How to use the Circle of Trust

...of trust, what it is, how I go about using it and a few ways that I feel people abuse it. Now I'm not saying that my way is the best way, because I'm sure some people would disagree and when it boils down to it, it is up to you how you decide to use your circle of trust.


What is the Circle of Trust?
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The circle of trust is supposedly a way of creating preferences, so that when you ...
...this actually worked, and wondered how they would order reviews if more than one person in my circle of trust had written an opinion on the same product. So after a bit of investigation I found a surprising result, in general the people who I trust would always appear at the top with the most helpful review getting top billing when more than one member of my circle had trust had written a review on the same product. But occasionally a review from ... more

It's been an amusing couple of weeks in the circle of trust of the christianfilmcritic, with people coming and going before I even have chance to say hello. I say amusing, because a lot of this fluctuation has come from members trying to influence me in one way or another. Whether it is to influence me into rating there reviews higher or are looking for me to reciprocate their trust so that they can get 80 community points, I just find it funny.

So with all this action going on, I thought I would give my opinion on the circle of trust, what it is, how I go about using it and a few ways that I feel people abuse it. Now I'm not saying that my way is the best way, because I'm sure some people would disagree and when it boils down to it, it is up to you how you decide to use your circle of trust.

What is the Circle of Trust?
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The circle of trust is supposedly a way of creating preferences, so that when you go to a product page, you are greeted by the reviews from the people you trust first. Okay sounds like a good idea, but in some ways Ciao is shooting itself in the foot with this, as the review by someone you trust may not be the best review on that product. Although I like to read the reviews by the members I trust, I also like to read reviews from members I have never come across before, so that you can see a different approach to review writing.

When I started to write this opinion, I was a bit sceptical of whether this actually worked, and wondered how they would order reviews if more than one person in my circle of trust had written an opinion on the same product. So after a bit of investigation I found a surprising result, in general the people who I trust would always appear at the top with the most helpful review getting top billing when more than one member of my circle had trust had written a review on the same product. But occasionally a review from a member not in my circle of trust would appear above them. How does this happen, I do not know, whether it is manipulation of the system by Ciao, a glitch in the formula or maybe something I was not aware of in the way the circle of trust works? What ever the reason, I am actually thankful for it.

How I use my Circle of Trust?
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There are four categories of members who make it into my circle of trust and they are as follows.

1) Joint Interests
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The first type of member is someone who writes consistently decent reviews on subjects that interest me, and if you hadn't realised by now, that subject is mainly movies. Now, not everyone who writes a good movie review will make into my trust, as you have to show a passion for films both new and old, popular and obscure.

2) Brilliant writers
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Secondly, there are some exceptionally talented writers on Ciao, who write about products and subjects which usually would put me to sleep, but through their ability to write in an interesting, informative and entertaining manner, they manage to keep my interest. Anyone who manages to achieve this definitely deserves my trust.

3) Friends
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Thirdly, any friends I know from outside of Ciao, who are also members, get my trust, because knowing them on a personal level allows me to gauge an opinion on a product more effectively than someone I have never met before. Do I include people who I class as friends after meeting them on Ciao, yes but in all honesty, they would normally have fallen into category one or two already.

4) Raw Talent
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Finally, as some of you are aware, I will read reviews on absolutely anything and to be honest a fair share of it is boring and very poor. But occasionally I spot a member who has some raw talent and needs some friendly advice. If they take on board the advice and show this in their next reviews, as well as showing me the common courtesy of thanking me via a message in my guest book, then I will usually add them to my trust in an attempt to encourage them.

Now before anyone thinks that I am preying on the innocent and abusing the standard guidelines for using the circle of the trust in an attempt to gain community points. I stopped worrying about gaining the points for trust a while back; at the same time I stopped worrying about getting points and new colours altogether. My whole reason for trusting raw talent is that it can be very discouraging for a first time reviewer, who shows potential, when their first review gets critically slammed for one reason or another.

