Does Your Opinion Really Count?

One of the interesting things about the Internet is the ability for anyone to post an opinion about anything. I have come to the conclusion that this may not be a good thing.

Over the last few days I have examined a number of "reviews" on such popular sites as Amazon.com, iTunes, and the Barnes and Noble website. What I have found is a wealth of opinion. Unfortunately most of these opinions are worth less than a month old tuna salad. I suppose that everybody has a right to their own opinion. One could argue that, thanks to the First Amendment, that everyone has the right to state their opinion. It seems to me that all opinions are not create equal. Just because you have an opinion does not mean that it has any value.

For an opinion to have any use or value the person stating the opinion must have a good grasp on the subject matter. They must know how to use complete sentences and they must know how to complete a thought. I can't tell you how many reviews I looked at that contained some version of this: I don't really listen/read/watch this kind of thing, so here is my uninformed and completely worthless opinion.

The worst offenders are easily spotted as teenagers. Why people whose idea of reading is a Twilight or Sookie Stackhouse novel think that their opinion on a great work of literature should count for anything is beyond me. They are so often found on the pages of great works complaining that "this sucks.". They are not even able to formulate a complete thought as to why they do not like the work they just read.

Then you have people who "review" authors whose political philosophy they dislike. So they go to the books by Newt Gingrich or Barak Obama and click a one star rating and give a political rant. They have not read the book. Their entire review is useless.

None of this means that there should be no negative reviews. People who read the books of those with whom they disagree will have a certain insight to the book because they have read it. I work with many well read, educated, college professors who dislike certain "classics."

So, whose opinion matters? If you are well read then you may have the breadth of knowledge that allows you to comment in a way that actually contributes. Otherwise you are just posting your own useless opinion and cluttering up the landscape.

Whose opinion does not matter? People who only read teenage books unless forced to read something else by a teacher. People who have not actually read the book in question. Finally, anyone who uses a login name with a character from Harry Potter, Twilight, Star Wars, or a celebrity. So if your login name is iluvbrittney, edwardforever, or any such nonsense you have no credibility. Please go away and keep your infantile opinion to yourself.



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