I’ve been having a great behind-the-scenes discussion with someone in our DIY community about how DIY Bride approaches product reviews. She mentioned that the vast majority of reviews here are positive and wondered why that was. We couldn’t possibly love everything that comes through the office, could we? It’s a perfectly valid question and one I’d like to address and then get your input.
It is true that most of the product reviews here are indeed positive. Why? Because I like sharing only the products I truly like, am enthusiastic about, and can personally recommend without reservation. I can see how it looks like “Khris loves everything!” to DIY Bride’s visitors and how that can seem disingenuous. Here’s the deal: there’s no shortage of awesome products coming through my office (both that I buy with my personal funds and/or that are sent to me by companies for review) so I’m electing to spend time my limited blogging time talking about the good stuff.
In short: I find products I love, share those with you, and ignore the rest. It’s that simple. Or is it?
There’s also the issue that I accept money for “sponsored posts” which highlight a company or a product, often written in review format. (ALL sponsored posts are clearly marked as sponsored in the body of the post.) Those are always positive and, I believe, fairly written. I only accept sponsored posts from companies I can truthfully and honesty recommend. I regularly turn down sponsored opportunities because the product/company isn’t a good fit.
I feel that posting a less-than-positive review can invite a negative element to the site. After 9 years of doing this, I know how quickly something negative on the internet attracts even more negativity and I don’t have patience for that stuff. And, on a more personal note, I’d rather send a personal note to a vendor saying “Thanks, but it wasn’t a good fit for us” than pointing out a product’s faults publicly.
You’re free to browse the product review policy: http://www.diybride.com/about-2/editorial-policies/product-review-policy/and the editorial policies: http://www.diybride.com/about-2/editorial-policies/ for more info.
So, now it’s your turn. Would you like to read reviews about products or services that we don’t like? Is that helpful to you? Sound off in the comments or in the poll below.
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