I question 'Reputation'

[astroboy]

I started this cause I currently rank -5, thanks alot folks.

Well I got quite a few votes from a couple of threads, we shall detail them later in the post, they have obviously scored me a few –ve reputation votes. Why, I’m not sure, well I am, I have an opinion.

You see, I actually pride myself on my ‘reputation’ be it at work or play, it is what I measure my worth against.
Now we have implemented the ‘reputation’ system in the Somersoft forum.
Yeah right, and it is indicative of our reputations isn’t it?

Well I might ask how accurate or dependable that system may be.
I have managed to achieve –5 votes since the idea was implemented. A record holder I believe.

What do I do to achieve this outstanding “reputation”? Well here are a sample of the complaints from my CP. Are you guys for real ? These actually earned me –ve votes.

Life will dish you up this type of stuff and then some, if you can’t deal with it then you have other issues than my posts to deal with. Lets see a sample of the –5 votes I have had the infamy to accrue.
These were my posts to questions posed, are they offensive enough to earn me -ve points ?
Each response represents a vote against my 'reputation'

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Sorry Sunstone,
I definately have to disagree here. If I had to rely on which of my past PMs my past (worst tenants) thought were the best I wouldn't still be renting my properties out. It wouldn't be worth it.
My present tenants probably to a one, probably think their PMs keep a pretty tight reign. That being said, they know that when they tow the line their requests are dealt with promptly and to their mind more than fairly.
I think they realise they are on a pretty good wicket, albeit on a tight reign.
astroboy
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Lighten up yourself GG, the continual questioner, with little substance, Kristine has been a valuable contributer here. (I think we've only butted heads once !)
Yourself on the otherhand may well do with another avatar (Mr Magoo ?)
astroboy....

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Gee, just getting used to the new forum layout. Sunstone, with all respect Goodna has a very low 'desire' rating IMHO. I have property in Ipswich as well, around Booval, Silkstone. Good area, walk to schools, shops, rail nad just about everything, including pubs and a racetrack.
I have looked at Goodna a number of times, checked out the shops you mentioned , it's very high ratio of renters vs owner occ's, gotta say, I was not comfortable walking the streets, or driving them, sorry.
Crime rate is high, it isn't a Brisbane suburb, it's an Ipwich suburb,
no doubt and no question.
If you disagree, walk the streets and see just how comfortable you feel.
I know it's had good growth, but I don't wanna be there.
astroboy
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Sim,
I think we should do a poll on how believable these responses are.
Bit like a lot of get rich quickers to me, and you and I both know that dont work long term...
These polls are pure nonsense.
astroboy
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Moving right along, again, your IP interest and experience marcpatric who has acreage in west (?) brisbane ? tick tick tick......
a################################################################

Oh there are two more, along the same lines,,, so for this I am –5 credability points. Yeah right.
Lots of 1-2 post posters that rank higher, that is comforting.

Sim, I think some sort of justification is required. If you just want to rate on I agree or not because I can, than you are not portraying a true representation, as you are not currently. Unless a difference of opinion equates to a –ve vote…..
ab

 

[Kristine..]

Hi Astroboy

Yes, I'm wondering 'why' and what is this all about?

From Sim's first post on the subject

<< The reputation system is designed to allow individuals to express their appreciation (or criticism) of an individual post. The comments that are made are shown to the poster as an anonymous feedback mechanism. >>

but isn't this part of the Private Messaging system?

This is an anonymous forum. Apart from a handful, everyone uses a nom de plume. Why the need for further anonymity, especially when people can send off a little snipe just for the sake of it?

Personally, I don't contribute to make myself popular - it's quite obvious to me that I may often be seen as a nagging mother 'Have you got a clean handerchief?'

And just like any mother, I don't really care whether I am 'popular' or not, or whether my opinions are valued or disparaged. Worth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Does the system record who posts the 'reputation' comment? What happens when someone takes a dislike to another person and starts sending insulting or personal comments? Can the recipient report these comments and can the administrators track the sender or block the sender from making these remarks?

This is a bit like a hot line to dob in a dole bludger. You can say anything you like about or to another person and they are denied the right of reply because the nameless dobber hides behind the facade of anonymity.

Sorry, but just because the web board comes with this gimmick does not mean it should be used. I don't consider it 'fun', I do consider it to be intensly personal and likely to cause problems within the forum community and even distress to recipients of critical or abusive comments.

