My thumbs per review is pretty low, mostly because I reviewed a ton of podunk 9 and 18 holers that most people will never get to.

KenanFlagler01

There's nothing wrong with your reviews, they are actually really good. Informative, detailed and flow well. You've also taken the time to post your review method.

When I hit 100 reviews I think I was averaging about 3.4 per review. I think travelling to several different regions over the past 6 months has helped me reach more readers and also throwing up 3 reviews every week. (29 draft reviews still in the hopper).

so my only real good suggestion is to come to Huntsville AL and throw a round with me.

congrats on hitting 10 thumps on Kilborne :thmbup:

I got a lot of thumbs for reviewing good courses thoroughly, like Idlewild, and then the helpfuls come. Although, I personally believe that it's better to have less not helpfuls than more helpfuls. As long as someone thinks your review is helpful, then you are doing a good job. Keep up the good work!

Ya know, I don't get it. I reviewed one podunk 5-holer and got 4-5 thumbs. Maybe it's because I gave it such a low rating! Then I reviewed another course that's played by many more folks, and I only got one thumb. Maybe it's because there are not many DGCR folks in the area? Or maybe I didn't rate it highly enough to make locals happy (or low enough to make them give me a down vote)... DGCR is a mystery to me. I never understand the thumbs down, and I can never predict which courses I'll actually get a response on. The exception is the obvious top level courses (e.g. Selah, Trey Ranch, Harmony...) or courses that get a lot of discussion. Personally, I'm more interested in getting to those podunk courses so that there can be a semi-intelligible review to inform folks, instead of adding review number 105 to some well-known and well-respected course.

Okay okay. Friday rant over.

I think a lot of it is luck and location. It took me at least 30 reviews to get to 100, and that's even with some ~8-10 response reviews on well known courses. I have one loyal follower that will like any review I upload, but overall it depends on if there are DGCR folks interested in the courses you review. If not, then you're lucky to get 3 thumbs for a review of the course. Keep taking pride in your reviews, and you may not be the next Valkyrie Kid or wellsbranch, but at least we'll come to know and respect your work.

Truly yeoman's work. :clap:


When it comes to reviewing less than popular, out of the way courses...
No one (and I mean no one), has paid their "blue collar reviewer's dues" more than mndiscg.
Earned his Diamond TR status pulling in a whopping 3.6 or so thumbs/review. Dude's not in it for the glory. :|


So don't sweat it... you're in good company!

There is a little strategy involved in getting votes. The biggest thing is to not post a bunch of reviews at once. You're bouncing your own reviews from the front page if you post a bunch at once. Also, don't post on Sunday nights/Monday mornings, especially in the summer. That's when most reviews are coming in. I've had reviews bounced from the front page in less than an hour because everyone else is posting then too!

Honestly, it seems most reviews are getting less votes than they did in the past. Maybe it is over-saturation of reviews that people just don't care to read unless you give a course an extreme rating. Of the 30+ reviews I wrote this year, only two have 10+ votes. Both of those courses are big named, new courses: Langley Pond and (redesigned) Hornets Nest. Even my two Paw Paw courses only got a handful of votes. More than half of my reviews this year have 3 or less votes.

Focus on writing reviews for the fun of it, looking to help others learn more about a particular course. If you do that, people will notice your reviews, even if the votes don't necessarily reflect it.

^ this. The longer you stay on the main page, the more people will see your review.

Also don't upload a bunch of reviews at once. Once members vote on a review, it takes a while before they can vote on another review from that person. I assume Tim did this to deter friends (or haters) from just rifling through someone's reviews and voting on a bunch of them in a short period of time, on some agenda-driven thumbing spree.

^and this. Develop your own style, and motivation for writing them, and make it work for you. Ultimately, if you include good info in there, people notice. And don't feel like you have to write a review. The world will live if you don't review every course you play.... doing that can burn you out, especially if you strive to put a lot of content in them. :o

Good tips. Thanks, all.

Yeah, listen, I hope I didn't give the impression this keeps me up at night. I don't spend much time thinking about the thumbs. I just noticed my modest average of thumbs up compared to others.

I do enjoy writing reviews and my goal is to paint a picture of the course for others to decide if they'd like to play it. I know that's what I look for when I read reviews, so that's how I write mine.

I will keep in mind the tip about posting a bunch at once. I tend to do that when I take road trips.

To add to what others have said, I've definitely noticed a trend that my most pointed and critical reviews get the most thumbs. But I'll keep writing positive ones when warranted!

Hey everybody, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Trusted Reviewer Statistics page is updated for years' end, though I can think of a couple of very prolific reviewers out there who will be shifting their numbers rapidly very soon, and we may just see a new Diamond TR or two early in the year. Please feel free to message me (occasionally please) for a specific, noteworthy accomplishment, but I'll try to revise this once every new year.:p

Trivia for those of you who are interested in such things, one reviewer added 70 reviews and right at 400 thumbs up in the last SIX MONTHS (but didn't have the lead in either of those categories :eek:)

Awesome, thanks for posting sisyphus!