Straight from the Heart - Part III. Review on Mouthshut

Honestly, mskmsk100 (thats me), was addicted to only two things. Firstly music (that inseparable part of me) and then coffee(I mean, that south Indian filter coffee) until mouthshut came into my life. Now mouthshut has become a part of my life. Just like I breathe, eat and watch cricket to keep myself alive, spending time in MS has also joined the list. Yes, MS (read ''Home'') has given me, to say the least, an experience that I wouldn't have even dreamt of gaining at 19 years of age. Firstly, the knowledge I am gaining day in day out and secondly, the friends I make out here. It gives me all the more reasons as to why I should love my MS. So, cherishing my every single moment out here, I am here to review the website itself. It gives me immense pleasure and great joy to put down my thoughts on Mouthshut.com

Being the concluding part of my Straight from the heart series, I would like to wish one and all a very

happy and memorable Christmas and I promise to be unbiased and write out everything frankly in this review. So, I whole heartedly dedicate this review to my dear brothers and sisters of MS. Now please read on.

The Website: Being India's one and only consumer opinion portal, Mouthshut.com emerges as an interface between the consumer and a given product. Basically, it is an opinion site. Based in Mumbai (India's commercial capital), this site has the perfect setting to provide vital information about products as to what are hot and what are not. But what makes it all the more interesting is that it involves the concept of ''By the people, for the people''. Yes, it is the consumer who raises his /her opinion about a given product. Say someone has a particular bike and has gained enough experience with it. He need not necessarily own it though. By this time he would have judged the bike. Now when he puts down his thoughts on this bike and another consumer who intends to buy this bike reads this opinion, he would get a fair idea as to how good or bad the product is. So by going through some varied opinions, from an Indian perspective, he can come into a conclusion. The important point to note here is

that he is judging the product on the basis of another

consumer's opinion (which in usual circumstances are supposed to be true) and not by a flabbergasting add given by an Indian superstar. Thus comes into picture, the phrase, ''...Your opinions matter!'' For a consumer's opinion helps a fellow consumer to decide on a product and judge it better.

The design: I am impressed. As the site props up, it comes with a header where it indicates that there is no job for the talking mouth out here. Humorous enough indeed. The main page contains the latest highly and lowly ranked opinions of products followed by 5 latest reviews which include the above. I think the rest is obvious. Even the review pages prove to be an easy guide for any net novice. The design is very much user friendly and that is exactly why it has clicked. To sum it up, this site is

colourful, user friendly, quick and responsive.

Is that all?: If this site was just about product reviews and nothing else, I really wonder if it would have survived for so long. Yes, this site goes way beyond being just another consumer site. the categories out here is overwhelming. It not only provides a platform for a consumer to raise his/her opinion on a product but also gives the member an opportunity to write about himself/herself in the profile page, build a trust list and make a lot of friends. Coming to the categories, I don't see any of the other 3 consumer portals giving leisure categories like ''My ten least favourite foods'' and so on. More so there are quite a few debatable topics out here. Thus mouthshut emerges as an opinion expression site

rather than being a product review site. This is what

has made MS click. Hence MS rocks big time.

Some Suggestions: Although the website is exciting and heartening, there is always a scope for improvement. Here are some of my suggestions which I humbly feel will be for the betterment of the site.

1. Member News section needs a serious look

in. I see that very rarely a member puts up something up there. I have an idea for that. Lets make the member news section a moving thing like the news flash in ndtv.com This will give the visitor an idea about some member news and definitely some would be tempted to read it. More so Direct posting of messages should be allowed for all Eligible members (I'll come to explain about Eligible members later). This will in turn make the News section more exciting and interactive.

1. Bifurcation is the need of the hour. In all probability, out of the 35 reviews available at a time, 10-15 would be genuinely acceptable. The others would just be opinions than a review. So reviews should be bifurcated and very good reviews or say reviews that are worth a HR should be put in the Elite Review category. Now the normal section would also be there along with this. Also after every week, some of the best reviews of the week should be buffered up in the Hot reviews section and this should be displayed for the whole of next week. I think this will

minimize the chances of missing a good review.

1. When I speak of Elite members, I don't

necessarily mean Star Writers or so. I mean members who have come up with some meaningful reviews and are active in more ways than one out here. Even a new member can get into this category with just one review if he proves to be good and if he happens to care to read and rate other's opinions. I think the site makers should work out the equation.

1. A section called Member Meet can be

arranged. This would be a chat module and would work on a particular fixed day in a week, say Sunday. On this day, all the online MS members can chat with each other via this section and that would help the interactiveness a lot. In a way, it would increase the bond between fellow members. Sounds good, doesn't it.

1. Finally to facilitate the common reader we have to have a genuine product review section. This would be a collection of top class product reviews which would come under a separate section with a hyper search. This would enable the info-seeker to get quick access to genuine opinions and decide on the products. Also, this would provide a platform to praise the good and blast the bad, I mean the product companies.

Concluding the review, I would only like to say that MS is the most happening place for me online and I cherish my every single moment out here. Nothing in this material world comes without a flaw and MS is no exception. Although MS has its own drawbacks and flaws, the goodness of the site nullify them and that is exactly why I love it passionately. And of course there is always a scope for improvement. Now that MS is going through this major re-design thing, I hope Alls well that ends well. Wishing lots of luck and loads of wishes to ''my MS'' I would happily like to conclude the final part of my Straight from the Heart reviews.