Stars and Flags

I would like to know how many points you get for stars and how many points for flags.
Are there any levels of each to strive for?

Example: Once you reach 300 flags, you are provided with the true gunmans name in the JFK conspiracy..

Stars - Point value?
Flags - Point Value?

reply to post by Resurrectio


1 Star equals 1 Star

1 Flag equals 1 Flag.

"Points" mainly come from threads you've posted and replies it receives. Secondarily, how many replies you write in others threads.

Apparently you also get points for applause.

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776
Apparently you also get points for applause.

That is true, also for participating on official debates, stuff like that.

So how's the star system working out for you guys?

I can understand flagging, giving threads more attention (whether positively or negatively), but starring individual posts is when ATS started endorsing popularity over reason alone imo.

I guess you're all still satisfied with it thus far though?

reply to post by Resurrectio


This is kinda on topic but I have yet figured out how to star something. Maybe someone could help?

reply to post by blangger

You see the place where "stars" appear on posts, top left hand corner?
There will be a "blank" star next to the line of stars. Click on that, and you will have added to their number.
If the post has not yet received any stars, the "blank" star will be there on its own.

reply to post by bsbray11


My angle on the star and flag method is this. In terms of flags, I think they are a good way for the user base to ensure that the threads they find the most interesting, important, detailed and so on are given the most attention. Because there is an extensive archive of old threads, we have the capacity to check through them to ensure that anything which deserved attention but was missed in the cut and thrust of the day, can be retroactively bought forward into the light , using flags. That is of course benificial. However, in terms of what flags mean to me personaly, I have to confess an utter lack of care wether a thread I publish has attained them or not. I rarely make a thread in any case, since most of the issues I would post a thread on, have already been covered by the time I get to my keyboard in the morning by people living in other time zones !
On the subject of stars , again they are useful, because they provide a decent barometer of the popularity of a post, or at least of the opinions contained therein. However, it is how one interprets the popularity of a given post, which is important, not the mere fact of its popularity. Sometimes for instance, a post will be popular because it speaks to the masses effectively, however, it may be nothing more than rhetoric, recycled opinions of sensationalists and media figures, which although empty of any real value, attains attention because it echos the thinking of the other posters in the thread. Of course, as someone who posts responses to threads, far more often than he creates a thread, stars are nice to recieve. But in terms of the level to which I covet them, I have to say that again, I could not care less wether I get them or not.
The reason for this, is that in my opinion it is vital to speak ones mind, regardless of wether or not people like it, or agree with it. Many people do not like my anti fascist attitude, but I see no reason to allow that to prevent me speaking my mind on the matter, or indeed from arguing my case when debate arises from reactions to my words. Some agree with my stance on politics , and corruption, however just because they agree with me, does not make me right, and it is important for all members to remember this, and constantly examine thier own words, as closely as the words of others, to ensure that we do not become parodies of ourselves, caricatures of our political leanings, attitudes toward paranormal studies and so on.
In short, the flag and star system seems to me to be a tool of measurement, in the same way that an estimated bill is an accurate account of the use of energy in your home. It gives you an idea of the popularity of the threads, and the posts within them, but to truely gauge thier interest to yourself, you must of course take a look for yourself, and make up your own mind.

Mods, jump right in and tell me what the ATS scoring system is all about, cause, I'm sure I missed it.
Why not step up to the plate and settle this once and for all.

I would like to know what the points are for.
It does not look like you have to be accurate with any information here, just popular.

I'm pretty sure the stars and points are just silly kudos to make you feel good.
The flags make more sense, but if you notice, people like to give the S&F together, so....

If it is just for fun, I would like to add:
1) Golden Stars
2) Cow Pies
3) Wizzo Buttons
4) Tin Foil Hats

You know, the more time someone spends here on ATS posting, the less time they spend in the "real" world.
The people creating new posts everyday, pulling in points, flags and stars, thus giving themselves ATS credits, are actually spending less time in the "real" world.

I just hope you are all aware that you can wash your own brains, with whatever information you like, be it fact or fiction.

