Thread: Opinion ~ Are we misusing our rep powers ?

Hey friends,

On a parallel thought along with the rep system in the thread http://www.indiabroadband.net/sugges...m-upgrade.html (Next forum upgrade?) -- Judging by the increase in rep count in last few months. I have a feeling that we spammers (obviously including ME) are misusing the reputations facility. As far as I know 'at least' 50-60% of my rep points came from just rep mania/trading. Till sometime back its effect was negligible or so i felt. Now we see that most of us spammers have higher reputation power than who actually contribute a lot to forum in the form of technical answers, etc.

Thing is if anyone starts to rep another simply without reason, the other member feels 'obligated' to return the favour. While this might interesting, it spoils the entire purpose of awarding rep points! Some forum use "thanks" instead of the "reputations point". This would be a slightly better option in the current scenario, not that it cannot be misused as well.

Even in case we are willing to change our habits, obviously none of us would want to lose our points, but the thing is it will probably motivate us to create more 'quality' posts, to keep the rep point coming !


Differece between the 2nd and 3rd option in poll:

Option 2 --> the importance is given to content, i.e. user's contribution to forum
Option 3 --> from member's point of view, if the member likes a thread then
he can award reputation, irrespective of content

Please tell me your thoughts and opinion !

If this place is only for tech people than there is no place for me here. I hardly go in tech sections, but yes, whenever I face some tech issues I alwasys get positive response. Coming back to topic, in my humble opinion, Rep points are something which you give to a thread/post which you like or it benifted you somehow(like provided solution for your problem) etc and you feel like thanking/appreciating the person, so i don't see any harm in doing that.

In regard to the poll options, i was confused, whether to go for option 3 or 4, finally i voted for 3.

That was really s good of you newp!!
This is really a serious issue to be thought about, and I was also feeling the need of this for sometime. But, repos shouldn't be of-course restricted to Tech threads. "Contribution" has a bigger meaning.

And, like many other forums I have seen, we should also implement a rule that no user should "demand" repos. But they can of-course, point out there contribution. I really like the way essbebe do it. He asks other users to repo some other person who seem to have helped/contributed something good. I really appreciate that behaviour of his.

And I have heard unoffically that some users PM the big guns for repos.

Also a lot of repo is going to copy-paste content.

P.S: I have not yet voted in the poll, because I think that will need to be edited soon or later.

Yes i agree to the point of NP, but that is entirely not correct also.
We already have some thoughts why and when to rep. Even if its spamming no body here is giving rep's to all. Rep is given here only if its best spamming .

Only thing i want to suggest is, senior members should watch and give rep's to the genuine post thats all. As the rep of the senior members only will make the huge difference.

Originally Posted by kirankumargb

Rep is given here only if its best spamming .

Originally Posted by Manish

If this place is only for tech people than there is no place for me here. I hardly go in tech sections, but yes, whenever I face some tech issues I alwasys get positive response. Coming back to topic, in my humble opinion, Rep points are something which you give to a thread/post which you like or it benifted you somehow(like provided solution for your problem) etc and you feel like thanking/appreciating the person, so i don't see any harm in doing that.

In regard to the poll options, i was confused, whether to go for option 3 or 4, finally i voted for 3.

First of all thanks for your opinion !

Right now we all consider repo & post counts as a sort of 'yard stick', 'respect', and as a way of superiority. Suppose if all of stop bragging about it, then at some point in time, we would simply consider it to mean that a particular user has contributed a lot in technical threads.

Supposing such a case arises in future, would you still feel let down for not getting repo's, inspite of the fact people thanking you in your thread. (I'm not judging you, all I want is your opinion).

I feel this is uniquely possible in IBF because, we do not, look down on people having lower posts or rep power,rather we have formed a community of friends , we simply have a friendly game of who has higher points.

Originally Posted by dhaneshv

And, like many other forums I have seen, we should also implement a rule that no user should "demand" repos. But they can of-course, point out there contribution. I really like the way essbebe do it. He asks other users to repo some other person who seem to have helped/contributed something good. I really appreciate that behaviour of his.

And I have heard unoffically that some users PM the big guns for repos.

Also a lot of repo is going to copy-paste content.

P.S: I have not yet voted in the poll, because I think that will need to be edited soon or later.

I agree with you dhanno, about askin for reps, even I hav done it, but certainly not through PM's !

Regarding copy paste content , we already have had lots of discussions, but its really in the hands of individual members to rep or not to rep .

Please tell, any corrections necessary, with regard to the poll.

