Have
you come across www.
mouthshut.com?
Chances are you haven’t. Well, rest assured, this is not an advertisement
for
the site – it’s just a plain honest review.
Mouthshut is a product review site.
It’s a portal where consumers can express their opinions about all kinds of
services – material and abstract – in the forms of reviews. There are
categories like entertainment, education, household, automobiles, personal
finance, etc. Reviews are read and rated by other users of the site, comments
are added and sometimes there are discussions. The whole intention is to
provide a better picture to the layman about a product.
I
think Mouthshut is the only Indian website that invites reviews from ordinary
people about the things they use. And its uniqueness is its USP. There must be
thousands of people
registered on the site – from all over the world – though
the site is mainly directed to the Indian user. However, the way things are
going, I won’t be surprised if Mouthshut makes its way in other countries also.
Another
great thing about the site is the earnestness of its reviewers, who are common
people like you and me (Yes, I too am a reviewer on the site and go by the
handle wont_take_nonsense). The reviewers in fact have a cold war in being the
first to consume the product and lay their views on the subject. The
competition is more visible when a new film is to be released and reviewed.
Again, the reviews would be all diverse – some applauding the product to the
skies, some downright booing it down to the gutter. And the debates that follow
in the comments section are really interesting copy. Well, the site owners see
to it that the competition is carried on as they score their registered users
based on the number of visitors and comments added.
The
site becomes an essential emotional tool for today’s consumer. Whatever you
feel about a product, you can just type it down for people all over to read. I
am sure manufacturers and producers do use Mouthshut to receive feedback on
their products, which helps them in ameliorating their goods. In this manner,
Mouthshut is performing a social service. It also is a parameter by which a
consumer can judge where he/she stands with the rest of the buyers of the
product. And also to check his/her literary talent when the comments are
received.
Mouthshut
does have its faults, though. The ‘write review’ tab is a little difficult to
find initially and it does not support all fonts. That is an HTML problem. Another thing is the preference given to some writers in the way reviews are
displayed. That pushes new and budding writers in the background. However, all
said and done, Mouthshut is a good way to express your opinion and also to pass
your time constructively.