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A small while ago, Amazon changed how a person can review one of the many products on the site. Now instead of writing a review, you can leave just a star. At the moment, the rating is up to five stars.

As an author and a consumer, I am not a fan.

As a consumer, I look at reviews to determine if I should spend my hard-earned money on something. But if someone gives it a three or less with no text on how am I supposed to judge that. Is it a personal reason that you did not like it? Is there something wrong with it that would be helpful to me?

As an author, not seeing any text means no constructive criticism of my work. All one will get is the rating.

It gives people a way to rate anything in any way with no regard to it being unhelpful. A person out of spike can leave any star they choose. A troll can go on a tear with any product as well.

It is a shame but also something that will not be going away anytime soon. If one gets a bad rating with no text, all one can do is move on. One can get mad, scream and cry, but that is about it.

When I give a review on anything, I will continue to leave a reason for my rating. It is only fair to the person or company that is on the site.

I won’t leave a person wondering or seething at a review that only involves clicking on what star they should get.