Originally Posted by kirankumargb

Yes i agree to the point of NP, but that is entirely not correct also.
We already have some thoughts why and when to rep. Even if its spamming no body here is giving rep's to all. Rep is given here only if its best spamming .

yea true :lol:

Only thing i want to suggest is, senior members should watch and give rep's to the genuine post thats all. As the rep of the senior members only will make the huge difference.

My dear , the whole discussion is what do we consider as genuine posts !

Originally Posted by newprouser

My dear , the whole discussion is what do we consider as genuine posts !

ok according to me genuine post is that, which will help / solve the issue of the thread starter. It may be useful to the forum or not, but if it resolves the issue then its a good post and deserves rep. (correct me if i am wrong)

I have seen some forum who use Vbulletin for forum software have some special programming/add-on used for rep giving.

When you click on the rep button, a dialogue box appears. It has several options listed e.g.

1. Providing useful information(5 rep points)
2. Helping a user(10 rep points)
3. Doing something positive for the community(5 rep points)
4. Creating an entertaining thread etc.(1 rep points)
5. Writing a use-able tutorial(8 rep points)

and many others...

Now when you choose option 1,2,3 or 5 you give more rep points to the user than if you choose option 4.

This will basically force users who stick to offtopic and jokes (like me ) to come out and post useful and informative posts, only if the user wants large number of rep points to show off. Naturally you gain reps by posting jokes but the amount is very less when you compare that to reps gained by writing a tutorial or helping a user.

Obviously, this new system throws the "weight of the rep power" out of the window. Even if your rep power is 1 or 20...you can give other users the same rep points. This works very well especially it distribute the power of rep points equally to all users whether you are forum n00b or a veteran. A real democratic way of giving rep IMO.

Right now the rep giving powers are highly unbalanced. I am not suggesting that the people with very high reps do not deserve their power. I am sure they worked very hard to get all the rep points they got, and they should be very much proud of that.

But if the centre of power is limited to a few users, it can never be a healthy thing in the long run for any community. People with high rep powers will continue to grow and prosper, while n00bs are left scraping an empty barrel most of the time.
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The new system coupled with a complete transparency regarding the rep page should work well.

PS: One more thing; Negative rep giving option should be removed completely. If you dislike something or disagree with something there are more polite and better ways to express your opinion in relevant posts than to give somebody negative rep points.

Not like that KK. i'm talking about categories as mentioned in the poll. Purely technical or non-technical (Say for example jokes,witty comments aka spam)

Originally Posted by 18lama

IWhen you click on the rep button, a dialogue box appears. It has several options listed e.g.

1. Providing useful information(5 rep points)
2. Helping a user(10 rep points)
3. Doing something positive for the community(5 rep points)
4. Creating an entertaining thread etc.(1 rep points)
5. Writing a use-able tutorial(8 rep points)

and many others...

Now when you choose option 1,2,3 or 5 you give more rep points to the user than if you choose option 4.

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PS: One more thing; Negative rep giving option should be removed completely. If you dislike something or disagree with something there are more polite and better ways to express your opinion in relevant posts than to give somebody negative rep points.

Both very valid points:thumbup:

In My Opinion Let the repo system should be what it is now. Reps are just a way to show that the reader liked the post. If only tech threads are awarded with reps then people like me who don't have much relations with the tech thread will be discouraged to post even in entertaintment section.

Excellent post Amal ! A win-win solution ! :thumbup:

PS: sorry unable to rep you now

Originally Posted by 18lama

PS: One more thing; Negative rep giving option should be removed completely. If you dislike something or disagree with something there are more polite and better ways to express your opinion in relevant posts than to give somebody negative rep points.

I really haven't come accross anyone actually using this. But i normally give negative reps to spam posts (spam,scam,advt posts), so that the rep cycle is reset and I can continue to rep same deserving persons more often !

@ siddharth, mannu bhai

Did you read post #6 ?

Well a good soltion found out by Amal. But let me clear that entertaintemt threads should be awarded with minimum 2 Rep points.Warna hamara kya hoga???

Originally Posted by siddharth

Well a good soltion found out by Amal. But let me clear that entertaintemt threads should be awarded with minimum 2 Rep points.Warna hamara kya hoga???

:lol: :lol:

Originally Posted by newprouser

Excellent post Amal ! A win-win solution ! :thumbup:

PS: sorry unable to rep you now

I really haven't come accross anyone actually using this. But i normally give negative reps to spam posts (spam,scam,advt posts), so that the rep cycle is reset and I can continue to rep same deserving persons more often !

I would rather give such users an infraction or a restriction warning...underneath their user name in bright bold letters, so that people know what happens when you spam or break the rules deliberately or repeatedly.