Mental floss anyone?

reply to post by CHEDwick


Kudos, Chedwick. You've been here a grand total of two whole weeks and already you have ATS completely figured out. How wonderful for you. The rest of us who have been here for years should probably just bow down to your superior insight, and then maybe go home.

Over the years ATS has tried several different schemes of stars, flags, points, levels, indices, etc. in an attempt to gauge the overall worth of threads, posts, and members' contributions. As anything can be abused, there is probably some truth to the assertion that stars & glags are a popularity contest. Besides, "popularity" is oart of the deal. However, if your superior discernment extends to actually reading and analyzing threads you will notice a few things:

1. A thread can often solicit many posts, yet get few flags. Interestingly, the stars on posts contrary to the original poster can exceed the stars the poster gets. How can this be? Because overall the membership does not agree with the poster and is saying so with their awarding of stars to contrary opinions and few flags. We have a couple of threads active now which show this trend. You will find posters questioning flags on threads as well. There was a recent hoax post on here that earned a few flags. People were asking why someone would flag such a thread at all.

2. You will also note that threads which show a great deal of work & effort tend to out flag those which simply provide a link with no analysis. Gazrok, for example, regularly earns dozens of flags on his threads because he puts so much effort into them. People recognize that effort and reward him.

With any open rewards system such as this you will have a certain number of people who use their ability to reward someone in a way you may object to. Some people even use a 'reverse psychology' approach and award stars and flags contrary to the norm. Then there are those people who actually reward performance. The hope is that OVERALL a person who contributes more and has more insightful posts will have a higher score than those who do not. In other words, the whole thing will balance out. After a few years of posting you will be able to tell at a glance who is a thoughtful poster, and who is a nutcase.

Now we get to points. Points are awarded for posting, but at a very low level. If your post is extrmely thoughtful, it can get "applause" which is awarded by moderators, and can be typically 250-500 points. In other words, if a ranking member of this site finds your post worthwhile, you can pile on points pretty fast. This is not important in and of itself except insofar as it contributes to your "W" and "K" scores. This is a "secret formula" that uses stars, flags, and points to compute the "W" (Way Above Top Secret) and "K" (Karma) scores, which are really indices derived by algorithm. Once again, a higher W and/or K score over time indicates a member whose contribution level is worthwhile--or not. Incidentally, I believe the K score takes into account the realtive newness of a member, so if you start out contributing very highly, this will immediately be reflected in your K score. There are threads already on this. Search for them.

Now, if we take a look at your scores, they are extremely low. Well, you just got here and no one expects your scores to be high. If a year from now your scores are still this low, then it would be grounds for most people to ignore you. Overall your contribution level is not (yet) very high. If you'd care to start contributing instead of merely criticizing, your score will rise quite quickly.

I think you will find that posts which indulge in heavy sarcasm and criticism, such as yours above, won't earn you much of a reputation. Thoughtful posts which show time & effort generally will. Since this is a Board Business forum, you cannot star posts in it at all.

reply to post by schuyler


Wow, you type a lot. Your logic fails to change my perception. I guess I should be treated as if I where born yesterday since I have only been here a short while!
Lets hope I contribute a lot, cause that makes me more intelligent somehow.
I'm interested in what someone is saying with no regard to how long or how many times they said it here.
You can have one or one billion stars and flags, but what you say is what is important, be it negative or positive.
You don't need to like or agree with truth.

Guess I hit a sore spot with the points, however it seems rather childish to me to want to possess or blindly trust those with more flags. I mean why would you care what strangers think based on their time on ATS? Talk about double reverse psychology!

I was asking for a mod, btw.

Originally posted by TrueBrit
On the subject of stars , again they are useful, because they provide a decent barometer of the popularity of a post, or at least of the opinions contained therein. However, it is how one interprets the popularity of a given post, which is important, not the mere fact of its popularity. Sometimes for instance, a post will be popular because it speaks to the masses effectively, however, it may be nothing more than rhetoric, recycled opinions of sensationalists and media figures, which although empty of any real value, attains attention because it echos the thinking of the other posters in the thread.

