{"id":832,"date":"2014-05-25T18:59:56","date_gmt":"2014-05-25T16:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/?p=832"},"modified":"2014-05-25T18:59:56","modified_gmt":"2014-05-25T16:59:56","slug":"reviewing-for-free-considerations-on-free-time-and-social-networking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/2014\/05\/25\/reviewing-for-free-considerations-on-free-time-and-social-networking\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEWING (FOR FREE): CONSIDERATIONS ON FREE TIME AND SOCIAL NETWORKING <\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember asking a few years ago a well-published Spanish writer \u2013I was going to say \u2018professional\u2019 but she actually works as a lecturer\u2013 whether she ran a blog of her own. Elia Barcel\u00f3, that was the author in question, answered she\u2019d rather not write without getting paid (though I see she relented, at least for a while).<\/p>\n

I often think of her words. When I wonder whether what I do by writing this blog is professional or personal (both, I think) and when I wonder how much spare time people have, seeing they offer countless reviews online\u2026 for free. I keep this blog, to be honest, for reasons of mental hygiene \u2013I\u2019m not enrolled in any gym (I did practice yoga for four years but this seems to be over), yet I have turned out to be quite disciplined when it comes to forcing my neurones to take periodical exercise. Every four days ideally, at least once a week. Um, sounds like something else!!<\/p>\n

Writing is always a pleasure but, as happens with any kind of sport, it is also a chore. I recall my Spanish Literature teacher in the last year at secondary school, the wonderful and demanding Sara Freijido, claiming that intellectual work is also physically tiring, something that for me, a blue-collar worker\u2019s daughter, was short of anathema\u2026 (imagine for my father!) So, like people who run marathons, I love writing but I have to force myself to do it. In a way the blog also exists to discipline me into curbing down the temptation to procrastinate (I find that I write faster but it still takes me forever to start academic articles). I recommend it\u2026<\/p>\n

All this comes from two main nagging ideas. One is my students\u2019 class presentations and comments on fan fiction; the other is my having read a very good review on Amazon.com (of Richard Morgan\u2019s SF novel Altered Carbon<\/em>). Both ideas share this basic wonder or curiosity: how come people use their spare time for writing and for reviewing\u2026 just for the sake of it?<\/p>\n

Possibly, this is because I don\u2019t understand very well the idea of free time. My main hobby has always been reading and, thus, whenever I have free time you\u2019ll find me with a book in my hands \u2013which often becomes part of my professional pursuits. I use my \u2018real\u2019 free time for other matters such as seeing friends, going to exhibitions, theatre, concerts, etc\u2026 Yet, I don\u2019t do activities in my spare time that result in \u2018products\u2019, from, I don\u2019t know, a dress to\u2026 fan fiction or a review (this is why I think the blog is work, not leisure). It baffles me absolutely when I see people \u2018produce\u2019 something in their spare time, from muffins to\u2026 fan fiction or a review. It\u2019s so\u2026 Victorian!!<\/p>\n

I read very often IMDB and Amazon reviews written by people with time in their hands and a wish to enlighten the world. I keep a list of films watched on IMDB, and in this way I force myself to go through the titles I have seen more or less every month. It\u2019s good to fix their imprint or lack thereof in my memory. IMDB offers the possibility of rating each film and also of writing reviews \u2013I rate all the films I see but I never write reviews, particularly when I see hundreds of people have already contributed. If I write at all, it\u2019s only about very little known Spanish and Catalan films that deserve much more attention (or documentaries). I must have written about 6 reviews in total, out of a list recording more than 3,000 films watched.<\/p>\n

I find that reviews should be limited to a couple of paragraphs, as people tend to write overlong pieces \u2013yet, this ads to my bafflement about why they use so much energy in reviewing. Is it a didactic instinct or is it narcissism? I know that there are lists of \u2018top reviewers\u2019, people who have written literally hundreds of reviews, or more\u2026 Same with Amazon. Whenever I read a book, I check the most valuable negative review (I never find the most positive ones really trustworthy) and I marvel at how widespread the ability to offer good criticism is. Reviewing is a very hard exercise and when I read a good piece over 500 words long I know that the author has possibly employed a couple of hours of his\/her time for my benefit and anyone else\u2019s. That\u2019s, well, very nice.<\/p>\n

I wonder what\u2019s happened to professional critics since the mid 1990s when everyone started publishing opinions online. I\u2019m well aware that may have managed to retain their authority since cultural consumers still make a distinction between the professional with a unique individual voice, and the amateur on the social network \u2013who remembers their names? I\u2019m also well aware that the reviewing realms I visit are heavily biased: to begin with, they\u2019re in English; second, there\u2019s always the suspicion that the enthusiastic reviewers that push totally forgettable books and films to the heights of hype are on someone\u2019s payroll. Still, they\u2019re there, making and breaking reputations.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this works not so much because we want guidance, or sharing opinion, but because we\u2019re lazy. I had already read Altered Carbon<\/em> years ago and dismissed it to the point that I gave the copy away. A variety of circumstances led me to think I had undervalued, perhaps, this novel, so I returned to it. Once I decided I wasn\u2019t going to include it in the course on SF I\u2019m planning for 2015-16, I just got too lazy to think it through and pin down the reasons for my dislike. So, I checked that Amazon review and, well, that<\/em> guy got it so right\u2026 His effort freed me to employ my neurones in writing this post. Some irony there.<\/p>\n

One thing I can tell for sure: hardly any film with less than a 7 on IMDB is worth watching\u2026 This would be 3\u20195 stars for books on Amazon. And in a world with so much to read and see this is very valuable information. Isn\u2019t it wonderful that this comes out of so many people, so much free time?<\/p>\n

Comments are very welcome! (Thanks!) Just remember that I check them first for spam; it might take a few days for yours to be available. VISIT MY WEB: http:\/\/gent.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/<\/a>
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I remember asking a few years ago a well-published Spanish writer \u2013I was going to say \u2018professional\u2019 but she actually works as a lecturer\u2013 whether she ran a blog of her own. Elia Barcel\u00f3, that was the author in question, answered she\u2019d rather not write without getting paid (though I see she relented, at least […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}