The absolutely silliest ratings are those given by people who don't have enough points and don't make any comments.

I just received one about one of the posts I made on this thread. All I see is a grey box. Because the rater did not write anything, I don't know if he/she thinks I should be placed in the Hall of Fame or burned in Effigy (a small town in Nebraska).

No disrespect taken at all Cholula, (but I wonder how closely you have looked at who has chosen to go "black square" and not be in the playground for the usual suspect yahoos?

I have noticed a number of moderators among them and a number of folks I have nothing whatever in common with on FT - except we all apparently recognise this is a pretty pointless and very divisive feature.

I disagree with you on a technical point.

The last TEN posts all illustrate it. ;)

Who cares :).

Strangely enough, I apparently got a few negative ones on threads that are months old...someone must have gone back just to get that done.

It's amusing that this feature is being used here...

I personally like the reputation feature. I also think this thread proves that all systems that you put in place can be abused. I feel that people are being more civil in their posts and this is partially an effect of reputation. This alone should mean that it should remain on. Glen, I believe that Randy suggested that Moderators turn the reputation feature off and that is why many of them have. To get back on topic, I also think that negative reputation dings with false names as well as those with inappropiate words and phrases should be reported to Randy. Oh, and thanks Randy, I like the new FT look and features better each day.

For those who are perhaps keeping "score", my "reputation" suffered yet another hit as one more "ding" comes my way for posting to this thread concerning ID fraud! :o

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A new twist to reputati... Apr 19, 04 11:55 pm YAWN

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Ya' gotta' love FTs' rep feature! :D

At least I also got some "love", both anonymous and signed, thanks! :)

Have a great day all! :)

-Mark

Oh, I know who that is - that's Donna Karan's fan club president... :D (He yawned at me, too - just hope he covered his mouth...)

LOL I laughed at this when I read it late last night, and lo and behold, this morning I find one of these added to my own reputation. Hehe. Given the mixed sentiment of the thread it's from, I have no idea if it was meant to be positive or negative. Oh, well. I'm only following all this stuff for the entertainment value. ;)

I actually got three anonymous dings for reporting that someone had fraudulently signed my name to a negative reputation statement sent to a third party. :rolleyes: Maybe the "cow dungers" don't sign their names because they can't actually read or write.

It's a possiblity. :D

For those that turned it off, are you doing so because you dislike the system, or because you want to hide your dismal score?

I had toyed with they idea of turning it off, as moderators are open to misuse, but so far I've had almost nothing but awesome feedback; I'm seeing stuff like "great alert on a good deal" or "thanks for the help" as feedback on tech threads. If I only got negatives I'm sure I'd turn it off as well. That said, I don't see the purpose of posting to a thread every time you end up with a negative, I've had plenty of them and am sure I'll get many more, I'd be dissapointed if i didn't. FWIW, I'm currently in the "high 300's" and I'd like to thank everyone that took the time to leave a message, whether it's kind or not.

If you leave a negative, please DO NOT leave your name, I really don't need to know who it is, and quite frankly I don't want to be on the board knowing "who doesn't like me and who does", I bet that if I were to add my name to a negative I'd never hear the last of it, just like i'm reminded about moderation decisions on a daily basis by certain members... :rolleyes:

Have you considered the possibility that some people are not signing based on the post, but on the poster? I'm sure some people will see "a name" and irrespective of what the post says just click on the reputation and leave negative (or not). I've had several dings in completely useless threads and am sure they are just saying "ScottC sucks" and not "ScottC's thread sucks", and I'm fine with that, it doesn't change who I am and doesn't disturb my sleep at night.

It's a childish way to say "I don't like you", but it's seemingly effective as you obviously are quite upset over the reputation system.

If people keep "dinging" you perhaps they are trying to leave a message, or get you in the "negative" i.e. in the grey or red, why not stop the whole silly thing now and just turn it off, that way you'll spoil the "fun" of whoever is playing this dumb game. IMHO you either keep it on, and be the possible victim of people trying to make a point, or you turn it off and move on with life, the same advise I tried to give you 3 weeks ago...

Yes.

Turned it off on day #1, as I could foresee the system being grossly misused and abused, as some are doing rather vigorously - that is crystal clear.

:D A certainty! :)

Oooh, a nice kind reputation / reward could certainly boost my score :) Not that I am trolling or anything :D

Scott, some people might well be doing that. I have restricted my very few dings to the posts but I have given positive reps to poster. I can't really say that either way to go is wrong as we have no established basis for what deserves a ding and what deserves a bing (my own word, which I just invented, to be the opposite of a ding).

Let's say that on Omni, somebody writes an intelligent post, providing thought-provoking arguments, but comes to a political conclusion with which you disagree. Should that be a bing or a ding? (Personally I would bing it, but others may well feel differently.)

Conversely, somebody uses faulty logic and non-factual information to support an premise with which you agree. Are you supposed to bing or ding?

Indeed, does any opinion at all rate a bing/ding? Should that be based solely on the accuracy of the facts? (The main point of F/T, after all, is to share information.)

As there are no established, or even theoretically enforceable, answers to these questions reputations are meaningless. That is the reason I am happy that they are no longer publicly viewable. On the other hand, the game does add a bit of fun to the board, so I am happy it is being continued.

Everyone should keep the following in mind: With the sole exception of the creep who dings you and signs someone else's name, nobody can cause any harm. If someone were to ding me and include the filthiest possible message with it, I would know that an idiot had it in for me and dismiss it. No one else would read that message (unless I decided to share it) so nobody would think any less of me for it.

Leaving a false name is misuse, plain and simple. But to click on the reputation button, and then leave a negative is hardly misuse or abuse. The system is there, and I'm sure there are posters out there that want to leave a "message". Personally I like this system much better than public flames we've seen in the past. There is nothing on the board that says you need to leave a name, or a message so if FT offers a system people can use to insult you you can be assured they will.

IMHO it's time to either turn off showing your own reputation or to stop complaining, you can't have it both ways. You either leave yourself open to criticism or you don't, I really have no burning desire to hear every time someone "dings" you, if it's abuse like false names then email Randy.