Rotten Tomatoes vs IMDb
Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb or Internet Movie Database are very popular film review sites that help people to look up and know about films. These are online sources that help people decide whether to watch a film or not. Of course they are not absolute as you may have your own views about a film in general, but on the whole their opinions are unbiased and based upon honest reviews of the audiences. Both have their own parameters on which they rate a movie, and both have their strengths and weaknesses which are being discussed below.
While Imdb covers many more things apart from films, Rotten Tomatoes is mostly concerned with Hollywood films. Imdb also has opinions about TV shows, actors and even production crews. Rotten Tomatoes gives out information about film industry also. Imdb takes pride in being the richest database of films and entertainment media, having started reviews of even video games.
While Imdb ratings of 1-10 are based upon reviews of the audiences, Rotten Tomatoes bases its ratings upon reviews from certified members of writing guilds. The staff of the site then determines if the review of any critic is fresh (positive) or rotten (negative). Every year, one film is chosen that gets a golden tomato. It implies that the film was rated highest in the year.
Imdb on the other hand asks for a rating on a scale of 1-10 from its readers and based upon ratings obtained from its readers awards its own rating on this scale to a movie.
Summary
Both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes are online databases of films and contain ratings of films but Imdb is broader as it also carries opinions about TV shows and video games.
Rotten Tomatoes was launched in 1998, while IMDb is older, having started in 1990.
Both are subjective but carry enough respect in the minds of the audiences.
IMDb covers more things apart from films, Rotten Tomatoes is mostly concerned with Hollywood films.
IMDb ratings are based upon reviews of the audiences, while Rotten Tomatoes bases its ratings upon reviews from certified members of writing guilds.