1

1. Critical context
Criticism and reviews – how reviews are integral to
modern life.
By jamescooper-abel18/11/2020
Reviews are vital in decision making for people in the modern day as most people will
look at a review of a product, hotel, or person before either buying, staying, or going
to or hiring someone.
“Reviews can be important for organisations in terms of promoting a
performance or say grant applications which are increasingly important in
today’s economic climate.” (Maxim Boon 6 May 2016) within this essay I am going
to look at how reviews started and how they have changed over the years, how
reviewers set their reviews out, but also how they relate to the media theories of uses
and gratifications model and two-step model .in order to do this I will first explore the
history of reviews from the beginning to today discussing changes that have
happened over the years, then move onto looking at some reviewers and how they
set out their reviews of different products from toy reviewers to film and video game
reviewers to understand how a genre of a product can affect how a review is set out
but also discussing how they fit into the media theories, then finally discuss why
consumers will turn to and take in the opinions of what to them would absolute
stranger about whether a product they plan on purchasing is a good purchase
decision or to save their money on something else
“Reviews not only have the power to influence consumer decisions but can
strengthen a company’s credibility. Reviews have the power to gain customer
trust, and they encourage people to interact with the company. Customer
interaction ultimately leads to improved profits for businesses.” (Jill Anderson
Nov 27, 2018)
And most reviews you find can be found online done by consumer who have bought a
product from a company and give their opinion on whether it is positive or negative
as, Consumers aren’t restricted online and can share their experiences as they
want to. They are free to say truthfully what they thought about the product and
what they believe is essential for others to know before making a buying
decision.
So, throughout this essay I will look at the importance of reviews mainly online
reviews and why people will turn to absolute strangers by first looking at how the
medium of online reviews started, then look at present online reviewers and how they
set their reviews out and finally look at what makes a reviewer so appealing to their
audience to said audience is willing to put their trust in those reviewers.
Where it all began

2. Before online reviews became the main medium for reviews of product it first started
in the early 1900s with the start of the film industry as many used reviewing as a way
to break into film related jobs such as screen writers or a director “something that
hasn’t really changed over the last century, as it is just as prevalent now for
film school students to blog about their career exploits and cinematic musings
online in order to increase their chances of being noticed.” (Superadmin May
14, 2014),
and by the 1930s when film was becoming mainstream many reviews were journalist
diverted from other sections of the newspaper until there were dedicated movie
journalist like Otis Ferguson and James Agee that would review movies and wright
their opinions on the movies in the newspaper in which when television become
more mainstreams reviewers like Siskel and Ebert’s would take the reviewer spot
light with their show Siskel and Ebert’s show At the Movies in which the two would
watch a movie and tell viewers of their show about the movies they watched and
their thought on it until,
The medium of online reviews first began in 1999 which would change they the way
reviews were made with the creation of the websites RateItAll.com, Deja.com,
Epinions.com which “set in motion a social trend called “online reviews” that
influences nearly every type of consumer purchase today including choosing
a doctor.” (EMPATHIQ may 22 2015) which would allow regular people to give their
opinions on products, movies or people and by the year 2000 all three websites
accumulated over around 1,146,201 individual reviews up until around 2004 in which
the website RateMDs.com was created which focused primarily on reviewing doctors
in which it had around 320 rating in it dictionary but by 2007 that number had risen to
534,999 ratings.
It was also during 2004 that one man would change the way reviews were presented
forever by the name of james Rolfe or his alias or character the angry video game
nerd who would start the angry Nintendo nerd which would later change to angry
video game nerd to avoid copyright with the company Nintendo,
in which at the suggestion of a longtime friend to post videos which he had first made
to be joke between him and his friends would post the video he made of himself as
his character doing comedic reviews of poorly made video games,
were instead of focusing mainly informing his audience about the game he reviewed
rather he focused more on the comedy of his reviews which involved foul mouth
comedic commentary and skits of the poorly made video game he reviewed in which
he would post the video on his own website and the eventually emerging streaming
platform youtube,

