Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2014

Motivating Quality: The Impact of Amateur Editors’ Suggestions on User-Generated Content at Epinions.com

Jo Mackiewicz Iowa State University

Abstract

This study examines the type of edit that amateur editors called Advisors used in their comments on Epinions.com product reviews and the extent to which their editing-related comments might have motivated reviewers to revise and update their reviews. Advisors made substantive-type suggestions most frequently, but for the most part, reviews that received editing-related comments were not updated more often than were those with nonediting-related comments. Unlike professional editors, Advisors lack gatekeeping control that compels writers to revise their work, but as companies recognize the value of quality user-generated content, they may use amateur editors more often, perhaps in conjunction with professional technical editors.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2014-10-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651914535930
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Topics
editorial matter
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

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    “Hey, Such-and-Such on the Internet Has Suggested …”: How to Create Content Mod…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Lam et al. (2019)
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    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Pflugfelder (2017)
    Reddit’s “Explain Like I’m Five”: Technical Descriptions in the Wild
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Thominet (2016)
    10/10 Would Review Again: Variation in the Player Game Review Genre
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Mackiewicz et al. (2016)
    The Impact of Review Environment on Review Credibility
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

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