Review of a blog
In search of an interesting blog to review on, I have finally decided on this blog, http://www.princesscindyrina.com/2014/09/cliv-revitalizing-c-i2pl-corrector.html.
A blogger who hails from Malaysia under the moniker Cindyrina Rina, I find her entertaining in her own ways.
Instead of critiquing as a blog specialist, who I am not, I shall appraise this as a plain blog reader, from a blog reader’s point of view.
I am neither a friend nor a fan of this blogger, so please pardon me for my ‘not-so-supportive’ comments, if any.
On the first impression, the blog is not outstanding on all aspects.
However, let me start with a positive note. I would like to commend her on the logo design, which I find quite tasteful.
The moment the page displays, readers are bombarded with tons of advertisements. Advertisements of cars, hotels, mobile network provider, fashion, food and anything you name it, you got it.
It is not uncommon to find advertisements on blog spots, as apparently this is how bloggers profit from blogging, however I find the amount of advertisements overwhelming, to the extent I have almost mistaken it as an advertisement spot instead of a blog spot. No kidding.
The first line of the page reads “I am a Malaysian blogger. I writes….” wait a minute, did it say “I writes..”? Yes it did. Okay, maybe just a typo error. Forgiven.
As I move down, more of “I writes..”. All right, grammatical misapprehension confirmed.
Reading on, it reads (quote), “You know our skin could be effected by being under the skin too long or exposed to air conditioning or our body toxic released!”….
“This intensive brightening ampoule contains Tomato Callus Culture extracts for dulls and lifeless skin.”(unquote)
Damn.
It is evident that blogger is not proficient in the language she is blogging in, which seems to be an acceptable trend these days in Malaysia but not necessarily tolerable to all.
The choice of fonts needs improvement, as her ‘words’ are engulfed by everything else around it. I would suggest bigger and catchier fonts, as after all her blog is the main of the page.
Praiseworthy are the visuals. Fortunate for the product sponsor, the picture of the product is clearly shown and the company name distinctly mentioned.
Nevertheless, I believe the selfies of the blogger are meant to be the highlight of the blog and they sure caught my attention.
They are hilarious!!
And the captions are absolutely cracked!!
“Toink! Toink! my bouncy skin…
“Huh! Lier!!! So fast ar the effect???”
I had a good ROFL (Rolling on Floor Laughing) moment. Speaking of self confidence and endless spelling errors..!!
Fine, let me put my rose-colored glasses back on. Well, at least the blogger did the subject justice by providing sufficient introduction on the product, sharing technical information educating readers on the differences, product ingredients and how one may benefit from it, in her own English.
In terms of blog quality, the blog is posted with an acceptable blog structure. The message is successfully communicated and understood by the readers. And most importantly, it managed to keep the readers curious and entertained enough to read the next line, which is key to a successful blog.
I can’t help but notice how the blogger has penned in detail appealing to her readers to help her earn commissions. (Refer to box on the left that says, Hi reader, Please note: …..)
As much as everyone knows for a fact that bloggers earn from Pay-Per-Click ad, or in short PPC ad, in my opinion, it is not respectable for a blogger to post this in detail to her readers. Well, if it must be done, perhaps a common blogger trend now that I am unaware of, I think it should be pulled off subtly.
This is because by doing so, it inevitably causes the blogger’s sincerity appear doubtful and eventually her blogging motive in question.
In other words, as a reader, it leads me to suspect the blogger may be writing the review just for the mere sake of pleasing the product sponsor given the free goodies she has received and hope to keep coming.
I feel the following statements she made led the readers further that direction.
“I like this product too much…. Lucky they gave me full size for this one! So I can enjoy this longer….. so cheapskate ar me??? lol…this is good product to enjoy ma!!!!”
Therefore, would I now trust her product reviews and opinion then on? The answer is NO. Not likely. She just lost a potential follower.
It later reads “This my ‘syiok sendiri’ advertisement! WTH!”
For the sake of our non-Malaysian friends, the Malaysian phrase ‘syiok sendiri’ can be defined as being excited over something only oneself can get excited about.
I guess that sums it up. This is exactly what it is. This is a ‘syiok sendiri‘ blogger who has no regard whatsoever for spelling or grammatical error, least concern for diction or writing skills, ranting in her own blog spot. Not a great blogger, not a good blogger either, perhaps a keen blogger, close but no cigar.
Written by Chloe Chong
Writing For Creative Industries 