For Kevin: Message Rating [ Edited ]

[pmath]

Kevin, this month, I've been leading a discussion on the novel North and South on the British Classics board with the encouragement and support of our BNBC moderator, Ilana Simons. I noticed that a number of messages (old and new) I posted in response to one participant, with my encouragement, have very recently been rated with one star each (they were previously unrated).

This is very discouraging, especially since I've made every effort to make everyone feel welcome. I think the message rating system can be misused, and I think it's being misused in this particular case.

I would like to suggest that the message rating feature be disabled, or that only positive ratings be permitted. Otherwise, some members may not feel comfortable posting at all.

Message Edited by pmath on 01-23-200707:30 PM

[Kevin]

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pmath wrote:
I noticed that a number of messages (old and new) I posted in response to one participant, with my encouragement, have very recently been rated with one star each (they were previously unrated).

This is very discouraging, especially since I've made every effort to make everyone feel welcome. I think the message rating system can be misused, and I think it's being misused in this particular case.

I would like to suggest that the message rating feature be disabled, or that only positive ratings be permitted. Otherwise, some members may not feel comfortable posting at all.

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Thanks, pmath.

We'll look into this one a little bit, but don't want to over-react to one incident. In most cases, "unfair" ratings -- whether positive or negative -- will be corrected by the larger number of votes.

Don't let it discourage you.

And for everyone else looking in, remember that the ratings tool can be a good way to send a signal to other users that you find their contributions useful.

[Choisya]

If this has happened to my posts Kevin it might just be that because I have removed a large number of my posts that the rating automatically went down?

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Kevin wrote:

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pmath wrote:
I noticed that a number of messages (old and new) I posted in response to one participant, with my encouragement, have very recently been rated with one star each (they were previously unrated).

This is very discouraging, especially since I've made every effort to make everyone feel welcome. I think the message rating system can be misused, and I think it's being misused in this particular case.

I would like to suggest that the message rating feature be disabled, or that only positive ratings be permitted. Otherwise, some members may not feel comfortable posting at all.

---

Thanks, pmath.

We'll look into this one a little bit, but don't want to over-react to one incident. In most cases, "unfair" ratings -- whether positive or negative -- will be corrected by the larger number of votes.

Don't let it discourage you.

And for everyone else looking in, remember that the ratings tool can be a good way to send a signal to other users that you find their contributions useful.

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[pmath]

Thanks for the quick response, Kevin. Ordinarily, such ratings wouldn't have bothered me, but in this case, it seemed like the low ratings could have discouraged the participant I was encouraging: we certainly have all been getting along very well among ourselves, and having a very friendly discussion!

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Kevin wrote:
Thanks, pmath.

We'll look into this one a little bit, but don't want to over-react to one incident. In most cases, "unfair" ratings -- whether positive or negative -- will be corrected by the larger number of votes.

Don't let it discourage you.

And for everyone else looking in, remember that the ratings tool can be a good way to send a signal to other users that you find their contributions useful.

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pmath wrote:
I noticed that a number of messages (old and new) I posted in response to one participant, with my encouragement, have very recently been rated with one star each (they were previously unrated).

This is very discouraging, especially since I've made every effort to make everyone feel welcome. I think the message rating system can be misused, and I think it's being misused in this particular case.

I would like to suggest that the message rating feature be disabled, or that only positive ratings be permitted. Otherwise, some members may not feel comfortable posting at all.

---

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Message Edited by pmath on 01-24-200707:10 AM

[Nadine]

Sometimes it is a mistake and you can't change it. When I first tried rating a response that I wanted to give 5 stars to, I inadvertently hit the one star. Once done, there is no way to undo.

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pmath wrote:
Kevin, this month, I've been leading a discussion on the novel North and South on the British Classics board with the encouragement and support of our BNBC moderator, Ilana Simons. I noticed that a number of messages (old and new) I posted in response to one participant, with my encouragement, have very recently been rated with one star each (they were previously unrated).

This is very discouraging, especially since I've made every effort to make everyone feel welcome. I think the message rating system can be misused, and I think it's being misused in this particular case.

