How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

What is peer editing? Well, it is not only a question, but a you tube video. "Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial" is another helpful piece of information given in slide form. Finally, "Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes" is a funny interpretation done by kids on the don'ts on peer editing. Three pieces of information, given in different forms of media, each with good insight on how to appropriately and with sensitivity give a review. In order to tell you about what I learned or in some cases, what I didn't learn, I will go in the order that most of them started.

First, two of the three videos/slides tell that peer review is a review of someone's paper/blog that are the same age as you, the writer. Well.....

This picture is what I feel like at the moment I "peer" review someone at my University. I am 39 and in many cases I graduated High School before many were even born.
Next, if we are to believe compliments, suggestions and corrections are the goals, in that order, that one needs to do when doing a peer review, we need to ask why. Okay, seems logical and sweet going in that order, but what if the paper you are reviewing does just stink, what then? Are we to lie or make up something to massage their egos before you blast them later in the critic? Also, the fact that one has to compliment first is intriguing. Why not correct, suggest, then compliment? I would rather end with praise than end with criticism. One leaves a, okay that is cool, I still have work to do, but I did not do that bad a job. The form they describe would leave at minimum a bad taste in the mouth, leave one a desire to give up, or just plain hate that "peer" reviewer.
Now then, do I believe that this method has some flaws, yes. Do I believe it is all wrong, no. Another set of friendly eyes on your paper can never hurt before grading, but i can not see the reason to be in 100 percent conformity in everything we do. Do I believe that we should act like the kids do in the "Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes"? No, of course not! However, I do not believe we are robots either or shall I say sheep in the conformity of life.

With all that I learned from those three lessons, I will try and critique my group partner. Will I do it by blogging it for all the world to see? No! I will however say Stephanie Aldridge is a concise and interpretive writer that puts a lot of time in her work. Everything else that can be seen by the world that could be a critic or suggestion, will be sent by e-mail to her. Life is hard enough without others putting negative remarks for anyone to see.
With that, I will end with this small remark. The mind is the source for happiness and unhappiness, so present happiness all the time and use multimedia to critic!