During my Easter break, I got hard at work on movopia. But as I complete more of it, I am starting to think about what it will be like once it’s finished. When I think about it movopia isn’t really brining anything new to the table apart from an API, which won’t make me much money.

So, I got thinking about what I could do to make movopia different. And that’s when I thought of the reviews. What if movopia had a twitter-style review system where each one would be limited to less than 200 characters? Or should I just keep with my original plans and allow for full reviews (that are more than 50 words)?

If I choose to use the mini-Reviews, there would be further delays in building the site because I’ll use javascript for advance effects. I would also be able to enable guest posting, and not have to worry about spam. It could also (possibly) increase activity on the site, because even I would rather write a sentence or two rather than a full review. It would also open up the possibility to have SMS reviews as the site gets bigger.

But it would lack the sense of a community, and there would be no communication, something that full reviews offer. Thought out posts will not only complement the movie information but may encourage others to watch and review the movie. Longer reviews would give people something to read, as opposed to the shorter ones. However, users would have to register to post, and some people may not want to do that. Members may also want to keep their reviews to them self, and keep them on their blog – which is perfectly reasonable, I would do the same thing.

I think my opinion may be a little biased, so I’m asking you what you think. Would you prefer to read 3 detailed reviews, or 15 short ones?

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