Credibility: a Necessity

The focus of my ELI has been reviews, analyzing and writing them. Reviews are written to persuade their audience of something, whether it is that they should buy a product or avoid it. But in order for a review to convince a reader, the reader needs to believe that the review is credible. This is the big reason that blurbs from groups like Kirkus and ALA and authors like George RR Martin and Neil Gaiman are so commonly found on the back of books by the big publishing companies. Trust is the foundation of any relationship between reviewers and their audiences.

Professional review writers begin with credibility. The same thing goes for popular authors. Publishing companies often send advance copies of their books to these people so that they can print the book with their blurbs on the back. The power of a favorite author recommending a book has often led to people picking it up. If the reader likes the book as well, trust increases, which can lead to a feedback positive cycle.

Customer reviews are found on consumer sites. Although the reviewers often have few to no credentials, looking at a large number of customer reveiws or ones that are rated highly by the other customers often gives reliable information. Many people use customer reviews to determine if they should buy a product or not. Sites like Amazon have also been adding new features to their reviews, whether it be the ability for customers to rate reviews or the new Vine feature, all in an effort to make them more reliable. Customer reviews have become an integral part of online shopping for this reason, and many people don’t trust a site that doesn’t tell them what other consumers thought about the product.

Besides the pros and the customer reviews, there is also the rapidly growing number of smaller reviewers who post their thoughts on their blogs, Youtube, Facebook, or wherever else. They usually have smaller audiences, but some people use this format to make themselves better known to their audiences. I am still working on a Wordpress blog on which to post all of my reviews. Some people produce other attractions and then link to their blogs to gain larger audiences. For example, Howard Taylor, author of Schlock Mercenary, has his blog located on the front page of his webcomic. However, most people who do this never really gain a large audience.

The many different ways that people go about writing and broadcasting reviews doesn't change the purpose of their reviews. As I mentioned above, reviews are persuasive writing. To persuade someone, you must gain their trust.  Despite the huge disparity between someone like me and a writer for the New York Times, all reviewers try to increase their credibility with their audiences through their writing. It is what we do.

~Kaleb