First off, let me say that I really prefer this new layout to the old layout. I like the profiles and the new features. My concern is that in order for my score to go up and for me to qualify for a #Voxbox it seems like I have to spend A LOT of time and effort on this site. And that's a bit concerning.

Here's where my main concern lies: I've received 2 #VoxBoxes this year. One contained items worth about $22.00, retail. I spent 3.5 hours photographing, tweeting and writing about those items. That means I earned $6.29 of goodies per hour. However, at my job, I make more than that per hour. The minimum wage in my state is higher than that per hour. That means the CBA (Cost-benefit Analysis) for participating in Influenster is kinda crummy.

Now, before you jump all over me and say that I don't *have* to get a #VoxBox, I like doing beauty and product reviews! I do them for free and sometimes pay for the items I review I my blog. I enjoy this as a hobby. It's just that, though....a hobby. I have a real job and real obligations in my life and I feel like this is another timesink. I'm going to see if this plays out and my expectations are high. I'm just not sure if the 2 #Voxboxes I receive a year are going to be worth the hours I spend giving free advertising to these products. Additionally, now that I am expected to maintain a profile, write more reviews, answer questions, take more surveys, earn more badges, give and receive up-votes, and link all my social media will I be receiving more goodies and #Voxboxes? Call me a cynic, but I somehow doubt that. We'll see how this plays out.

I've been a member since the beginning of the year. I love what Influenster is about. You try products and review them. The old website was good but this remodel is even better. There is so much to do. The only thing I don't care about is the blog. I don't have a blog, which means I can't complete some of the challenges. I could do a vlog but it doesn't give me the option. Other than that, its a keeper.

So I've actually received a VoxBox and I've blogged about it, put it on pinterest, instagram, etc. I've written tons of review and submitted blogs and photos and the like and it doesn't seem to effect my influenster score at all. I do like the new look of influenster but I don't understand why my blogs are always under review and no matter how many tasks I complete my score never changes. I've even sent an email to influenster admin and received no response. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had these difficulties.

The new site is very informative, just read as you go along and you wont miss a thing! So much to learn, see, and explore! Love it!

What I love most is that you need to earn a box. The layout is top notch and the option to have your own products added to review is ingenius.

I just started Influenster. And I started a little before the makeover. I liked the way it was that they chose random people, gave everyone an equal opurtunity. Now I feel Like I have to be one 4 times as much to maintain my high score. And I dont even have all the badges I had beofore. I have to invite people now... I mean, What if I dont have anyone new or no one is interested because now it takes away to much time from you.

I have been using Influenster since late December 2011 & I love the new site. I am more active now because there is more to do & the layout is easier to understand. There are still a few glitches I've noticed here and there but the site is coming along & better than ever!

So far I really like the new look and all the activities of the new site. What I don't like is loosing all my old work. It was really time consuming to relink my social media, retake all of the badge quizes, etc. Worse off is that all the reviews that I took time and put thought into...didn't transfer at all. I really wish they did! Can't wait for all the updating to be done and all the kinks to be worked out and see the site sign at it's fullest.

I'm still a little confused about the score as I've been on here about two hours now poking around, taking surveys, linking social media, re-earning badges, creating reviews and my number hasn't even budged. I'm not sure what it will take for it to? If I've spent hours and it hasn't moved will it be worth the time and effort and will I actually be chosen to get boxes in the future? I guess it's wait and see!

I love the look of it - a lot more ways to interact with the site. BUT I wish it had been a little more clear that you can only unlock 5 Expert badges. I would have been more selective with the ones I chose to unlock.

New things to do, new badges to earn and a point system that explains your ranking. No more wondering!

I think that it is excellent that the site has been upgraded, but there are many kinks that need to be worked out and improved upon. For example:

1. Not everyone uses all of the social media sites, and I think that this should be changed to give the person the option to choose one, and not all that they have listed.

2. I am a proof reader and I hate to publish a finished article with typographical errors, bad grammar and/or incorrect sentence construction. The site's areas provided for writing your reviews sometimes obscures the words that you are typing, and you do not have the option to preview before you submit, and after you submit, it is final. You cannot edit!

3. The Influenster Administration personnel do not respond to your email, even though the say that you can contact them by email if you have any queries!