3. in which it would gain a cult following as many trusted him as he was “just quite
simply a gamer he was the one who introduced me and I think many of us to
the world of online video as a medium for game discussion and comedy”
(Matthew Patrick dec 14 2013),
or to put it simply “he was a pioneer of the field” (Matthew Patrick dec 14 2013)
of game reviews bringing the genre into the medium review circle and inspiring
others to do their own comedic review series on their favorite mediums with their
own styles,
which has affected who people will go to for reviews as nowadays people look more
towards regular people reviewers like jangbricks for Lego, Chris stuckman for movies
and some call me johnny for more modern video game releases as their opinions
feel more honest and true than someone who is paid by a company to reviews
something.
And with the rising popularity of YouTube and online reviews one medium of review
became very popular and that was unboxing videos in which a reviewer would take a
product out of it packaging and would show it to their audience in which they will use
the product or play with depending if it’s a toy or not to see if it fulfills it purpose and
is worth others buying with two generational groups those being millennials and
generation z relying on these types of online reviews to decide whether or not a
product is worth buying or not,
this shows the effect of online reviews have had on consumers as now two
generation rely more on online reviews done by regular people than someone payed
to review a product as “The level of trust is higher, even if the creator is
affiliated with the brand in some way, than hearing the same review or
unboxing from the brand itself.” (Sponsokit Mar 9, 2018).
Reviewers today
As discussed in subheading one YouTube has become the main media platform for
product reviews as it is easy to find a review of a product you intend to purchase but
want an opinion to see if it’s worth buying or not by simply typing in the search bar
the product you are looking a review for and the website will show you a multitude of
video made by many creators who would be considered in the context of media
theory of two-step model, could be considered opinion leaders who are active media
consumer who seek out and consume media products and the share their opinions
with less media active consumers who are their audience their opinion on what
media they have consumed, with their own unique different styles of reviewing a
product, one of these channels being Jan bricks which has been around since 2010
in which it is a Lego review channel which focuses on reviewing Lego sets released
by the Lego group over the years from star wars to Lego city in which the video are
set out in a formal format in which jang will go over a brief overview of the set the
going into detail about the set showing off how it works and how it’s meant to be
played with then going over what he liked and disliked and what could’ve been
improved if the set is worth the price it is being sold at as he describes his channel
and himself as “I'm a genuine adult fan of collectibles, I enjoy what I do, and I
care about providing a clean, safe environment for viewers & fans while
delivering fair, balanced information and entertainment.” (Jangbricks Jun 26

4. 2010), and this reviewer has quite the influence on consumers as currently his
subscriber count being 1.25 million meaning one million and a quarter people look to
this reviewer to see if Lego product are worth purchasing or not meaning, he is quite
the popular opinion leader who will seek out and buy toys then share his opinion with
his audience of said toy through the media format of video.
another unique reviewer that we can look at is Chris stuckmann who is a movie
reviewer in which his format is a quick and simple 5 minute review of a movie he
watched in which he discusses his opinions of the movie in more of a way friend
would tell a friend about a movie without ruining the plot of the movie if that person
wants to go see that movie for themselves in which he discusses what he like about
the movies what he felt could have been improved on and whether or not it is worth
watching or not and the way this reviewers describes himself as “Lover of film,
published author, certified on Rotten Tomatoes.” (Chris Stuckmann) and this
reviewer has quite the influence on consumers as his subscriber count has 1.84
million subscriber’s meaning nearly two million people watch his videos to see
whether it is worth buying a ticket to see it in theatre’s or buy it on DVD or not watch
it at all and save their money, showing again that this reviewer is quite the popular
opinion leader who will seek out media products such as film and then share his
opinion on the film with his audience through the media format of video
A third unique reviewer we can look at is somecallme johnny who is a video game
reviewer who video run time is for his video can vary depending on the video game
he’s reviewing and his video format Is very laid back and comedic in which he
discusses the basic of the game from its plot to its game play and how it feels whilst
cutting back and forth between him and footage of the game being played and the
way he talks to his viewers is the equivalent of and friend talking to a friend about a
game they’ve played and the way he describes himself “Pretty laid back individual
who enjoys a good cup of coffee, long walks on the beach--oh and review
games old and new. That last one is what I'm really here for, but sometimes I
also like to dabble in livestreams, podcasts and cartoons if I have the time for
it. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the show.” (Johnny Mar 5 2008) with the
influence he has on consumers being smaller than the other reviewers we have
looked at but still a respectable amount of influence on consumer with his subscriber
count being 389k meaning nearly half a million consumers go to this channel to see
if a game is worth buying and playing or not, which shows us that this reviewer is can
still be considered an opinion leader as, he will actively seek out the media of video
game and play them then discusses his opinions of the game he has played with his
audience through the media format of video.
with this we see a common pattern as each reviewer we have looked at can all be
considered opinion leaders even if some have bigger audiences than others as they
follow the rules of the two-step model as they all seek out and consume or purchase
a product made by a company then they will share their opinions of said product with
their audience, to which then their audience can decide whether to fully follow the
opinion of said opinion leader or reviewer on whether to purchase a product or not or
to take that opinion into consideration in their purchase decision, so “online reviews