So I would like to now make a formal request that I am removed from the 'reputation' system.

If someone agrees, disagrees or don't knows regarding anything I have posted about they can answer me in the open forum, private message or email me. Personally, I think that's plenty of communication. I don't want a 'reputation' and have no interest in participating in such a competitive situation.

Thank you

Kristine

 

[austini]

I don't think the reputation things is a good idea. After my keyboard accident on the chat today I'm wondering if I will come in at -100

Cheers - Gordo

 

[Lissy]

Considering I need to make the effort to go into user details to even find it, maybe the simplest thing if you don't like it is to just ignore it?

 

[ani]

Hi guys

I don't think "reputation" is a positive feature that enhances this forum in any way. After a few weeks here, anyone can soon work out the posts they want to read.

I admit,I did cast a few votes initially but in future will just choose to ignore it. I hate to see such a good resource as this forum become a boxing match. Egos being what they are, it is now a competition to hit the top.

cheers
ani

 

[Sunfish]

I bet Astro and I both got -ve's from the same guy when we disagreed with him when he seemed to say only economic exiles and loosers could live in SE Qld. That nobody would voluntarially live outside Syd.

If I were to go back and put a -ve on his posts will he chase up more of mine? Seems pointless.

Thommo

ps A forum is pretty tame if you cant clearly state a case in the negative.

 

[Aceyducey]

Got a bit long-winded in my reply - so in brief - I was in favour of trying reputation out. After giving it a go, personally I feel it's a very flawed system and should not be used in this forum.

Read the long-winded bit if you like

Astroboy,

I think you have to think of the points you are given as reflecting the view people have of your posts as an entire body.

Most people have been on this forum for quite some time before reputation was introduced & I would suggest that often points are being awarded on the basis of their impressions of people rather than on specific posts in threads.

This is particularly at the start of the introduction of such a system, where a lot of reputation points are being awarded either on the basis of past posts or as part of playing with the system to understand it.


Frankly I don't care what my reputation is - I'm prepared to state my mind & not afraid of putting my money where my mouth is - and I fully expect to have a low reputation as people throughout history have been more willing to provide criticism rather than praise.

I'm here to help new people & engage in spirited debate with the knowledgeable to help shape my own views and provoke thoughts.

The only time a low reputation would concern me is if I could not as effectively support & encourage those new to investing.

However I do believe that for others with different agendas and personal viewpoints that reputation could be quite damaging to their personal effectiveness on the forum & generally be a bit of an ego blow.

For some people this may be a good thing - but who's got the right to throw the first stone? (an interesting comment from me considering I often consider it a responsibility to throw the stones as otherwise no-one else dares!)

Personally I was initially interested in seeing how reputation would function, however after seeing it in action for a little while I'm of the view that it's too easy to misuse.

While over a long period of time it may become a useful tool, it is very easy to manipulate (through voting blocks) and very time consuming for manipulations to be detected & managed by administrators.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[see_change]

I Agree with astroboy on this one.

From my perception , all the reputation is going to do is enhance a feeling that if you want to increase your "reputation, then maybe you shouldn't do that post that might question some things that tend to be " sacred cows " on this forum.

If people actually take it seriously it may discourage those people who like to occasionally stir the Pot , and more importantly discourage people who like to forcefully put forward put forward opinions that are different to the majority view.

Yesterday I posted a post that raised some of my concerns about cash bonds. I then started thinking " what will that do to my reputation ..." . I posted it, but the fact that I thought " what would it do to my reputation annoyed me "

While I have had at times heated disagreements with astroboy on one particular post ( ok , I won't mention it here ... ) I respect his knolwedge and personally I think that he adds considerably to this forum. He states what he thinks, and gives his opinion why ( most of the time ...) .

If people are going to start looking at " reputation " and then altereing what they would normally say , or wonder whether they should be on the forum , the sooner the reputation feature is scrapped the better.

See Change

 

[Sunfish]

I just gave Sim a -ve for a "waste of time post". Might as well own up publicly because he will know who dunnit. LOL It wasn't malicious but it could have been.

Thommo

 

[always_learning]

I got a negative mark for creating the poll "Which industry you puts food on your table", obviously after around 30+ replies and 700+ page views it was a terrible thing to have done.

So reputation is something I think should be removed.

Personally I think a more postive system "reply excellence" just as we can rate a entire thread on a star rating a single replies often should be rated. ie. Some of Kristines "long" response I would rate as "five" stars because of her display of deapth of knowledge and effort in helping others with it.