4. Members have been invited to link their blogs, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, You Tube and Twitter accounts to their Influenster profiles, and the links do not work. If you click on the links, you get re-routed to a page that tells you there is an error or that the page cannot be found.

5. When you attempt to 'share' information about a product from the site on the listed available social media sites where you may have an account, the picture/thumbnail that shows is not one of the product, but instead that of some featured uploaded member's video that does not feature the product you are intending to share information on.

6. There should be a tab on the members' profiles where they can click to easily see the reviews that they have given on products, so that they know it was taken into consideration and/or published.

Those are the ills that I have noticed so far after having navigated through the site, participating in various brand challenges and giving reviews.

Relatively easy to navigate but I have had a few error messages. Now I feel like I have to start all over again and I feel unappreciated for all the stuff I did before. Overall, the site is beautiful and very detailed.

I love the new website. I hope to participate much more now. It's easier to navigate and I'm hoping that if I participate more I'll get a chance to review some more VoxBox's.

Who doesn't like trying new things! I love telling my friends and family about new product that they should try. and the new website is so fun loads of fun surveys and points to earn.

but i do feel as if its just a competetion between ppl now unlike before they just picked random people but i love the new set up

I used to love Influenster - I loved writing reviews, answering questions, having the possibility of getting a Voxbox filled with goodies. But not anymore. I was supposed to receive a Voxbox filled with Crest Whitestrips - FINALLY, all of that hard work for the hours I spent on this website & writing blogs promoting it actually got me somewhere. Except the Voxbox I was supposed to get.. NEVER CAME. It took quite a few emails, angry blog posts, AND Facebook posts to even get a reply. That reply? "Not our problem." Are you kidding me? You have a business to represent. Shouldn't you have a policy put in place for those of us that don't get the Voxbox's we worked for? Instead it's "not your problem." Except that it is, because I referred a LOT of people here. But don't worry, they know better than to waste their time now.

I'm switching to Birchbox. It may cost money but at least I know I'll actually get something.

I love the new look, I absolutely adore that you can see your influence points. :) great idea and that you can see the points of others! I like the badges and how they are broken into sub categories

I feel like its kind of overwhelming. So much to do you really don't even know where to start. Everything just seems so cluttered. I've noticed it freezes a lot too. I think it has the potential to be a nicer website. There's just still some kinks that needs to be worked out. Overall I like it! :)

The new look of influenster is fresh and intuitive. On your profile everything is laid out there for you to easily see where you stand. The new influenster score lets you see how influenster views you compared to your peers. I also love the exclusivity of this new version. The new experts badge is fantastic as now we can tell influenster exactly what we think we are best at and they can make sure we get the campaigns that we can influence the most.

I am really excited to continue on with influenster.

I already loved Influenster, but this re-launch is amazing!! I'm so glad that there are new tasks to do, and I love checking my Influenster score!

So far, I do like the site design and it is much easier to get around. However I have concerns - all the fake reviews I've seen. A review is stating your opinion on a product you've tried to help out others in their buying decisions - not "OMG I WANT 2 TRY". I worry that some people may get boxes due to higher scores earned by bogus reviews while others of us with scores a few points lower may not be chosen even though we give honest reviews of only products we've tested. To prevent this, I'd suggest maybe ONLY counting reviews documented on your blog or social media with pictures that belong to you.

UPDATE: I contacted influenster TWICE with questions about my concerns and got no response, but pre-re-launch I'd emailed with a question and gotten quite a quick response, so service seems to have taken a hit.

I'm a bit disappointed because since I joined pre-launch and got 2 boxes, reviewed them, even did a lot of the special extras for them and felt it was worth my time. Writing honest reviews is work and should be rewarded, IMO. A lot of these companies make tons and tons of profit and are expecting us to write reviews with no compensation. We will see how things go, but if I don't get qualified for something soon, I may discontinue my membership as I'm not willing to help companies promote products they are making big bucks off of with no reward. I feel that reflects negatively on the company(ies) quite a bit, actually.

I have also come to be disappointed that I work and work and my score doesn't seem to budge. I blog regularly except right around holidays and write many reviews and even review products on my blog I use my own money on, add products to this site, etc. It seems the users with high scores often are active on facebook and sometimes nothing else, which (once again) leads me to feel I'm being penalized for not being big into facebook.

Furthermore, the thumbs-down button for reviews seems to be gone which is lame because I'd been using it to thumbs-down the fake "omg want 2 try this" reviews.

