Reputations. Do they deserve more careful thought?

[Greg Ross]

Originally Posted by ChrisH

I am concerned that standards of good english be upheld and that those who practice them be recognized in a positive way.

Props for using the subjunctive mood properly, Chris. It's one of my favorites. You get a Grammar Curmudgeon gold star.

[MissInformation]

I like the reputation system but I don't take it seriously. I think it's fun to see little comments people make about your post and I think it's a lot easier and quicker than sending a personal message.

And because I cannot pass by the whole discussion on grammar and spelling... I majored in English. I am not a Grammar Nazi, and I would never give someone negative points for such a thing, however, there are some posts I do not read because I don't want to sit there and figure out what was said. It's not just this site either; I'm like that on all the sites I visit.

Everyone makes mistakes. I know I've made them (heck, you can even look through some of the great Dave Lavery's posts and find some). And speaking of Dave, do you think he's gotten where he is on his engineering skills alone? On Math and Science alone? No, he uses his words as effectively (and affectively) as he uses the tools in his garage. Communication is very important and there are probably way too many intelligent people out there who are held back because they cannot communicate properly. English is not an easy subject for everyone, I understand this because I'm absolutely horrible with math (oh, I know the basics, one plus one equals three... er... two...) but if I gave as little attention to my Math skills as some people give to their English skills, I would find myself in serious trouble when it came to tax time. In other words, when I have to use math in my real life, I recognize my weakness and compensate with a calculator. Spell check is a wonderful thing (I know I'm running this post through it before I post it).

Okay, no more lecturing (for now). As far as the reputation system being flawed, I agree with Amanda 100%. Fair or unfair, it's life. As long as there is a system, there will be those who misuse it.

Heidi

<=========>
Spelled check suggested one ; for a , and a “that” for a “those” until I realized I had left out the “who”, then it accepted the “those".

[Ryan F.]

One thing that bothers me is when people give you reputation points without explaining why, or leaving any comments.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

I think we can forgive you because you're new to this website, but we're discussing the reputation system of rating posts that's a part of the forums we use here; not reputation in any social sense.

What reason is there to "forgive" c-squared_2006? Reputation is, after all, a social thing, not just a bunch of little green boxes. Isn’t the “system” on this website supposed to link back to the usual concept of reputation?

I have noticed that this thread, in particular, is social. As an English major who grew up among engineers, is married to an engineer, and is bringing up a future engineer, I get a little sick of engineer-speak sometimes, and, I confess, read mostly the “social” threads on CD.

I’ve also noticed that much of the discussion in this thread is about the importance of proper English usage, and whether it affects social abilities (and reputation, in either sense).

By the way, I would beware of offending c-squared_2006, who is a scout for Team 1015. I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my team’s reputation with that team, if we should find ourselves in an alliance with them... ;-)

[Salik Syed]

Well...i mean sorry...i guess i shouldn't have but.. if you say something you say it and i have a right to tell people what you say.... It's not like i'm saying anything negative
since it's called the reputation system it should be more like a real reputation not where your rep goes down for not writing properly or multiposting.
btw the negative reps i got because of that...they are actually correct..! (Yes! I was actually stupid this time!)
i'm not saying these people are dumb or stupid ... i don't even know them at all...i'm just saying this about the REP SYSTEM and how you get a bed rep for doing things not really bad... i guess maybe I SHOULD have censored the names but why??? do I have to hide you ... you said it don't be ashamed of it...
Also i'm not really trying to gloat i just wanted to show an example of what negative feeds backs you get and how most of them really don't make sense (at least in my view of how the Rep system should be) ..... I guess i was too lazy to censor the names and thought oh well YOU SAID IT not me
i've actually gotten postive Rep for that post too

[Salik Syed]

Arrgghhh. can't edit my post .... (sorry for multi posting ) i tried to censor the names but I can't see the edit button, anyways one more thing... I really don't care about the reputation system I just think its stupid the way it is right now (and not cause i have a bad rep ... well now I do ....)

about the grammer issue:
ur and btw are pretty well known ... anyone on the internet can understand it, also most of us don't have time to write our post in word spell check, indent and do all that other good stuff, I get on Chiefdelphi in the morning before school and I try to get my questions answered or maybe help someone else out, I try to communicate the message best I can but just because you use a double negative or whatever doesn't matter...many people have more important things to do .

[Madison]

Originally Posted by KarenH

What reason is there to "forgive" c-squared_2006? Reputation is, after all, a social thing, not just a bunch of little green boxes. Isn’t the “system” on this website supposed to link back to the usual concept of reputation?

