My rating system does not work

[kyshel]

Hi, Maylinglai1:
Ratings can be helpful in judging the significant content of a post. I agree that your idealistic hopes would be that members post meaningful opinions--not just, "same here" or "what a great idea"--that frequently happens just prior to the end of a quarter.

We've all seen more contributors who have sat in the background until they have something valuable to add the community than the few who wait in the wings, then pounce on all old posts in order to add to their "tally" of responses. As you mention--travel advice that's salient to the community--not "chat room" comments.
This is still a good thread. I look forward to hearing from some new members.

[Mountie]

Hey, kyshel, I think I understrand exactly what your are saying!

[lhbrown]

Hi kyshel,
In the spirit of your last post, does this post truly deserve a 5 rating and even more so Mountie's reply which is exactly one of the "same here" or "what a great idea" posts you are talking about. I have not seen a lot of the kind of abuse you are talking about and I don't see how this approach would help a contributor's rating: "We've all seen more contributors who have sat in the background until they have something valuable to add the community than the few who wait in the wings, then pounce on all old posts in order to add to their "tally" of responses." As of late, I have seen a lot of undeserved and unfair 1 ratings. which suggests somebody is having fun putting certain contributors down by giving undeserved low ratings or rewarding others with highest ratings for little substance. I have a feeling the community is deteriorating when things of that sort happen. Perhaps it is time to do away with the ratings alltogether.

[kyshel]

That is exactly my point LHBrown.
Are you implying I gave a 5 to Mountie's comment? It's none of your business what I rate a post--it's my opinion. If someone else gave it a five, because they wanted to, that's their prerogative. Perhaps you want to explain what you think is unfair based on your ratings judgment. I can tell you it probably doesn't match my criteria. This is not the Stepford Travel Forum. Even though someone may have a long post filled with details about day one, we did this, day two, we saw this and lovely pictures, I might yawn, the locale didn't interest me; I gave it a two. If you really liked that review and want to give them a 5, great. If I want to give a one or a five, that's my choice. If LL wants to do away with ratings altogether--fine, too. It's their business and their boards. Many times I don't rate a post at all. Does that mean I don't care? Maybe a one rating doesn't suggest anything other than they thought the post deserved a one.
The deterioration you might be seeing could be the wasted posts I mentioned. Mountie's opinion seemed to be appropriate reinforcement and I appreciated it--I believe it echoed what some community members have privately grumbled about. Perhaps he can address that further, if that's ok?
PS--I chose not to rate your post below. What do you think I should give it?

Message Edited by kyshel on 03-30-2008 08:03 AM




Message Edited by kyshel on 03-30-2008 04:11 PM

[lhbrown]

Hi Kyshel,
I am not implying you gave Mountie for a one sentence reply to your post a 5 rating. I don't know for a fact whether it was you or someone else who did, I was simply agreeing with you about "same here" replies and stating my opinion that I didn't think it deserved a 5 rating. Apparently, as you said you appreciated her reply (I think Mountie is a she) being in agreement with you. No need to get defensive about it. As to my criteria on the rating system it definitely seems to differ from yours. Even if a long informative post with lovely pictures bores you, in the spirit of community, I would never rate such a post less than a three. Someone has put some effort into such a post, and a 1 or 2 rating would seem unfair to me (my opinion) simply because I am not interested in the subject or the locale. That is my criteria for a fair rating. You want to encourage new members to participate and to post instead of driving them away with ratings that seem too low or unfair. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion, and of course, whatever rating you chose to give is your choice. As you point out, it is none of my business what you rate a post, as a matter of fact, I don't know what you rate your posts, only you have that information. However, rating a post that contains some helpful information as 1 seems unfair in my opinion. It shows little community spirit and encouragement. I have never given less than a 2 rating and that usually only for a short thank you reply. I don't make it a habit of rating posts. I don't rate posts unless I am replying to one.
As to your PS: I chose NOT to rate your post below. What do you think I should give it?It is your prerogative to rate or not to rate this post, but if you rate any post, it should be fair.
One last thing. A while ago I emphasized something to someone in CAPS. The reply came back "No need shouting your reply." I wasn't aware that in internet language capitalizing your reply is considered shouting at some one. Are you shouting at me or are you equally unaware of this internet etiquette?
In any case, no need to go on further about this, let's post some meaningful travel experiences that might interest the community instead. If you want to discuss this subject further, send me a PM, no need taking up more valuable space here.




Message Edited by lhbrown on 03-30-2008 02:37 PM

[curtiejoe]

kyshel & travelfan



Looks like rating has led to ranting. I agree with those who say "get rid of rating" on the LL Community. Let's just get on with writing about our travel experiences.



Curt

[maylinglai1]

Here here with getting on with travel experiences. Though I have 2 more cents on this one. I've noticed a very odd occurrance that has cropped up more and more. While I think that once sentence statements that are designed with the intention of attempting to somehow game the system into VIP status should be discouraged (makes it hard to search through comments after all), some of the posts are indeed conversations, where the 1 sentence post may make sense. I've noticed that someone(s) appear to be rating these types of comments with low marks. How odd is that? So intriguing how passionately some must be about the rating system to go through and bother to rate each and every comment. I generally just rate those I find most helpful and would only bother rating something low if I felt it discouraged contributions to the LL community or were just off the wall type comments (referencing the period when a couple of posts were actually community solicitations)

To be a good sport, though, I will do my part and attempt a higher level of wit/wisdom to appease the 1 sentence rating Gods.

Happy travels and ratings to all....





Message Edited by maylinglai1 on 03-30-2008 09:38 PM