It's already started!
 

On SPAM, they've already started a "conga line" for reputation. It sure didn't take long to abuse the feature. :rolleyes:

On E-bay and the like, one can give feedback only if one was involved in a transaction not related to the "reputation". That at least cuts down on "reputation for sale", "I'll pat your back if you'll pat mine", and similar abuses. Not sure how we could similarly attempt to ensure the integrity of the system here?

(There may be some way where the "value" of an ego-boo point is diminished based on the number the issuer has given out?)

I posted the conga to point out the absurdity of the point system as it stands (see my posts above). It is nothing more than a popularity contest. Since the 'points' have no real value, there is neither harm nor benefit in collecting, trading, even soliciting them. I give positive comments freely to anyone who's post I like. If I happen to like posts on the conga line, that's my perogative. I see no 'abuse'.

I'm sure things will settle down once people get tired of playing with the new toy and only use it when something really moves them. The couple of reputation boosts that I've received so far had really nice comments attached.. Made my day :)

thanks ScottC
 

ScottC, color to match your FT Rep, thank you for telling me where I can view FT rep comments. Must not have any as I go to Myflyertalk all the time and don't see any. :D

Well, most people will get tired of this very quickly (for different reasons),
but there will always be those with a nasty side that comes out when
'nobody is looking', and they can do their bidding and shilling anonymously.

I'm glad that some have gotten something positive out of this, but I wonder
if they have considered other people's experiences beyond their own personal
(beneficial) experiences?


The 'Reputation game' is, and will continue to be, a popularity contest, and
an index of Political Correctness.

Those people that NEVER engage in any controversial arguments, and NEVER
engage in political/religious discussions, will do well in this game. We should
re-name it the "PC Index"...


An update:

Yes, it is possible to have negative points. I made one innocent post in
the ('self-regulating') Air Canada Forum, and am now in negative territory.
One comment seemed to indicate that they did not get, or understand,
any relevance of the post - - but is that a reason to 'ding'? Hmmm...
.

vBulletin's default reputation descriptions
 

FYI and FWIW, these are the default settings for the reputation descriptions in vBulletin. Both the descriptions and the required point levels can be changed by the board admins.

Enjoy! :)

FewMiles..

Thanks for that Fewmiles, I don't know if reaching "User is a name known to all" is all that distinguished :D

I'm getting some really nice feedback on my posts, so it does pay to be nice :)

I think the idea is that if you are giving useful advice as to miles and points, you will, over time, inevitably gain positive remarks.

If, OTOH, you take unpopular positions on issues, you are more likely to get dinged. A low rating could even become a badge of honor - consider the run-up to the Iraq war. How right were the naysayers, after all? How popular were they? So, I'm not sure getting dinged says a whole lot about anybody. And who is going to ding someone for leaving inaccurate info about miles and points? I can't believe that anyone would 1. leave bad info intentionally; and 2. would ding someone for just ATTEMPTING to help someone out.

I thought of another problem: say you are an agent provocateur (like those big words? :D ); you could leave a member bad feedback and sign your name with a pseudonym NOT YOURS, creating animus between two innocent parties, like a Tom Clancy novel.

Not that I would know a Tom Clancy novel if I got hit in the head with it - the last novel I read was "See Spot Run" - well, I didn't read it actually; I mean, I enjoyed looking at the pictures, but the point remains the same. :mad:

There are a lot of really happy, confident folks in the world who really do try every day to make the world a brighter, happier place for everyone they encounter. They help people when they can, and spread cheer wherever possible. I suspect that those folks will post only positive (and probably identified) comments. I have received a lot of these and thank all of you who posted them.

There are other folks who appear to derive some sort of odd pleasure out of tearing people down. When I identify this trait in another FlyerTalker, I place him/her on my ignore list. I suspect that those are the same folks who post negative (anonymous) comments inother peoples reputations--I received a few of these the first day and have asked Randy to identify the posters. The good news is that I suspect that those comments have come from the very folks whose opinions don't make it on my charts.

The reuptation feature can be a positive addition to FlyerTalk if handled responsibly and, yes, I do think that randomly spreading cheer, even through the S.P.A.M. conga line, makes the world a little bit better place.

After I posted this letter apparently a few people decided to prove me wrong. Suddenly, I started getting dinged on EVERYTHING. Even a letter stating that the board moves faster when there are fewer people on it got a ding. I dropped from 24 points to 9 (and this was in a period when I got a few more positive reps).

Sorry, guys, but I still don't feel that I was wrong. I am not sitting and crying about my lowered rep. If anything, you proved my point -- that the reputation has no meaning. As I said earlier, it doesn't add anything to Flyer Talk but it doesn't cause any real problem either.

Obvious that some people are taking this thing MUCH too serious.

:mad:
 

Ha! Easy for someone with three jewels to say. :mad:



;) :D (Just kidding, scottie)

:( I beleive that I too am the victim of this type of 'rep slamming'. Several anomymous negatives related to one older post, all posted within a few minutes of each other. Oh well. But my rep points keep going up anyway. :rolleyes:
I beleive it will continue to go up, because there are more of 'us' (genuinely expressing opinions and sharing valuable info.) than there are of 'them' (flame bait).

Are you saying that people who give negative feedback are unhappy people?


I commend you for that, but what does this have to do with the reputation feature?


If Randy does this for you, I expect that he will do this for anyone who asks. That is more of a slippery slope that anyonymous ratings.


Then why do you want these people identified?


You are being inconsistent. Either the feature is positive or it is not. If I am reading this paragraph correclty, you are stating that the reputation feature is OK, as long as all comments are positive. That simply makes the feature a High School popularity contest.