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We don't need any plugins, the software we're using has the option to show who left reputation points. We choose not to do this mainly to avoid "revenge" points. It's been discussed before.
Someone left negative rep to me for posting a poll question they didn't agree with.
In my opinion the poll is a good one, and I was certainly not attacking any forum member, as they did by leaving the negative. They did have the option of not participating in the poll, as I often don't comment on threads where I disagree with the attitude of the posters.
In any case the negative was out of place. Is it possible to have it removed?
Also the person did not leave their nickname. As negative reps are usually given where someone disagrees with a message, it should be required that they leave their nickname. If they disagree, why am I not allowed to disagree with their disagreement? - not that I would as I don't care to do that. To me one of the reasons I like the forum is for the opportunity to get along and to share our ideas together.
Were I to go around giving negatives, which "is" in the guidelines to give negative to those who personally attack other forum members for their posts, then that would keep me quite busy. Though no one left their nickname, I could go around to all those who have disagreed and give them negative reputation, but I wouldn't as I think that is silly. To my mind people should be allowed to express themselves, as long as they are not attacking others and allow others to speak their minds too.
I see no reason to have the negative reputation option at all, as all it does is contribute to contention and disputes. The best solution in my opinion is to remove the option of negative reputation completely and I hope you will consider to do this. Thanks for considering this and for giving us the opportunity to participate in this forum.
Actually John, I agree. I've always thought the ability to give negative rep points is way too subjective and only accomplishes increased personal animosity amongst posters and increased work for the senior moderators.
The T.O.S. states: "Negative ratings should be reserved for posts that are spammy, off-topic, flames, or don't contribute anything."
1. spammy posts can be reported to moderators.
2. off-topic posts can be reported to moderators. What's off topic can be subjective, however, but should be left to a moderator to decide.
3. flames can be reported to moderators ...and can also be very subjective. A flaming post can be interpreted differently depending upon the person.
4. posts that "don't contribute anything" can probably be reported to moderators too but this is the one where I have the problem with: it's just way too subjective. If you report a post you consider "doesn't contribute anything," who's to say that anybody will agree with you? Certainly not the poster you're giving the negative rep to.
What I think qualifies as a post that "doesn't contribute anything" will most certainly be controversial. Even moderators have a difficult time with this one. It really is a person's opinion whether or not a particular post "contributes anything" in a lot of cases.
I vote for getting rid of negative reps if it's possible to do so with the current software in place. I don't know if it is possible or not.
This is just my personal opinion.
Thanks.
Last edited by scirocco22; 07-02-2007 at 03:44 PM..
I think in some perverse way several members actually hope to get negative reps thereby satisfying something deep down inside like the idiots that light wildfires and watch all of the ensuing commotion. Those that think they have some kind of "duty" to hand out the little red boxes remind me of people that drive the exact speed limit in the fast lane of the freeway. Frankly I could care less if someone wanders off topic, gets a little flamey or makes it known what a knucklehead they are. That is why every forum on the internet has a "report" option to alert mods that there is a potential problem and they can take then care of business. I really see no reason for the negative rep option whatsoever but I certainly agree with the X number of warnings from admins/mods for acting your shoe size then ....C-YA!! Have a great day everyone!
I participate and mod on another large board where we started out with the rep system identical to what you have in place here. The site owners tweaked it many times, but ultimately did some drastic programming to end up where we're at now.
So the first tweak we did was to add a "neutral" option so that you didn't have to be polarized as negative or positive. That helped a little.
Then we made rep so that it was no longer anonymous.
Then after many on-going problems with rep we went to a "comment only" system whereby you can comment on a post (it is NOT anonymous).
Ultimately, I think we ended up taking all the spice out of rep. If only guys had been far more judicious about their use of the negative rep button. At least we no longer have any issues with rep. My problem with our current system is that it is too close to the PM system since it is not anonymous.
I think an anonymous comment-only system would be the way to go.
Location: Lots of sun and palm trees with occasional hurricane :)
8,293 posts, read 16,221,646 times
Reputation: 7018
I have a question about this anonymous system.
I just got a red dot on a thread and the comment left not only reprimanded me for the contents of my answer to the OP but also made incorrect assumptions about what I said.
I went back to the thread and wrote that I would gladly give my backup for my comments and that I thought a PM would have been nicer. I am particularly bothered about the incorrect assumption, which really sounded more like a personal slap on the hand.
Only a few minutes later I saw that my last post was deleted as being "off topic" and I PMd the mod but haven't received any answer.
How are you supposed to try to "clarify" anything.
If you want the comment to be reviewed and removed if undeserved, you need to PM a senior moderator (Yac or me) as we're the only ones with access to the reputation comments.
The rep system is not designed for two-way communication and you're not supposed to reply to the comment publicly - this is indeed considered off topic. What you may do is to address the comment generally in your future posts. If, for example, someone accused you of not providing sources for your information, you're of course welcome to provide them in the relevant thread, without "talking back" to the author of the comment.
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Frankly I could care less if someone wanders off topic, gets a little flamey or makes it known what a knucklehead they are. That is why every forum on the internet has a "report" option to alert mods that there is a potential problem and they can take then care of business. I really see no reason for the negative rep option whatsoever but I certainly agree with the X number of warnings from admins/mods for acting your shoe size then ....C-YA!! Have a great day everyone!
