I have had a lot on my mind lately and have been stretching my time to a point that sleep has not been allocated a position. Not that it matters, the insomnia during this pregnancy has been far worse than in any of my others. Naturally, idle time calls for idle thoughts.

In regards to WDC, my mind has been lingering on the subject of reviewing.

As leader of Helping Hearts I spend a lot of time on the public review page sending much deserved credits to my fantastic members for their reviews. While I am doing this, I read ALL of the reviews on the public page and I have noticed a pattern emerging.

Friends reviewing friends seem to be very gracious in their rating and reviews of these items. Only the other day I came across a glowing review, so glowing that its shimmer attracted my attention. This person (no names) spoke of the item with such favor that of course I had to click onto it and see what all of the fuss was about. Perhaps send a review of congratulations of my own for such a masterpiece.

I clicked onto the item and was completely taken aback. Now we all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone is entitled to their own opinions, this is what makes us unique but it makes me wonder: At what point does the lines of friendship blur to make way for the truth?

This particular item was in complete disarray. My 10 year old son could have done a better job. Now don't get me wrong, the topic of the item was very creative and quite interesting and it was easy to see the author had put a lot of effort into it, but the body of the item was in such a state that there was no way it could be ignored. However, the person who wrote the stunning review for the piece used terms such as 'Best read ever', 'flawless' and 'a true masterpiece' and 'work of art'. If this item had of been, say for instance a piece of pottery it would have been a big mountain of mush.

Looking through the item, I counted through the typos and discovered there were more typos than words with the correct spelling. The item (prose) had no sentence structure whatsoever, no punctuation at all not even periods to end sentences and the person constantly changed the spelling of their main character's name. This is my opinion only but if I had of reviewed the item it would not have gotten more than 2.0/2.5 maximum rating from me.

I also noticed that the friend giving the review made no mention of the errors that were clearly overtaking the item. Not one suggestion was made nor a correction offered...nothing. The person was completely ignorant in their review of the blemishes within the item.

I then began to wonder: The fact that I would have taken the time to point all of these out (in a polite and courteous way of course) so my 'friend' could improve their item, Does this make me a bad friend or a good friend?

Does vanity and pepping now have more significance than good old fashioned truth?

I have taken on the task of reviewing some of my closest friends during my time here at WDC and I have always been honest in my ratings regardless of the friendship we share. I look at it this way: I would much prefer for a friend of mine to give me a low rating and an honest review than try to stroke my ego and leave me with the embarrassment of an item that is of no value in my port. In turn, I apply this way of thinking to my own friends when I review them. We all make mistakes, no one is perfect, but shouldn't a 'good' friend strive to improve the skills of their fellow pal if they see it may be needed?

This pattern or trend that is emerging is building strength and I am seeing it more and more as I scour the pages. There are two certain people who do this between each other so often that I know before I even look, that a 5.0 star rating will be attached to the review and true to course, there always has been but it goes much further than this. It reaches a point where the review is not even a review but an account of how wonderful this person is in each and every way. This may be true, in fact I am sure it is because I also know the person I am referring to and they are an amazing individual but they are not what I would deem an 'amazing' writer. Far from it in fact. The actual technique of writing is not their strong suit but their creativity is.

So again, I ask for some clarity. Does my honesty make me a good friend or a bad friend? I would really like to know other people thoughts on this matter.

Have a good day.

Goth Angel.