Naturally Jittu is a different case and these rules don't apply to him.

Originally Posted by siddharth

Well a good soltion found out by Amal. But let me clear that entertaintemt threads should be awarded with minimum 2 Rep points.Warna hamara kya hoga???

Assigning the exact rep points for what purpose is up to the site staff, I was only giving a preliminary idea.

@npu

Sorry for not yet replying here. I will reply to this thread later.

Originally Posted by 18lama

I would rather give such users an infraction or a restriction warning...underneath their user name in bright bold letters, so that people know what happens when you spam or break the rules deliberately or repeatedly.

Naturally Jittu is a different case and these rules don't apply to him.

:lol: thats not my point !

You know the problem with the current rep system - we have to rep a certain number of people before repping the same person again. For this, I can simply give negative reps to spammer,advertisers etc , so that the number of unique members I have to rep comes down quickly, and i can rep members consecutively in a shorter time !

Originally Posted by saurav_k

@npu

sorry for not yet replying here. I will reply to this thread later.

ok

Originally Posted by newprouser

:lol: thats not my point !

You know the problem with the current rep system - we have to rep a certain number of people before repping the same person again. For this, I can simply give negative reps to spammer,advertisers etc , so that the number of unique members I have to rep comes down quickly, and i can rep members consecutively in a shorter time !

Don't be offended: but that amounts to rep cheating. I know a lot of forums who ban or serve infractions to users who spam reps to undeserving posts and/or users.

Originally Posted by 18lama

Don't be offended: but that amounts to rep cheating. I know a lot of forums who ban or serve infractions to users who spam reps to undeserving posts and/or users.

I'm not offeneded, just curious, so please clarify .... how can it be considered as spamming reps ? All I'm doing is ..

1. whenever any spammer/advertiser posts a thead, I issue a NEGATIVE REPO, and then report the thread.

Here , i feel that there nothing usual,since negative reps are given to unwanted threads or those with incorrect information. Am i right ?

2. Next, it so happens that , many a time, a user posts 2-3 threads, all of which I find useful and I wish to rep him.

3. Obviosly i cannot rep him more than once.

4. By the time i'm able to rep him again, he may have opened another 2-3 repo deserving threads.

5. But if I give neagtive reps to useless threads which are probably goin to get deleted in a few hours , how will that amount to cheating ?

spamming reps means 2 things:

1) giving to many reps too too many users in day. (either + or -)
2) giving certain users more reps more than once during a certain time frame.

Originally Posted by 18lama

spamming reps means 2 things:

1) giving to many reps too too many users in day. (either + or -)
2) giving certain users more reps more than once during a certain time frame.

Oh you mean that. There's already a system in place which prevents that isn't it.

Usually it take me atleast a week or more before i can rep a person. Its slighly lower if i give neg reps to spam posts

Originally Posted by newprouser

Not like that KK. i'm talking about categories as mentioned in the poll. Purely technical or non-technical (Say for example jokes,witty comments aka spam)

Let it be anything, let it be technical or non-technical. Just an example (please dont take it seriously ) just now preeti created a thread and asked for the basic info about the trading, go through it and i have provided all the basic info she needs to start trading, this is purely non-technical but just a useful guide to here and i may be given rep here. Like this let it be of any category if the issue of the thread starter is resolved then they can be awarded rep's.

Another issue about copy-paste.
First for solving an issue, here if the members even copy paste the content and solve the issue of the started then they may be awarded rep's. As the thread starter is also on the net and yet he is not able to seek his answer and other members are taking interest and searching for his sake and giving him the solution so they may be awarded.

Now about new issues.
Here apart from the copy-paste there should be something more added by the user then it can be given rep as he also has struggled and understood what he is posting and gave his views about it.

I will give my own two examples

TED Sixth Sense thread gave me some good rep's specially by senior members. There i have given my own views about what the thread contains and how the technology is used. So i deserve it

Cinnamon and Honey : This thread is purely copy-paste (though i have personally checked each treatment and when i was satisfied i posted it).
Yet its totally a copy-paste so i may not be awarded for that.

These are just my views

Originally Posted by newprouser

Oh you mean that. There's already a system in place which prevents that isn't it.

Usually it take me atleast a week or more before i can rep a person. Its slighly lower if i give neg reps to spam posts

And it takes me over 2 weeks to rep the same person.

Ok Point taken...

you basically give - reps to spammers and advertisements to break the rep cycle. As per the current system that's fair enough.

NPR, Rep'd you for bringing this topic up.

-F