Overall, I am growing more and more unhappy with the changes as it seems Influenster has gone from a way for people to try and tell their friends about new and interesting products to a place where they dangle boxes like a carrot on a stick in front of their users for hours upon hours of free work. If I try a product I like, I WILL tell my friends, influenster or no. I mean, who doesn't? Pre-change, I'd gotten boxes and it was a good way for me to try products I normally wouldn't risk the money on and I found many things that are worth the money.

COMPANIES - When you send me a product to try, I WILL blog it, and if I like it, tell friends, buy it again if possible, AND sing your praises for allowing me to try it. If you have confidence in your product, it shouldn't be a big deal to send out boxes for people to try it out because it will benefit you much more in the long run.

It is still the best site but it is now easier to use.

So easy to navigate. I have become addicted to this site. Always finding something new.

I've only been a member for 4 months and I got my very first box and I couldn't be more thrilled. I can't tell you how amazing and exciting it is to be a part of such an exclusive invite-only group. I love getting to try and review these products. Thank you Influenster!

I am so glad Influenster updated their website. The old site was good, but was hard to follow at times. The new site has better visuals that catch my attention and it's very user friendly. I can't wait for more voxboxes and new challenges to complete.

You come to a site and give honest reviews and opinions and in return you get FREE product samples. How can you not complain? The community is great & the staff is TERRIFIC! You may not get chosen for every box, but you can't complain about not being picked for something FREE. I love being to read reviews on products I purchase or am thinking about purchasing to know whether or not I should. Thank you, Influenster! :)

I loved Influenster before the relaunch but I love it even more since the relaunch. I love the it is Invite-only because it limits the community to people who are serious about reviewing and influencing others and not just for people looking for freebies. The expert badges broadened the horizon of who is willing to participate in the program because it includes badges that target hobbies that men may have as well as targeting an individual's personality and hobbies in general. I wish we could have picked more expert badges so be careful when choosing your expert badges. The lifestyle badges target all the necessary demographics. I love how easy it is to navigate around the website especially when it comes to accessing the brand challenges for the voxboxes. The fun file is so organized and easy to access as well as it is in a centralized location. I particularly like the score because they help me gauge how well I am doing in the Influenster community and how much of an influencer I am being. I like that they took down the down voting aspect but I do not like that our reviews did not transfer from the old site to the new site. I like that you can add any product to the review page even if it isn't part of a voxbox and get other people's opinions on it. I love that there is so much more to do on this site then the old site. It is so jampacked with activities to do that it is almost overwhelming. I love free stuff as much as the next person but I also love getting the chance to review new products.

I was so excited to join influenster and have devoted so much time to the site. My score never moves..no matter how much I do! It really is frustrating. I have completed plenty of reviews but I will only review items that I have actually used. I do not want to make fake reviews just to keep my score up. So now I am sharing, sharing,linking, Q & A and reviews no stop and I am not sure that it is worth it. This is a lot of time for a score that doesn't move. I wish my experience was a little different because I really was excited about this but I think I will stick with BzzAgent. I have already received 2 campaigns from them and I started BzzAgent the same day as Influenster.

i cant get my influenster score above zero! i have made tons of reviews AND i have ten badges. :(

I feel like its kind of overwhelming. So much to do you really don't even know where to start. Everything just seems so cluttered. I've noticed it freezes a lot too. I think it has the potential to be a nicer website. There's just still some kinks that needs to be worked out. And I don't have a blog, which means I can't complete some of the challenges.

I am new here, but when I first came here I had NO clue what to do. Now its so easy to navigate and I get it now lol

Really like the new influenster page!! I feel like now the site has a lot more to offer and many more activities to participate in so you feel like you are more a part of the community.
I like that you can have expert badges for things you are passionate and know a lot about. I like that there are a lot of different products that you can review and give your feedback on to other influensters. And you can share the review pages on facebook and twitter so you can get the word out there about products you really enjoy.
Overall I think the influenster makeover has been a success and I look forward to see what else they have to offer in the future!! Love being on influenster!!

Ive been wanting to leave a review for Influenster for a while and this week pushed me to do it.

Let me preface my review with the fact that I was not a member prior to the revamp. I have no idea what the layout was like, if it were "easier" to receive voxboxes, if you didnt have to have a blog or know how to tweet etc. I am coming from my experience since December 2012.