5. are integral part of the shopping experience. Consumers are regularly using
them to help make decisions” (Laurie Fullerton mar 27 2017) as many in society
are less active media consumers so they look to online reviewer or opinion leaders
who are active media consumers to see if a product they have seen will be a good
purchase decision or investment, so if we were to use an example say you saw and
advertisement for a video game showing all the fun things you could do in the game
that are meant to convince you into buying the game however that advertisement
doesn’t speak to the quality of the game itself as for all you know when you play the
game it could be glitched out and buggy or you may find the story or game play to be
lacklustre and boring ruining your playing experience, and meaning you’ve wasted
perfectly good money you won’t get back that you could have used on a better
developed or made without all the bug and glitches or with a better and compelling
story with fun game play so you will seek out an opinion leader who has already
consumed that piece of media and will tell you whether that game is worth buying
and is a good purchase decision or not, so if they say it is a good purchase decision
you go out and buy that game and enjoy the experience you have been told is worth
buying and if it isn’t then you don’t buy the game and repeat the process until you
find one that the opinion leader says is, as “We’re more likely to make a purchase
if others around us—even total strangers—agree that it is a good decision”
(Smith Willas mar 6 2020) which in itself shows how much influence online reviews
even youtubers have on consumer and their purchase decisions as we want to make
the right choices and not one well regret later.
Why do we look to strangers to see if our decisions are
a good one?
We have looked at how influential reviewers are as people look to reviewers for
confirmation that a product, they want to purchase is a good purchase decision, but
we also need to understand why exactly why people today put their faith in what
could be considered absolute strangers to decide whether buying a product is a
good purchase decision through their opinions. To answer this, we can look to the
media theory of uses and gratification which is a theory to help understand why
consumer actively seek out pieces of media to fulfil certain needs they have as for
example social groups such as adolescents use Facebook to fulfil their need for
“socializing and communicating with their friends, discussing school
activities, setting up meetings and dates with friends as well as obtaining
information about social events.” (Ivan Tanta June 6, 2014)
This media theory can also be applied to reviewers and explain why people trust
them with informing them whether purchasing a specific product is a good purchase
decision as for example if we are to look at the reviewers foice who is a game
reviewer with an audience count of 3.39k, the reason people may turn to this
reviewer and trust his opinion is because his channel and his reviews fulfill their
needs for information on the games he is reviewing such as is the game good is it
game play fun and intriguing to keep player invested as consumers today “wants to
acquire information, knowledge and understanding” (revisionworld April 26,
2014) especially today as video game can look promising but sometimes they can be

6. found to have a lacklustre story and gameplay with ton of bugs the developers
missed or didn’t bother or had time to fix before shipping, examples being cyber
punk 2077 and fallout 76 games found to have either way to many bug and glitches
found inside of them or having lacklustre gameplay or story as Forbes wrote a list of
reason why fallout 76 was so bas as “It's just so boring.”( Erik Kain December 5
2018) and “plagued by performance issues. A whole suite of bugs, glitches and
other issues bog the game down” ( Erik Kain December 5 2018) so consumer
specifically gamers don’t want to waste money on game that won’t be fun to play or
are completely unplayable so they will turn to reviewers like focie who can help them
to make the right purchase decision on what games to buy as he’s informing people
about the games he would have played meaning he would have first-hand
experience with those games so he can let other know what they can expect if they
pick up and buy the game he is reviewing which can be another example as to why
people would trust a stranger like focie to inform them on whether a product is good
enough as we tend to trust people who have had experience with something before.
Another reviewer we can look to understand why consumers would turn to people
they don’t really know to see if the purchase decisions are a good one is the
reviewer halo cannon who focuses his reviews around product relating to the halo
franchise as his audience count comes to 181k, the reason people may turn to this
reviewer and trust his opinion is because In the context of uses and gratification is
his channel and reviews fit with his audiences personal identity as many who watch
his video are fans of the halo franchise who are very passionate about said
franchise, and his reviews “reflect similar values to themselves and mimic or
copy some of their characteristics.” (revisionworld April 26, 2014) as for
example his opinions on products can reflect his audience’s opinion on a product as
well, as for example when he was reviewing the comic book series halo escalation
one of the issues resulted in the unceremoniously killing off of fan favorite characters
know as black team who had been reintroduced into the franchise in this comic
series after a long hiatus, to which he went on an angry rant about why it was a bad
or stupid idea to reintroduce and then kill of said characters which many in his
audience would have done or agree with as well, which show us why people who
know nothing about this reviewer would go to his channel and trust his opinions is
because his opinion usually line up with theirs like he is one of them like a fellow fan
which he is as his channel entire theme is to do with the halo franchise which make
halo cannon “relatable” (the guaridian Febuary 3 2016) to fellow halo fans, so we
tend to associate with people who may share our interest and opinions as they feel
like people we can trust and turn to when we need help with something like a friend
we turn to for advice.
A final reviewer we can look to understand why consumers turn to people they do
not know to see if the product they are purchasing are a good a purchase decision is
the reviewer peanutbuttergamer as his audience count is 2.05 million, and the
reason this many people may turn to this reviewer and his opinions is In the context
of uses and gratification is that his channel and his reviews provide entertainment as