Basically any post that makes me think even if it is hashly worded is a good one.

 

[Harris]

I dont see any value whatsoever in the reputation system considering its a forum to exchange ideas, discuss topics and learn from each other rather than have to worry about the potential reputation your thread would generate.

Good for some who need their egos constantly stroked however it defeats the purpose of having a congenial atmosphere where one could post a thread freely without having to consider having negative reputation and eventually be unmotivated to post in the future.

Thanks for leading the discussion Astroboy... I am sure most of us would not like to be part of it.


Harris

 

[agent 86]

As a recent user but also a big time lurker on this forum you soon get to see different personalities and opinions.Having those conflicting opinions helps me be more open minded, and that is one reason that makes this forum great.Just because someone doesn't agree with someones post and decides to give it a neg is in itself a big negative.I'm glad of the strong personalities, for eg i enjoyed Brains posts as well as a lot of current members and would not like to lose them as i think they help in more ways than one.

I like AL's idea of "reply excellence".

Will you be getting rid of it SIM?

Agent 86
ps don't know how to use it anyway

 

[Sim]

I just gave Sim a -ve for a "waste of time post". Might as well own up publicly because he will know who dunnit. LOL It wasn't malicious but it could have been.

Thommo - what you are warning about is exactly the kind of thing I'd expect a bunch of kids to play at - not mature adults keen on learning.

I think it's rather sad that we need to be worried about abuse of a system that could work so well - the actions of a few ruining the system for all.

Once again, my faith in humanity is dashed against the rocks of the realities of ego.

*sigh*

 

[see_change]

Once again, my faith in humanity is dashed against the rocks of the realities of ego.

*sigh*

Your problem sim, is you spend to much time dealing with computers and not enough with dealing with people. If you had spent more time dealing with people your faith in humanity would have been shattered long ago.

See Change

 

[Sim]

Just out of interest, there have been 210 reputation votes given since the forum was upgraded.

Of these, 30 were negative votes (14.3%) and the other 180 (85.7%) were positive votes.

75 votes left a comment (35.7%) and the other 135 (64.3%) didn't.

45 of these votes (21.4%) were given out by one person (7 of those 45 votes were negative).

 

[Sim]

I started this cause I currently rank -5, thanks alot folks.

Astro - I must apologise to you - I am partly to blame for the huge negative score you had.

I gave you a negative vote for one of your posts because I considered your response a personal attack on another forum member - that, I don't apologise for.

However, what I didn't realise at the time was that my Admin status gave me a default reputation power of 10 ... in both directions ! This meant a negative vote took off 10 reputation points.

I had changed the setting to make it calculate my reputation power the same way that everyone elses is, and I thought it would recalculate your score, but looking in the database, this hadn't happened as I expected.

I've removed my -10 vote out of the database ... and it seems you've scored a few brownie points from others, so it's looking a little healthier now for you.

As a general rule I'd prefer it if people left comments as to why votes were cast - because a negative vote without a comment is meaningless and a positive vote is so much more powerful with a positive comment.

I think you'll find Astro, that there are people who appreciate your input and there are people who find your approach abrasive. It comes down to swings and roundabouts, and the amount you contribute to the forum will gain you a good reputation overall in the long term I feel.

 

[Simon]

What if only positive voting was allowed?

Then people can have a good reputation or none? Saves things getting personal and upsetting.

What do folks think of this?

 

[Sunstone]

Dear Astroboy,

Positive energy brings positive results. That is the spirit of this forum.

Maybe you can share some positive input on this thread.

http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14493

Cheers,

Sunstone.

 

[skater]

I'm still unclear on the whole reputation thing. How do you know what thread people have given you a vote for? Do you know who voted? Not sure if it is a positive or a negitive thing to have in the forum. Only time will tell.

 

[BV]

Astroboy

I have given several +ve points to a few forum members
including yourself, but I admit that I have forgotten about that
function and many more posts deserve +ve votes.

You haven't got ANY negative votes from me.
I have only given 1 -ve vote IN TOTAL and that went
to Thommo for his personal attack in 1 of my threads.

I think it is encouraging when people get a +ve vote for their good
posts and we should all try to use this function more often to
counteract the occasional childish behaviour of a few others.

Thommo
personal attacks don't help.
Read my posts and try to understand them before
you reply. If you don't understand them don't assume things
(you make this mistake very often). .