Currently, the subreddit 'Amazon Reviews' has 7 moderators looking after it, and they have things to do. "Definitely the two most common issues we run into as mods are people trying to use our sub to advertise products and people trying to use the sub to complain or seek help about Amazon, such as with shipping or payment," u/pzreich told Bored Panda.
"The former gets an immediate permanent ban as advertising is against our rules, and the latter's posts are removed, and don’t face any bans. I'm generally sympathetic to anyone who has issues with Amazon since I have absolutely no love for the company, so I sometimes will redirect them to the official Amazon sub to see if they can get help for their issues. Generally, the commenters behave themselves which is nice!"
However, these few details aside, u/pzreich said that "modding this sub has been a breeze and given me many laughs over the past few years. It’s nice to see the creativity of strangers, products I didn’t know existed, and the collaborative efforts of the sub members to bring it all together."
#4 Wasn't Expecting To Laugh So Hard At A Review About A Plastic Strip That Helps You Remove Hair From Your Drain
Lately, u/pzreich has been wondering a lot why product reviews make such good writing prompts. "I think it boils down to a few factors. Product reviews, despite the fact that there's often a name or username attached, tend to feel rather anonymous, and people may feel a freedom to express their thoughts in a creative way, and to bring smiles to the faces of readers."
"People read reviews to get the honest thoughts of others, and may find themselves chuckling at especially imaginative feedback. Sometimes the situations you end up in while using a product are inherently funny, and sometimes the humor or interest comes out of the reviewer not understanding the product or getting mad at a specific element. Overall, there’s a very wide subject matter and an endless amount of people writing them, which leaves a wide range of potential reviews," the moderator explained.
Lisa Tener is a leading authority in book proposal development and her clients have signed 5- and 6-figure book deals with HarperCollins, Random House, Yale University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, HCI and other major publishers, as well as being self-published.
She agrees with u/pzreich, saying that, "Product reviews are an excellent way to practice writing because they help you a) think about your own experience and how you can bring it to life b) provide specific examples c) write for a particular reader/audience."
"In addition, if you can make a product review entertaining and engaging, it will help you with all your writing. For example, challenge yourself to come up with engaging headlines by using alliteration (words starting with the same letter or sound), humor, or a quirky detail. If you can write engaging headlines on your product reviews, you can do the same for blog posts, articles, social media posts, or even a book!" Tener added.
"There are a number of things you can do to express your thoughts more clearly through text," the author of The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day told Bored Panda.
"Be clear about what your goals are. After writing the first draft, ask yourself whether your writing will likely produce the results you were going for."
"Focus on your target audience or readership. Who will be reading this review, article, email, text, or other writing? What are their goals? Their pain points? How can you help them? What language and examples will resonate for them?"
To make our sentences more colorful, Tener suggests asking ourselves how can we bring our writing to life for our readers by providing examples and stories.
"Metaphors can often make writing vivid. And employing various senses (smell, taste, sound, touch, and visuals) will also make your writing vivid," she said.
"The more specific you can be, the more it illustrates your points and engages your readers."