I would like to suggest that the message rating feature be disabled, or that only positive ratings be permitted. Otherwise, some members may not feel comfortable posting at all.

Message Edited by pmath on 01-23-200707:30 PM

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[Everyman]

I have to agree with you that the rating system seems to be being used by some people for personal attacks on thoughts they don't happen to like.

Several of my posts have been given one star clearly because a poster didn't like what I was saying, not because the post itself was not well written or a legitimate exercise of free speech.

It's too bad that some people see the need to use the system for personal attack, but I guess there are people here who want to game the system that way.

I certainly hope the attacks weren't by you, since you feel that such attacks are inappropriate. But if not by you, there's only one other likely candidate.

[pmath]

I have only given messages the highest (5-star) rating, and I know Choisya has, too, so I can assure you that neither of us rated those messages.

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Everyman wrote:
I have to agree with you that the rating system seems to be being used by some people for personal attacks on thoughts they don't happen to like.

Several of my posts have been given one star clearly because a poster didn't like what I was saying, not because the post itself was not well written or a legitimate exercise of free speech.

It's too bad that some people see the need to use the system for personal attack, but I guess there are people here who want to game the system that way.

I certainly hope the attacks weren't by you, since you feel that such attacks are inappropriate. But if not by you, there's only one other likely candidate.

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[Everyman]

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

[Choisya]

The only person I have rated at all throughout out these boards is you pmath and I did that today when I read your post here, in the hope it would redress the balance. I do not approve of the rating system, had not used it before today and I will continue not to use it.

Actually, I find it strange that if people want to use this as a form of 'attack', why do they give one star - why not leave it blank so that they get none? My conclusion is that the rating system is working on its own in some way, as people post, which is why I thought my rating (which I do not care a jot about!) went down when I removed probably around 100 of my own posts. When I subsequently did a 'User Search' I then noticed that my 'Score' had also gone from around 90% to 79% within a few hours so I presumed this was because of the deleted posts too. Please don't worry about it pmath, it is all a nonsense IMO, like primary schoolchildren having gold stars stuck in their books by their teachers!

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pmath wrote:
I have only given messages the highest (5-star) rating, and I know Choisya has, too, so I can assure you that neither of us rated those messages.

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Everyman wrote:
I have to agree with you that the rating system seems to be being used by some people for personal attacks on thoughts they don't happen to like.

Several of my posts have been given one star clearly because a poster didn't like what I was saying, not because the post itself was not well written or a legitimate exercise of free speech.

It's too bad that some people see the need to use the system for personal attack, but I guess there are people here who want to game the system that way.

I certainly hope the attacks weren't by you, since you feel that such attacks are inappropriate. But if not by you, there's only one other likely candidate.

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Message Edited by Choisya on 01-24-200712:46 AM

[pmath]

Thanks, Nadine: this is very helpful. Now I also wonder if some raters think that one star is actually the highest rating!

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Nadine wrote:
Sometimes it is a mistake and you can't change it. When I first tried rating a response that I wanted to give 5 stars to, I inadvertently hit the one star. Once done, there is no way to undo.

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pmath wrote:
I would like to suggest that the message rating feature be disabled, or that only positive ratings be permitted. Otherwise, some members may not feel comfortable posting at all.

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[pmath]

Thanks, Choisya: I greatly appreciate your support, and all the support I've received from other members, moderators and the BNBC staff!

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Choisya wrote:
The only person I have rated at all throughout out these boards is you pmath and I did that today when I read your post here, in the hope it would redress the balance. I do not approve of the rating system, had not used it before today and I will continue not to use it.

... Please don't worry about it pmath, it is all a nonsense IMO, like primary schoolchildren having gold stars stuck in their books by their teachers!

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pmath wrote:
I have only given messages the highest (5-star) rating, and I know Choisya has, too, so I can assure you that neither of us rated those messages.

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Everyman wrote:
I have to agree with you that the rating system seems to be being used by some people for personal attacks on thoughts they don't happen to like.

Several of my posts have been given one star clearly because a poster didn't like what I was saying, not because the post itself was not well written or a legitimate exercise of free speech.

