Facebook Developers

Yes I am experiencing the same thing...No comments too, just a 1 star review and the people aren't in my database

I removed the app, until It is sorted out.

i noticed the same thing: http://www.facebook.com/reviews/see_all … 5170866570

are they the same users?

yeah, seems that app reviews boards are now just getting loads of 1-star ratings without any comments, which is of zero value to anyone!

Also, this change has introduced a bug in that developers are also no longer able to uninstall their own apps because a javascript error prevents it happening (of course, uninstalling and re-installing is a vital part of testing!)

the javascript error i get is:

$("app_remove_review_text") is null

Omg Ffs Fix It!

Worst. Move. Ever. The last 18 reviews on one of my apps had all been 4 or 5 stars, and now I've got the first 1 star with no comment. This is really not a helpful feature for anybody.

These are some of the nastiest people I have ever encountered... seriously, I sent one a message asking why they left a one star review and if there was anything I could do to improve the application and they flipped out on me...

What exactly is the rationale behind this..?  Whose bright idea was it?

My app has 4.8 out of 5 stars based on over a year of reviews and in the last 2 days I have gotten 10 negative reviews with no comment.

Last edited by Yeldarb (2009-04-02 15:53:19)

Hello,

Thanks for all this feedback. We're taking it in and iterating with it, but for now we wanted to let you know that the goal here is to increase the number of inputs users have towards creating reviews. We are working on a number of ways to boost reviews visibility and placement, and these include points of contact that will most likely skew positively in sampling.

Brad's feedback about getting more information from users is good. We're trying to find ways to increase the quality of reviews (beyond 'this sux' or 'this rox', which might be all we'd get if comments were forced) and are interested in ways in improving the feedback loop between users and developers.

Please continue providing feedback on any of the above - it is always appreciated.

Cheers,

Matt Trainer

Facebook Platform Team wrote:

Hello,

Thanks for all this feedback. We're taking it in and iterating with it, but for now we wanted to let you know that the goal here is to increase the number of inputs users have towards creating reviews. We are working on a number of ways to boost reviews visibility and placement, and these include points of contact that will most likely skew positively in sampling.

Brad's feedback about getting more information from users is good. We're trying to find ways to increase the quality of reviews (beyond 'this sux' or 'this rox', which might be all we'd get if comments were forced) and are interested in ways in improving the feedback loop between users and developers.

Please continue providing feedback on any of the above - it is always appreciated.

Cheers,

Matt Trainer

Hi Matt,

I only hope this is another april fools joke. Asking people to rate apps on uninstall is  UTTERLY WRONG. It's no coincidence that some of the best-rated apps got only 1-star reviews. Think about what you are doing twice. Do you, in your right mind, believe that someone who removes an app would EVER post a positive review? The only way you can balance this is to automatically post a 5-star rating for every user that joins the app.

It's like reviewing the best restaurant in town by using the feedback forms thrown in the complaints box.

Want more visibility? Add a 'review this app' link in the footer so that users can easily find it. I personally chose to display a link to review the app to a random number of users every now and then, and i managed to get the most comprehensive reviews this way (>2 sentences, no 'add me' links). I worked hard to maintain this level and i also know many other apps that do so (in contrast to some top 20 apps that don't mind getting an average of 2 stars reviews). Plus I have got a relatively high number of reviews this way. That's all we need to do. Please let us take care of it and get rid of this newfound travesty.

Your reviews apps has lots of room for improvement in other directions:
- You might choose a random sample of users and explicitly ask them to review the app at some point when they 're using the app - like an interstitial ad.
- You might add some categories (engaging, usability, design, even spammines)
- You might want to fix obvious oversights in your reviews app: I am able to review apps that i have never ever used (visited the canvas page)
- Do not display all reviews in the about page, or display a random sample or an aggregate. The reason is to stop these 'Add me' reviews.


I have removed the reviews app so i hope the review-on-remove system does not work now on my app. I am not reinstalling the app until you change your mind. Please avoid making drastic changes to the platform when you're drunk.

thanks

Last edited by zerostar07 (2009-04-02 18:36:31)

Collin1000 wrote:

Hey Collin, thanks for sharing my enragement. I 'm pretty confident it was alcohol or drugs, though, that brought these stupid changes. I like your metaphor, but i also love my application of the Godwin's law   Keep the spirits up, we will fight until the end!

zerostar07 wrote:

Collin1000 wrote:

Hey Collin, thanks for sharing my enragement. I 'm pretty confident it was alcohol or drugs, though, that brought these stupid changes. I like your metaphor, but i also love my application of the Godwin's law   Keep the spirits up, we will fight until the end!

On top of it all, I think the evident bug in the showing of apostrophe marks should prove how drunk they were at the time, and how little effort or testing they put into the changes that they just magically roll out.

Facebook Platform Team wrote:

We are working on a number of ways to boost reviews visibility and placement, and these include points of contact that will most likely skew positively in sampling.

Wouldn't it then make sense to release those at the same time the negative review boosting points of contact are introduced? Just sayin'...

This update really doesn't show much respect to developers.   

"Brad's feedback about getting more information from users is good. We're trying to find ways to increase the quality of reviews (beyond 'this sux' or 'this rox', which might be all we'd get if comments were forced)"

This update has made the quality of reviews worse.  Now, we get reviews without any text. 

"and are interested in ways in improving the feedback loop between users and developers."

How do blank reviews give us any feedback? We already know how many uninstalls we have. 

The incentive to review before this change was balanced: you review if you love it or hate it.  I'm really not sure why you think Facebook is responsible for improving the feedback loop?  If developers want more feedback, we can get it ourselves.

Obviously this move isn't for the benefit of developers, so more transparency would be greatly appreciated.