I think that this blog posting over at librarything is spot on when it comes to peoples motivation for tagging: they will do it for ‘their stuff’ but are less likely (or even motivated) to do it for other peoples stuff. I love the analogy of spending time tagging stuff at Amazon is like going down to the grocery and tidying up the shelves. Yes, it looks nicer, but it is the grocer that benefited and not you.
In reality the same thing goes for writing reviews on Amazon, you do the work, they get the benefit. At least if you write a review on your own blog (and are an Amazon affiliate) you might make a few cents if some one clicks through your review and buys the book (or whatever item).
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