We all want reviews that are as fair as possible, but in the world of YouTube and the desperate need for viewers, it seems the misappropriation of some terms is rife.
The Bible Et Al
There was a time when if you wanted to read a review of an audio product you would wait several months until the bible of audio Sound On Sound published their review. We are huge fan of their work, and of other publications like MusicTech, Sonic Scoop, Recording and other long established respected publications.
We give our own share of opinions on this website, we have a great team of reviewers who try their best to give a fair summary of anything they are asked to review. Many reviewers take this task extremely seriously, SOS Chairman Ian Gilby wrote on LinkedIn “We take our product reviews very seriously at Sound on Sound magazine. We know we can make or break products and that is a huge responsibility on the author’s shoulders and we remind them of this when they write their reviews. Criticism is fine, but it has to be justified and on the whole SOS gets the balance right.” The Experts take the same care too, we know that to create any product takes blood, sweat, and tears.
The Honest Reviewer
One day someone decided to suggest that if publishers were selling adverts then their opinions couldn’t possibly be unbiased. A somewhat simplistic way to consider the whole area of publishing. That unless someone works for free they can’t possibly be honest, or unbiased, or given some of the other YouTube review titles; “tell the truth.” To be fair, there are some unscrupulous influencers (what a noxious term) who are paid to say nice things about products on their social channels, hence perhaps the rise of ‘The Honest Review’ or ‘The Truth About X.’ However there’s at least two problems with the claim of these videos;
First, if one is expressing their opinion it is by nature subjective. A review, irrespective of who does it, is largely opinion. We are all human, so any review is seen through our own lens to one degree and another. We all strive to tell the truth and be as honest as we can. Honesty isn’t something magical that one conjures up with a YouTube title. Which leads us to the second problem with these titles of honesty and truth telling…
The titles suggest that other reviewers aren’t being honest or telling the truth. The title of these reviews suggest that those writing them in publications, or deriving income on channels, have ‘been bought.’ It’s a binary way to see the world, and to be frank insulting to those who work hard to give as honest and truthful appraisal of a product as they can.
This idea that reviewers are being bought is as old as the hills, we’ve always had one response to that claim… make us an offer.
Yes, make us an offer to write whatever you want us to say. The amount can be as much as you think is necessary to buy us. To this date not one single person has risen to this challenge, it’s a good job, no one has enough money to buy the reviewer of any decent publication, there isn’t a sum of money large enough. The minute a respected publication is compromised in this way then their reputation is damaged and they have lost the trust of their readership.
However, if you think you can buy our reviewers, then we are serious, use the contact form and make us an offer. We won’t hold our breath. And whatever sum you decide to offer, be prepared to be disappointed when we say no. We are certain you would get the same response from any of the other respected publications.
The Dishonesty Of Honest Review Titles
Finally, the biggest problem with the ‘Honest’ or ‘Truthful’ reviews on social media is they are the worst kind of cynical bullshit. The titles are created to get people to click on them, they are not made out of some kind of deeply held conviction about being honourable, they are simply done to try and get the traffic.
During research for this article it seems there has been an increased need to turn up the hype. There are now ‘VERY Honest Reviews’ and ‘Brutally Honest Reviews’… get ready for the ‘The Most Extremely Brutally Honest Review Ever’ at a YouTube channel near you soon!
So who’s being honest and truthful now? It’s hardly honest or truthful to use these words to get YouTube views, it cynicism of the worst kind.
Good Ones
There are plenty of great YouTube channels that don’t have to rely on this kind of click bait, Learn Light and Sound hosted by Curtis Judd, and Produce Like A Pro, are two such channels. And of course most of the print titles we’ve already mentioned have excellent online resources.
The point of these manipulative video titles is to get clicks, based on some idea that every reviewer is ‘on the take.’ Are there some people out there saying things because they are getting paid? Of course. But it’s far less than some would suggest and certainly not the problem that some YouTubers want to suggest.
Their idea of an honest review is anything but… now ain’t that the truth!