That being said, I personally love influenster. There are many reasons why but I think that reason why I love Influenster the most is because Im a communications professional. I have a background in public relations, marketing and event planning. Influenster makes so much sense in my eyes. ITS NOT ABOUT GETTING FREE STUFF. Its not about me getting every single voxbox but getting a voxbox for those I qualify for, based on my demographics and expertise as well as the clients needs. By expertise, I mean my expert badges. By clients I mean the companies, brands, products that we are reviewing. Influenster is aiding brands in getting their products in the right hands. That means that some of us will not qualify for every box. Again, some of us will not qualify for every voxbox or promo. Its nothing personal, some seem to think it is, its truly marketing at its best. I know some have talked about Cost Benefit Analysis but that seems a little steep. I use Influenster in my down time. Its a fun thing to do when I am not working. I am not spending hours on end on the Influenster site and blogging for 15 hours a day. Maybe 5 hours a week MAX. Blogging, Tweeting etc is just good ol fun to me so throw in trying out a few products (I am a product queen) with that equation and I am set.

The companies and brands are Influensters clients. No offense, but they have to keep their clients happy to keep Influenster alive and well! We want that right? So we can continue to receive awesome FULL SIZED products to review and praise! I think so! I feel as though in the last week, I have read way too many comments/complaints about how "I wasnt chosen and all I do is do reviews". Well, its not all about that. This is called Influenster for a reason. Again, you need to meet the demographics, aka pre-qualifying survey AND you need to be INFLUENTIAL. Get it? INFLUENTIAL...INFLUENSTER. That means you need to have some sort of social reach beyond writing a review on the site. Some kind of social media activity.

That brings me to Twitter. A lot of people do not understand Twitter and how it works exactly. Twitter is one of the most powerful marketing and social sharing platforms there is. For instance, you can contact most of your favorite brands with a simple 140 character tweet and most will respond to you! Thats the beauty of Twitter. You can have a conversation with your favorite brand everyday if you like. How cool is that? Think about it this way, could you have done that 5 years ago? NO. Did you have that kind of access to a direct human at a mega corporation 5 years ago? Absolutely NO. But now you do, so why not use it and create meaningful conversations that advance your favorite brands as well as incorporate your personal life. See, Influenster realizes this as well as the brands on this site. That brings me to the Twitter party my friends. LOTS of you complain about the parties and how you dont know what you are doing. well, learn! Its fun to interact with a community that shares some of the same opinions and feelings that you do. Also, again its great for the brands/companies that collaborate with Influenster. They are learning about consumer behaviors, opinions and learning about target audiences.I actually wrote a product review a couple days ago. I gave the product and average score. That company contacted me via Twitter to discuss directly with me my review. I was actually blown away but then I thought, no this is what its all about. They care about their consumer and want to make sure I am satisfied with their products. I appreciated that conversation very much and appreciated even more the fact that they reached out to me, just from my review on this site.

Its a learning process and we are all, Influensters, Influenster, and brand/companies learning something here and to me my friends that is pure genius!!

Moral of the story here, an attitude of gratitude is best. This is an exclusive community and we probably could be kicked to the curb at any time. So be happy you are here and enjoy the perks. No complaining if you dont get chosen. You probably just arent a right "fit" at the moment in time but could be for future programs. Stick it out and keep adding in quality material.

READ THIS ARTICLE ON INFLUENSTER. This may help some.
http://the-makegood.com/2013/01/16/influensters-elizabeth-scherle-and-aydin-acar-on-social-influence/

AND JOIN TWITTER
and while you are at
JOIN VINE

It's all in good fun!

I have been part of influenster for a while now. I love the change they did to the website. It looks great and engages you. You also get to see other people and how they are doing with badges, similarities, which is awesome. Can't wait to get a box, start trying/reviewing!

I really love the idea of this program... free goodies! However I find it really hard to keep up with everything to continue to get these boxes. I have only received one, I completed everything after getting the box but never got another one because I didn't qualify. I was never told why. I would like to see a new system where once you qualify for the boxes it is easier for you to continue to receive them.

Influenster is a great site. The website is set up well, the badges are interesting and relevant, the prizes are exciting. The only things that need to be changed are the blogging option, because not as many people blog as thought. I think there should also be an option to see how far you are from receiving a box, for example: be at 75 points to receive a box, etc.