So those are the types of members who I give trust to and to make sure I always have room for new people in my circle of trust, I review it every other week and clear out anyone who has stopped using Ciao on a regular basis. Of course some people use Ciao a lot less than others, so there is always a judgement call when I come across someone who writes brilliantly informative, entertaining pieces on an occasional basis. Dropping someone from your circle of trust is not a nice thing to do, so it is always best to leave that unfortunate member a message explaining why you have removed them. Anyone who makes it into my circle of trust automatically gets put onto review alert, and in some ways I feel this is better than getting trust.

How I feel the circle of trust is abused.
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Shock horror, members abusing the circle of trust, would anyone really do that? Well, I am sure as many of you will agree; there are some members who use their circle of trust in an unscrupulous manner in an attempt to get more community points and to attract people into reading and rating their reviews. As a warning for new members, these generally fall into three categories.

1) New member chaser
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Although I don't feel that this is that common, there are some people who keep an eye out for new members, and befriend them in order to dupe them into giving them 80 points for their trust and to add to their regular list of readers for their reviews. Once they feel that they have won you over, they dump you from their trust and concentrate on another new member. As I have said, I do not feel that this is that common but it does go on and remember this happening to me on a few occasions after I just joined.

2) Seen to be doing the done thing
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For me this is the person who generally gives trust to other members who have one of the metallic dots or are seen to be very active. They don't necessarily bother to read that person's reviews but feel that it is the done thing to be seen trusting the people who are active or have been on Ciao for a long time in an attempt to gain favour. In my opinion this is futile, as the majority of people who have been on Ciao for that long, will spot this tactic a mile off, and unless you are a very talented writer you will not get the trust reciprocated. Most people, who have been here that long or are very active, will already have a jam packed circle of trust with all 100 slots filled up.

3) Please add me to your COT.
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These are the people who may or may not have read one of your reviews, but add to you there trust no matter who you are and leave you a message saying that they have added you to their circle of trust and please can you add me to yours. Personally I find this laughable and although it doesn't happen that often I usually respond with a message that I appreciate their trust and when I get a moment I will take some time to read their reviews. This usually then results in a few days later that I get dropped from their trust.

So those are the three categories which I term as blatant abuse of the circle of trust. There is a fourth category which I don't personally feel is abuse but is in itself very annoying, especially for new members.

4) Circle of Trust rater
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These are typically members who only bother to read reviews written by people in their circle of trust. In my eyes not technically abuse, as there are so many less than good reviews written everyday, and reading them all can become very tedious. But in the same breath, there are some very good new reviewers out there who deserve a chance to prosper by getting a fair share of rates. There have been plenty of recent examples of this, and without naming anyone; there was a recent review on a movie written by a new member which got ratings of all very helpful, but unfortunately it was read and rated by just 10 members. Sadly that reviewer has not come back and written another review. We were all new members at one point in time and sometimes we forget how hard it was to get to the position we are in now.

So those are my thoughts on what I term as abusing the circle of trust, as I said these are my feelings and some people will disagree with them. They are in no manner an attempt to judge anyone who practices any of them as we all have our own opinion on how we want to use our circle of trust.

General feelings on the circle of trust.
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I actually like the circle of trust, as it allows you to in some ways set your preferences to what you want to read, although it is always good to read reviews by people who do not appear on your circle of trust. I always appreciate it when I get added to someone's circle of trust, especially when it comes from a member who I respect for being a good writer, and who has cleared a space for me to fit in. As for the allocation of 80 points when you give someone your trust, well I have given up caring about the community points so it doesn't really matter me. But for some people who enjoys collecting the points and getting to the next colour, then it is a good thing, as when used properly it is an award for earning the trust. The limitation of only adding 100 people to your circle of trust is a very good thing, as it stops the blatant abuse of dishing out points to everyone.

My only problem I have with the circle of trust, and this is not a problem with the idea itself. Is that some people are unable to add people to their circle of trust due to a conflict with their antivirus/ firewall software. I would like to see Ciao investigate this and come up with a solution as it is spoiling some people's full enjoyment of the system.

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So there you are my thoughts on the circle of trust and how I see it and go about using it. As I have already said, these are just my thoughts and in no way is it the way everyone should go about using their circle of trust.
 

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