This is exactly what I mean.

The same people who go along with mass consensus and rhetoric are going to be more likely to think stars and therefore the popularity of a post actually means something.

Without stars, the focus remains on the content of what is actually being posted, and there is no "popularity contest" to get involved with.

It marks a pretty big difference in mentalities when you are dealing with "denying ignorance."

reply to post by bsbray11


I agree that for those of a disposition for flocking together, the stars system may act upon them as a beacon for thier attention, merely to point to popular posts. However, we all know the old phrase "Great minds think alike, and fools flock together." This is why it is essential that people learn to make up thier own minds about the content on this site, rather than paying over much attention to the flags and stars a thread/post recieves.
One tool which the moderators and operators of the site recommend, is that potential posters read the entire thread before commenting themselves. There are many reasons for complying with this simple request, not least of which is that it avoids needless repetition of a point, but on top of that, it can give a poster a far better insight into the true quality of a thread, and/or the posts within it. This in turn promotes a higher quality of post, and almost as a by product means that the poster is better informed before posting.
However, many people utterly disregard this important element of participation in the discussions held on ATS , and as a result of this, and it has to be said an outright lack of wit on the part of some posters, the quality of the content can suffer greatly.
In terms of stars and flags, it is good that there is a mechanic within the site which allows a discerning reader to gauge the potential of a thread before reading it, but it is the responsibility of posters and readers of this site to examine obscure , unflagged threads as well as popular, headlining ones to ensure that popularism and foolishness of that sort do not flourish.
Ultimately the readership need to take a more responsible approach to thier use of the tools provided by ATS , in order to ensure that this place remains a fantastic portal for the unusual, rather than becoming a mundane opinion poll in all but name.

Originally posted by CHEDwick
reply to post by schuyler

 

Guess I hit a sore spot with the points, however it seems rather childish to me to want to possess or blindly trust those with more flags. I mean why would you care what strangers think based on their time on ATS? Talk about double reverse psychology!

Not really. I really don't care what you think. You haven't really proven worthy of notice. I was simply using your post as an example and a vehicle to explain the system to others who may be reading the thread. Your post speaks for itself. Your attitude is out there for all the world to see. That you are proud of it is part of the issue.

I was asking for a mod, btw.

Dear me! I guess you don't always get what you ask for.

What do you get for points? Like can you buy stuff with them?

reply to post by zuul000


With enough points, you can gain membership into the super secret section of this website for one, known as Really Above Top Secret or R.A.T.S.

reply to post by manta78


Nice ... what goes in there? Like booze and women and such?

Also, how many points does it cost?

reply to post by zuul000


If you only knew.....sorry that's a secret

Originally posted by zuul000
reply to post by manta78

 

Nice ... what goes in there? Like booze and women and such?

Also, how many points does it cost?

edit on 2-1-2011 by zuul000 because: (no reason given)

It doesn't cost any points anymore

You just need 250 posts if I'm not mistaken.

As for the content, it's a place where people can go to author threads that do not go on the main boards and are outside of the realm of Google Search so they are a little more personnal.

Mostly people make threads there to get away from the main people on the boards, trolls and such. Although not much goes on in there anymore, but there is some VERY interesting material.

~Keeper

Originally posted by tothetenthpower

Originally posted by zuul000
reply to post by manta78

 

Nice ... what goes in there? Like booze and women and such?

Also, how many points does it cost?

edit on 2-1-2011 by zuul000 because: (no reason given)

It doesn't cost any points anymore

You just need 250 posts if I'm not mistaken.

As for the content, it's a place where people can go to author threads that do not go on the main boards and are outside of the realm of Google Search so they are a little more personnal.

Mostly people make threads there to get away from the main people on the boards, trolls and such. Although not much goes on in there anymore, but there is some VERY interesting material.

~Keeper

Got it ... well that still leaves me confused of what the objective of points is?