Yes, of course, that's an accurate description of the system. I did not mean to suggest that they could not or should contribute to the conversation here; only that it didn't seem like they understood the system that was being discussed. That's an "error" than I'm quite willing to overlook exactly because it the content of the post was still somewhat germane to ideas presented throughout the thread.

By the way, I would beware of offending c-squared_2006, who is a scout for Team 1015. I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my team’s reputation with that team, if we should find ourselves in an alliance with them... ;-)

For some people, I know that such consequences are important to consider. I'm lucky that I'm not one of those people But, again, I don't mean to harbor any bad feelings over something insignificant.

[EddieMcD]

I'll point to this post. Here's a little transcript of my post in that thread. My view's haven't really changed.

-----------------------

I'll tell you this right now. I very rarely (if at all) give out rep. I don't even look at rep. It's all the way on the right side of the page, after all. I can glance through posts without looking at any green whatsoever. Besides, why should someone with 10 green dots be taken more seriously than someone with one green (or heck, even still on gray) when at face value, all their opinions are very valid. In which case I'm forced to think who deserves my rep. Does that person with 10 dots deserve it more simply because he has the 10 dots. Maybe I should give a leg-up to the person with 1. If it goes to the person with 10, it's a popularity thing. If I go to the 1, it's a pity thing. Maybe I give it to both, but that almost defeats the purpose of the system.

And then there's bad rep. I myself have gotten bad rep based on Jeopardy questions. How wrong is that? If someone only adds one line to a discussion, should I give him bad rep? I mean, he is adding to the discussion after all. Should all posts under one line be judged as bad? There may be valid opinions in that one line. Maybe someone double posts (which is very often by accident). Should they be penalized for that? I don't agree with a post? Bad rep? (I'd never give out bad rep because someone disagrees with me, but I'm sure it happens). Someone has started flaming other users. Should he be given bad rep? Yes he should (sorry, just making sure you're still paying attention ). If someone pointlessly gives you bad rep, do you have the right to fire back at them (which is a dangerous thing considering a lot of people can fire a negative rep of 15 points)?

I speak my mind. It's just who I am. Which puts me between a rock and a hard place. I want to get my opinion out there (i.e., speak my mind). The problem is my opinion often differs from that of my peers (in this case, the users of CD). I'm not afraid of bad rep, but I'd kinda like that bad rep to be justified. Are you going to give me bad rep because I disagree with Operation Reelect- er, I mean Operation Iraqi Freedom? Are you going to give me good rep because you're good friends with me? Things like this have made me just disregard the entire rep system.

I'm not saying that rep is just a popularity contest, or a tool to keep political enimies (for lack of a better name) at bay. You have no clue how tempted I was to fire a -15 bomb in the direction of the people who gave me bad rep based on Jeopardy questions. I never did, but I wouldn't be suprised if that's another large source of bad rep. I'm pretty sure that a lot of rep givin out is deserved either way. But even if 90% of all rep givin out is justified (and IMO, it's probably less than that), that makes 10% of the system a popularity contest, and a way to oppress those that disagree with you. And 10% of all the points givin out (or heck, lets count 10% of the people) is a lot of points (or people). Again, I'm just speaking my mind. I'll take you seriously even if you're in red. And I won't let other people's opinions on you (in the form of rep), be them good or bad, influence how I feel about what you say. You agree with me? Cool. You don't? Maybe we can have a friendly debate on that topic. Don't be afraid to post what's on your mind. You'll never get bad rep from me if you do.

So, how 'bout them Red Sox?

[Koko Ed]

I had experience with rep point from posting over on @Forums .
I really could take it or leave it.
Seriously.
Rep points are not going to affect the way I post or how I go about my business. I got most of my rep from Fantasy FIRST and it's nice (i'm not going to lie and say it's not) but I didn't do Fantasy FIRST to gain popularity. I did it because I thought it was a fun idea that no one else came up with so I took the initative.
Never base your posts on reputation, spotlights or fishing for compliments. Just say whats on your mind and you'll find you will not only gain greater respect in the ChiefDelphi community but you will feel greater respect for yourself as well.

[omutton]

I am new to CD Forums but one of the first things I noticed was the rep system. I didn't really know what it was but I noticed that people with a lot of green dots are the "popular" ones. I'm not a big fan of the system just because the only reason people get bad reps. is because they speak their mind and I don't have a problem with that, unless there are personal attacks. I know that someone like me won't get to many positive points and I'll probably get negative ones for this post but my point is, there is no need to take it so seriously, everyone's opinion is valid. The CD Forum is great and I hope it stays that way!

[MikeDubreuil]

Currently for my involvement in this thread I have received the following rep points:

Red: 2
Green: 1
Grey: 2

What does the grey rep point mean?