I spend soooo much time and write so many reviews on this but i get no were ive got no points at all which i dont understand as i have done so much work, i like how u get badges because it makes you work for them, but for me it is super frustrating being on everyday and my score not even going up a tiny but:( i feel ignored and my efforts are pointless and not making a difference.

Personally I think that the new Influenster Makeover is okay. I think it is amazing how it is more exclusive so that not just anybody can sign up. I think the look of the sign is much cleaner, modern, and brighter. One thing I do not like is the fact that you can only earn a certain amount of badges. When I logged on for the first time on the "New Influenster" I thought that I could just earn ALL my badges over again, so I went in order, so now I have badges that do not influence my life at all, but there is nothing I can do about that. Also, it was unfair for " Old Ifluensters" to be forced to earn their badges again! I have not been on this website for a long time, but I have to say that in the whole time I have been here I have never gotten a Voxbox, I did almost get one once, but it's not the same thing. You should wider the variety of people you give out Voxboxes to, so more people get to enjoy this website!

But I'm seeing how fast this is becoming easy for people to trick the system. It's time consuming for us honest people when there are way too many unhelpful, 1 sentence "reviews" that have insane amounts of thump ups, bumping those cheaters scores and making ours fall. I think the changes were a nice idea, and I had fun at first. But it didn't take long for it to go to shit really. I think it needs a few more changes still. I will keep trying but it is just sad to see all the helpful people down below horrible reviews.

I haven't really had a lot of time to get to know the new and improved Influenster but I love the look! I think the look is much, much better. I thought the older version was easier but I'm sure this version will be too once I become familiar with it.

The new site looks amazing! It was a little difficult to adjust, but now that I've played with it a little, it is great!

I love the new influenster! I joined in May of this year and there wasn't a whole lot to do other than a few surveys to unlock badges. Now, there is a lot to do, so many ways to get the word out there about this great website and so many way to earn AMAZING prices! So far I have earned TWO Voxboxes and cannot wait until my Beauty Blogger box comes this week!!!! I love this website, totally a new hobby!

This is a great site to find reviews on many different products. You may even get picked to review some great products!

I love the idea of this site! Thanks Influenster for giving us this awesome opportunity!

I am loving the new site and am learning how to navigate through things. I think the site is user friendly and intuitive and is going to be a great asset to influencers and brands

When I first started using this site I was so confused, I didn't know how to do anything. This new layout makes it so easy! And I have been on this site for 2 hours straight! Talk about addicted much? Definitely an improvement.

I love the whole concept of of sampling products then compiling and submitting a product review. Take Beauty Boxes for example, I like sampling products to determine which ones fit my current needs. I presently subscribe (paid memberships) to over ten different Beauty Boxes which I receive on either a monthly basis or quarterly basis. Thereafter, I sample each and every product, all while keeping track of the Beauty Box it came in along with the item information. Lastly, I summarize my thoughts on the products then submit my feedback of the products to each website on a regular basis. This is a great example of product review/feedback.

While using Influenster, you earn badges, provide feedback on a large array of products so that you can try to earn a box. The layout is unbelievable as I like to have all the information in one spot instead of searching and searching for the content that I am looking for. It is a great concept for members to have the option to add your own products with a full, detailed review.

I am so happy that I can continue to use Influenster, especially since they have recently upgraded the look as well as the ease in using this great website (www.Influenster.com). I would encourage you to at least try out the website as I can ensure you it is well worth your precious time.

Please visit Influenster at www.Influenster.com to catch up on the latest products, news, trends, places as well as reviews.

I really enjoy the new Influenster. My favorite part about the newly designed website is that you're able to see your score for different badges.

From what I've seen of the site so far,its pretty awesome. I just wish some of the badges and what not did not solely rely on blogs.I don't havea blog so these challenges and badges will go incomplete on my profile and from that I've gathered will hurt my chances of getting any voxboxes(which I havent been picked to get one since I've joined). If the blog ones were optional or there was another way to make up for the people who do not have blogs and still have as much of a chance as the people who do and complete these badges then that would be fantastic and the site would be top notch perfect.

Love the new look! I'm fairly new to the site and I think this new updated version will help me get a better feel for how to maximizes usage of this awesome site! Perhaps the more I use it then the more I can teach, learn, and test out!