This was the question asked on the Today programme this morning. I didn’t hear the actual piece as we’d woken late and were running behind, but the word “Blogger” was said in a manner that rhymed with “Scum”, so I can guess the conclusion.

The question in detail was would you trust a blogger’s opinion of a book over that of a professional critic? The stress on the word professional rubbed home the fact that us mere internet graffiti artists have no proper training to be able to properly comment on whether we’d recommend anything to our friends or not.

Personally (although, obviously, I’m highly biased – reviews form a substantial part of the Prattle) yes I do trust the average Joe on the ‘net over a professional reviewer. No they aren’t as professional in writing out their review, but they do know whether they like something and I know they’re not getting paid to deceive me. I even trust the comments on Amazon far more than any newspaper review.

Of course, I do check that the reason for a good or bad review is well thought out and that we share similar views of what makes a good or bad product.

No matter how much someone raved over a horror novel, I would still not buy it – I’m a wuss and can’t sleep at night after reading even the mildest story in the horror genre. Nor would I trust someone who said something sucked without offering any explanation why. I also try and look for a consensus over a great many opinions rather than relying on one, particularly if it’s a blog I haven’t read over a long period of time. This is common sense. But these days I hardly buy anything without doing a thorough internet search first and the reviews that have most weight with me…?

… they’re the reviews on personal blogs.