[KyleGilbert45]

Grey means the person that gave you rep doesn't have any points to give so they just basically gave you "0" points..... i think...

[GregT]

Main Entry: rep·u·ta·tion
Pronunciation: "re-py&-'tA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English reputacioun, from Latin reputation-, reputatio consideration, from reputare
1 a : overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general b : recognition by other people of some characteristic or ability <has the reputation of being clever>
2 : a place in public esteem or regard : good name
- rep·u·ta·tion·al /-shn&l, -sh&-n&l/ adjective


I don't see "Green Dot" in there anywhere.

My fear is that this whole reputation thing has turned into more of a popularity contest then anything else. A person with lots of green dots next to their name is more likely to receive additional green dots. A person’s reputation should exist as respect by the general community for a person, not as a number associated with their name. I would like to see an option in the user cp to disable the reputation dots from appearing next to a person’s name.

In my opinion this forums has become a giant popularity contest. In the past few years I have realized that FIRST is, in many ways, very different from what I thought I had gotten involved with. I find this very disappointing.

I have received only one "red dot" and to earn it I had to brutally flame a fellow teammate (sorry Yan). I’m sure I’ll probably see a few more red dots from this response.

Greg

[Matt Adams]

My fear is that this whole reputation thing has turned into more of a popularity contest then anything else. A person with lots of green dots next to their name is more likely to receive additional green dots.

In my opinion this forums has become a giant popularity contest. In the past few years I have realized that FIRST is, in many ways, very different from what I thought I had gotten involved with. I find this very disappointing.

I've never been angry and shot from the hip on these forums... I guess there's a first time for everything.

Let's take a look at the top 5 people with the most reputation on these forums:

Andy Baker
JVN
Dave Lavery
Ken Leung
Joe Johnson

These guys have a lot of reputation points. You know why? Because these five individuals consistantly write concise, sincere, worthwhile, timely, and intelligent posts on a wide variety of topics, sharing a lot of mature insight, including some incredible technical knowledge. They've been around for a long while.

Are the popular? You bet! Why? Because they're honest, sincere people who try to better this online community. What's not to like? They have an immense amount of respect from the people on these boards because of their contributions.

Popularity in high school is a different thing than in real life, and is much different than among the gracious professionals in FIRST. These people are wildly "popular" because they're honest and fun people, not for the superficial reasons that people tend to be popular in high school.

I've heard people in this thread consistantly whine about how they've been around on CD and think they deserve more reputation dots then they have.

Here's the blunt truth:
If you don't have a ton of green dots by your name, you probably don't deserve them.

I feel really humbled that people take the time via leaving some reputation points to let me know that I posted something worthwhile. I'm not in some exclusive circle of five people who exchange reputation points on a nightly basis. As a matter of fact, of the last 24 reputation comments I've received, they've come from 21 different members.

To further the point that this system isn't some sort of exclusive club, I only came on these boards 4 months ago and have met no more than 6 or 7 people outside of my team who post regularly on these boards. I don't have nearly the well founded history that the vast majority of people with high reputation do.

At risk of sounding arrogant - I am a case in point example that anyone who takes the time to post worthwhile, informative posts can rise up among the ranks of the reputation system on these forums.

Are you really concerned about increase the overall respect and reputation that you convey on these forums, (in the form of green dots or otherwise)? Here's a hint: Speak clearing about worthwhile topics that will help other people.

If you're going to sit around in the chit chat forums all day (which is perfectly fine) talking about the weather or other random topics, don't expect people to flood your box with green dots about how much they appreciate knowing that you spotted a Segway on your favorate NBC sitcom.

This is how the system is. Deal with it, or offer worthwhile improvements.

Don't complain that FIRST isn't really all it's cracked up to be or accuse the people who have worked hard within this community and have a lot reputation points simply have them because they're "popular" among some nonexistant clique.

Let's move on,

Matt

[MikeDubreuil]

Originally Posted by Matt Adams

I've never been angry and shot from the hip on these forums... I guess there's a first time for everything.

Let's take a look at the top 5 people with the most reputation on these forums:

Andy Baker
JVN
Dave Lavery
Ken Leung
Joe Johnson

I feel really humbled that people take the time via leaving some reputation points to let me know that I posted something worthwhile.

Matt- I've seen your posts. Some of them look like they could be white papers. Your reputation is well deserved. The people you mentioned fall under the same category.

What I'm saying is, there's some people out there who get reputation or even spotlighted, when they clearly should not have been.

In some regards, remember the superlatives section of the high school yearbook? I think the reputation system is working like that, mostly a popularity contest among a clique.