One of the great benefits of the internet is the way it can give everyone an equal voice. Of course one of the great drawbacks of the internet (for there is no great technological advancement that doesn’t come with both benefits and drawbacks) is the way it can give everyone an equal voice. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than in the realm of reviews. Whether you an expert or an amateur, a friend or a foe, a teacher or a student, your review counts equally in the great ratings machine that determines so much of what we buy. The overall rating of that book you’re looking at could have come through reviews written by people knowledgeable in the field, by people completely ignorant in the field, or any combination of the two.
I sometimes force myself to read some of the really bad reviews of some of the really good books. I do this in part for the amusement factor but also to remind myself of the nature of Amazon reviews, for I often use Amazon as a research tool. Reading really bad reviews of really good books reminds me that I cannot put too much
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