films that the critics loved, and I didn’t.
Aside from the fact that Netflix makes it hard to actually see negative reviews, what can we learn from this?
– I’m glad that at least one person clicked helpful for my poorly written review 53 times.
– Crowds will only respond to things they are being encouraged to look for. Word of mouth has spread about Brick, so people are looking for it. Not many people are looking over their back log of videos, and thinking if they really need to see Blue Submarine #6
– Since it’s not an open forum, Netflix lacks some really cool flamewars between film geeks, obsessive fans, and people with nothing else to due since they were Trollmarched off of Trekweb and Television Without Pity.
– If 53 people found me helpful, do I get enough good karma to come back in my next life as a really happy puppy? That would be cool.
So what now? Do I look for the movies people are likely to be looking for, so my reviews get read? Do I make more positive reviews, so they are more likely to stay up top instead of being buried 10 or 20 pages away?
Short of finding more validation in the real world, focusing on my Netflix reviews seems a good start.
Confusing Medical Science Since 1971 