...

I certainly hope the attacks weren't by you, since you feel that such attacks are inappropriate. But if not by you, there's only one other likely candidate.

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[LizzieAnn]

You did a great job moderating pmath - don't let the ratings get you down. More often, posts aren't rated because after all how do you rate someone's opinions or statements? Just know that all of us who participated in the discussion know what a great job you did!

[pmath]

Thanks, Liz! I certainly don't mind if my posts are unrated, but I think some people may get discouraged when they see posts being misrated.

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LizzieAnn wrote:
You did a great job moderating pmath - don't let the ratings get you down. More often, posts aren't rated because after all how do you rate someone's opinions or statements? Just know that all of us who participated in the discussion know what a great job you did!

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[Everyman]

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pmath wrote:
I certainly don't mind if my posts are unrated, but I think some people may get discouraged when they see posts being misrated.

Not being argumentative, just curious, but if somebody thinks a post is not good or appropriate or valuable, why is it misrating it to mark it as such?

Obviously I think that any rating given to any of my own posts below five stars is a misrating, since I would never post anything that wasn't uniformly superb, but obviously somebody else thought differently. In an extraordinary moment in history, I have to agree with he radical Brit on something, that it isn't worth worrying about.

[pmath]

I agree with both of you, Everyman: see my new icon and quotation.

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Everyman wrote:
In an extraordinary moment in history, I have to agree with the radical Brit on something, that it isn't worth worrying about.

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[Everyman]

Unfortunately the second line of your quotation doesn't show up in my window. This is a problem some others, but maybe not all, have with multi-line quotations.

Can you try putting a carriage return after the end of your quotation in your profile to see whether that will make it fully visible?

Thanks.

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pmath wrote:
I agree with both of you, Everyman: see my new icon and quotation.

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Everyman wrote:
In an extraordinary moment in history, I have to agree with the radical Brit on something, that it isn't worth worrying about.

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[pmath]

I've also dispensed with my signature. I hope everyone can see the whole quotation now:

...like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own.
~ Herman Melville, Moby Dick, or, The Whale, Chapter 68

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Everyman wrote:
Unfortunately the second line of your quotation doesn't show up in my window. This is a problem some others, but maybe not all, have with multi-line quotations.

Can you try putting a carriage return after the end of your quotation in your profile to see whether that will make it fully visible?

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pmath wrote:
I agree with both of you, Everyman: see my new icon and quotation.

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[Choisya]

I would like to suggest that everyone stops 'rating' anyone because every contribution here is valuable and because the very idea of 'scoring' each other in these discussions is a bad one. The 'stars' system would then fall into disuse - hopefully. I rated pmath the other day for a particular reason but I shall now continue to disregard the system and to praise posts in writing if I think they are particularly interesting and/or enlightening.

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pmath wrote:
Thanks, Liz! I certainly don't mind if my posts are unrated, but I think some people may get discouraged when they see posts being misrated.

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LizzieAnn wrote:
You did a great job moderating pmath - don't let the ratings get you down. More often, posts aren't rated because after all how do you rate someone's opinions or statements? Just know that all of us who participated in the discussion know what a great job you did!

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[Everyman]

Thanks. I can see it all now, in both places.

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pmath wrote:
I've also dispensed with my signature. I hope everyone can see the whole quotation now:

...like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own.
~ Herman Melville, Moby Dick, or, The Whale, Chapter 68

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Everyman wrote:
Unfortunately the second line of your quotation doesn't show up in my window. This is a problem some others, but maybe not all, have with multi-line quotations.

Can you try putting a carriage return after the end of your quotation in your profile to see whether that will make it fully visible?

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pmath wrote:
I agree with both of you, Everyman: see my new icon and quotation.

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[KristyR]

I just wanted to point out that there are several new posters in Harry Potter, ones who have less than 3 posts each, who received one star ratings for posts. These posts were fine, just pointing something out or asking a question. I think this would be very discouraging to first time posters, as though their posts were not good enough and they weren't welcomed in the conversations. We need more active participants to keep the conversations going and it disturbs me that someone may be intentionally discouraging first time posters.