7. many who watch his reviews which are mainly focused on comedy “for
enjoyment.”( revisionworld April 26, 2014) but he still follows what a reviewer is
supposed to do and talk about the product he is reviewing and what he liked and
disliked about it and whether it is a good purchase decision or not, he just leans
more toward entertaining than informing as his review consist of comedic sketches of
him doing something silly like him dressing up as Mario and link and having them
shoot at each other or making a joke about the game with him screwing up a simple
and easy to do task but still being honest and straight with his audience about the
game and whether they should pick it up and play it, this show us why people who
know nothing about this reviewer would go to his channel and trust his opinion is
because his video provide entertainment with his comedy skits for anyone who’s
bored and wants to watch something with a “sense of humour” (the guaridian
Febuary 3 2016) but can still be informative with his review of the game he is looking
at to help them find more entertainment worth their time which can help build a trust
he has with his audience as we tend to trust those who can make us laugh with their
jokes and silliness to make our day just a bit better not lie and misinform us.
Altogether we have seen each reviewer we have looked at has an aspect of their
reviews which would fulfil their audiences needs from the perspective of the media
theory of uses and gratification and why people would trust these stranger in
informing them whether a purchase decision was the right one or not however their
reviews don’t just fill one aspect the all share each other aspects as well as halo
canon and peanut butter gamer fulfil their audience need for information with halo
cannon and peanut butter gamer informing their audiences about the product they
are reviewing and if they’re a good purchase decision, focie and halo cannon fulfils
their audience need for entertainment with their own skits and joke and finally peanut
focie and peanutbuttergame fulfil their audience need for personal identity as their
opinion line up with their audiences opinions as well on certain product they review,
however there is one other aspect of reviewer that would answer why people would
trust these absolute strangers to tell them if a product is a good purchase decision
and that is they’re “just like us” (the guaridian Febuary 3 2016) as they don’t
have some fancy set to record on like Siskel and Ebert’s with a crew to edit their
show together into one cohesive review they’re just regular people with only a
camera, a microphone, some editing software and their own opinions and creativity
that they share with the world, which makes them relatable so we trust them like we
would with a main character in a story as the writer aims to make the character feel
like us so we care about them and want to follow their story just like how we can
relate to reviewers and trusting them with their opinions on whether a product is a
good purchase decision or not as we tend to trust those who we can relate with.
Conclusion
In conclusion what we have seen throughout this essay is the effect reviews have
had on audiences as a whole as we saw when reviews began they were used more
as a way to easily get into film related jobs which is “just as prevalent now for film
school students to blog about their career exploits and cinematic musings
online in order to increase their chances of being noticed.”( superadmin May

8. 14, 2014) however as the medium became more mainstream where journalist where
pulled from other sections of the newspaper to movie reviews until there were
dedicated journalist who would review films and write their opinion on the movie in
the paper for their readers to see which today is still prevalent as many journalist
websites do movie reviews and other media reviews in written, form however with
the increasing prevalence of television show like Siskel and Ebert’s at the movies
“brought criticism into the living rooms” (Superadmin May 14, 2014) until
around 2004 where websites such as RateItAll.com, Deja.com, Epinions.com
allowed regular people to leave their own personal reviews on product people and
places until the website YouTube would become the most relevant platform for
people to find reviews for products, to which we see the effect reviews have on
audiences as when newer platforms for reviews to be found were made people
flocked to them allowing those platform to reach a high status of relevance in society.
YouTube also became a platform for regular people to become reviewers them-
selves as certain people in the reviewing scene of YouTube became more famous
and gained a substantially large audience becoming what’s known as an opinion
leader who seek out and consume media “and gives details and information to
lesser active persons in the group” (communicationtheory january 25, 2012) or
their audience who will listen to the opinion leader on whether a certain product, they
have reviewed is a good purchase decision or not, to which again we see the effect
reviews have on audiences as when they want to know if a product is a good
purchase decision or not they will turn to an opinion leader to see if it is.
However there still lied the question as to why people would trust people who are
basically absolute strangers, in helping them decide whether buying a product is a
good purchase decision or not, but it was found that the reason why people trust
reviewers who are basically stranger is because the reviewers fulfil an audience’s
specific needs such as providing entertainment and information or fitting the social
identity of their audiences who seek those reviewer who can fulfil those needs, here
we see the effect reviews have on an audience as if it fulfils a specific need of theirs
they will actively seek it out.
So, reviews have an extensive effect on an audience as they look for reviews done
by opinion leader who’s reviews fulfil their specific needs such as informing the
audience about a product or entertaining them or sharing likeminded opinions on a
brand of products.
bibleography
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