User submitted content is one of the defining features of our new "2.0" world wide web. Sites that depend entirely on content produced by its visitors are being acquired every day and no frequent user of the Internet could have failed to hear about sites such as MySpace, Digg and YouTube. But user submitted content is of varying quality, especially when it expresses an evaluation of something, such as a review or a blog entry. It has become more important than ever to be able to tell quacks from the real doctors.

In the new era of the Internet, every user is a potential source of not just money, but content! Kids shoot stunts in their backyards and upload the clips for the world to see. People also get to express their opinion on a number of matters, through reviews or in their blogs.

It is somewhat amusing to see 17 year olds write blogs about topics as if they have PhD in a relevant scientific field. Every kid who does web design is suddently into "usability", "accessibility" and throws around the word "semantic", a term earlier reserved for us who study linguistics. It is after all a good thing that dry academic knowledge enters the real world and finds an application and appreciation in the hearts of the pre-academic generation but at the same time there's a risk of over-simplification when everyone is expected to write his blog as if he were an expert. It is okay to say, "I don't know that much, but I know this, but please correct me if I'm wrong", it is the kind of attitude that makes for good scientific discourse and fruitful research. However it seems it is not okay in real life where you should be sure, and if you aren't you should pretend to be sure. It leads to a bad form of popularization, where intricacies are lost and only the superficial and simple are left.

That people can't remain critical to their own views and (lack of) experience can be a problem if the reader can't tell it either. In a blog entry on TechRepublic, blogger "The Trivia Geek" posted some examples of bad user reviews, and it is fun reading. It shows clearly why some people are good at some things and others aren't. It is a good illustration of why studying things makes a difference and why everyone's opinion is essentially rooted in his or her experience. Every view counts but every view may not be equally informative or useful to every person at any time.

When you write, consider your audience and spend some time thinking about whether you have something worth saying that may be relevant or useful to them and don't miss the user reviews that totally missed the point! 

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