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by Jodie44 on September 27th, 2006

Jodie44

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Since ratings can be such a contentious issue, should answerbag just do away with ratings altogether? Since comments could provide info on how good (or bad) the answer is, are ratings really necessary?

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Answers. 7 helpful answers below.

  • by SalientAlien on September 27th, 2006

    SalientAlien

    I like ratings attached to answers because it gives me more feedback on what people thought of the answer. Many times people will want to put their two cents in but have nothing specific to say or it has already been said. What I like less is the ratings attached to people, it seems rather arbitrary and only really tells who has the most popular answers, not who is really an expert. Someone with controversial but interesting view will get rated down.

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  • by Persky Bunkermeister on September 27th, 2006

    Persky Bunkermeister

    No. I think ratings are important because they motivate people to write well. While I often repeat my complaints about popularity contests, these contests don't occur in most questions -- they mostly occur in politics/religion/sex questions -- where they occur in every day life as well. And religion can pop up in the funniest places sometimes -- I remember a question about Mac's vs PC's that turned into a full blown religous war.

    AB is about to revamp the rating system. I think AB should put more pressure on question askers to grade answers, and AB should use those grades to rank the usefulness of writers contributions. It's sort of like the answer writers get beaten up for their unpopular answers, and the question askers get a free answer, and everybody else gets entertained. Something seems unfair about that formula.

    I hope AB revamps the "statistics" section too, I think the stats demotivate people to state what's really on their mind for fear of negative ratings. I personally don't have patience for the negative rating whiners -- the fact is -- there are people who don't like my answers -- and there's people whose answers I don't like... that's life, and it's no big deal... you can't be liked by everybody, and I believe, if you are, then you're not really being true to yourself.

    Popularity contests are still useful because they tell you what people think -- "the pulse of answerbag" is probably not much different than the "pulse of popular culture".

    As comments are implemented now, I don't think it would be useful to substitute that for ratings -- I think it would just shift the problem with ratings over to the comments section. Also, I like that you can put in several comments -- it allows people to pursue a line of questions related to the main question.

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  • by Sixty B - Commander Topcoat on June 14th, 2008

    Sixty B - Commander Topcoat

    Ratings are extremely sensitive. I mean, when I see downrates... I'll be the first to admit that I feel bewildered and confused. I *always* try to be helpful! I am certainly no troll, and I am not negative toward other AB members. I personally do not even downrate as my own choice. But the thing is, ratings have become a crucial part of the site. And I feel that a noble ABer will consistently get very positive feedback, and the negative will not be a factor. Of course, trolling and other issues are a factor. It is sad to see wonderful users plagued by such attempts as cyber bullying, and this is a clear downside to a system such as rating. But I must say, at the end of the day, our Answerbag tries very hard to do justice to the most diplomatic and caring users. Those are my thoughts!!!!

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  • by pinkpiggies on September 28th, 2006

    pinkpiggies

    I feel that any one should be allowed to comment, but only the person who asked the question should be able to rate your answer. This will end the competition and creating ghost identities to rate people up or down. I have answered question and received a 100 percent and a comment from the questioner thanking me, 24 hours later I am marked down by a person that did not even answer the question. How do they know if it help the originally person that asked the question in the first place? Maybe I just need to get thicker skin to try to help people.

    ((Jodie44:))
    I had never thought about in that manner, wow, Do you ever think they will find a way that suits every one? (O:

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  • by Bobby Dias on September 27th, 2006

    Bobby Dias

    I appreciate ratings- but I do not use them because I do not want to thought of as one of the answerbag regulars who depend on making people like them as a basis to judge their answers.

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  • by ptrask on September 27th, 2006

    ptrask

    I think that ratings are a good thing...mostly. I must agree with SalientAlien, that the usefulness of a rating attached to a person is not useful. In fact, I tend to ignore or skip over answers from users who have a low score.

    I do think that they should not let users rate an answer anonymously. It is all too easy to rate an answer down because you disagree with them, when you know that noone will know who left the rating. At least go back to the old system where you are required to leave a comment if you rate an answer down.

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  • by Rottweiler on September 27th, 2006

    Rottweiler

    WARNING! CAFFEINATED ANSWER!

    No, Answerbag should not do away with ratings. This helps numerically keep track of how reliable someone is. Actually, I think it should be made a bit more in-depth, such as giving 5 choices for ratings rather than 3 (excluding Spam). This will help make tough rating decisions easier and allow for better, more effective feedback.

    Yes, ratings are necessary as many comments are reactions to other comments. Comments are also extremely hard for a computer to understand as English is more complex than a computer is.

    NOW ENTERING OPINION CITY
    POPULATION: AUTHOR & READER(S)

    And let me stick my neck out here when I say that the negative-rating limit on certain members SHOULD be done away with. When an answer is crap, it's simply that, regardless of who gave it. If I give an Answer That Are Crap, I expect negative ratings! If I consistently give Answers That Are Crap, I expect my helpfulness rating to drop like a rock off the Empire State Building.

    NOW LEAVING OPINION CITY
    PLEASE COME AGAIN

    Lemme sum it up:
    Ratings good? Yes.
    Ratings needed? Yes.
    Rating cap? No.

    Now lemme catch my breath...

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