Stars and flags completely redundant?

When I first started lurking there were members with high star and flag stats. If you clicked on the member's name it took you to a list of threads and posts which reflected the star/flag count in their brilliance.

With this in mind I give credence to those with a high star and flag count. Experienced members with mega-knowledge.

Fast forward a few years and we're in a different place.

I see members with huge counts, so automatically I give these guys some credence. However when I click on their names it takes me to a list of threads in the pet forum or the games forum... lots of stars and flags yet no knowledge, no insight, bringing nothing of value to the forums.

I'm not really sure what I'm getting at - it's obviously my disposition to apply credence to people when I should not be doing so. But if I'm doing it then surely lots of other members are too?

Maybe we should have pink stars for those who bring throwaway 'lolcats' and blue stars for those who bring knowledge and scientific truths?

a reply to: and14263

Forget the stars and try to look at the content they create.
Stars are bull# since TBTB (^^) messed with them.

a reply to: and14263

I am not sure what you are trying to say . I have no real new knowledge to bring to ATS . Does that mean my posts should only get pink stars . I have a thread going at the moment that has not got much attention but that is ok . What i posted was my thoughts , i threw it out there . Somehow i think this will get lots of stars and flags . But . None from me as i see nothing new here .

a reply to: hutch622

I'm asking if the stars and flags are redundant when looked at from the point of view that they represent solid ATS content.... not pictures of dogs/cats like people copy from Facebook.

a reply to: and14263

I'm asking if the stars and flags are redundant when looked at from the point of view that they represent solid ATS content

I flag someone if it is evident that they have put time and effort into a topic , it does not mean that i agree with them . I star if someone says something i agree with , more so if a real thought process is evident . Pretty much every angle on every topic has been covered .

S&F to you sir!


..sorry couldn't resist😄

Can we get a ATS mug or toaster when we hit 1000... That would be BA!

a reply to: and14263

I have heard there was some sort of "problem" where certain individuals had their star and flag counts inflated ridiculously due to some sort of database change. I can only assume they have become paid lizard people shills.

originally posted by: and14263
I'm asking if the stars and flags are redundant when looked at from the point of view that they represent solid ATS content.... not pictures of dogs/cats like people copy from Facebook.

Not at all.

Flags are earned for starting topics that people like or find interesting. That's subjective. You may not like small lite-weight banter, but others do.

Stars are totally messed up and I don't pay attention to the star count anyone has.

originally posted by: DeadSeraph
I have heard there was some sort of "problem" where certain individuals had their star and flag counts inflated ridiculously due to some sort of database change.

Stars are messed up. Karma is in turn messed up.
Flag count is accurate. Post count is accurate. Applause count is accurate.

I can only assume they have become paid lizard people shills.

We are the holy half dead from the Underverse.

originally posted by: verschickter
a reply to: and14263

Forget the stars and try to look at the content they create.
Stars are bull# since TBTB (^^) messed with them.

"You makin' me MAAAADD, Murdoch!!!"

a reply to: FlyersFan

Yes I completely agree with the purpose of flags - but the content they are representing has changed. Ultimately it's a personal thing, the way I view the s/f thing... like I mentioned in the OP, maybe I need to change my disposition.

And then all of a sudden I realise I've just spent 20 minutes of my life debating stars and flags on a website - I think I am devolving into a moron.

a reply to: FlyersFan

Stars are totally messed up and I don't pay attention to the star count anyone has.

I thought my 6 million was nuts. You got 37 million!?

If it's so broken why don't they just ditch these stats? Have you heard discussion about this from the 'higher ups'?

Personally I think stats should be eliminated, or at least working in the background in algorithms, and a member's 'experience/value' should be shown via a color border that scales along with those 'hidden stats'. Not unlike what we have now except there should be more colors. It seems like the colors now transition up to yellow and then stops which ultimately puts too many members in the yellow status. I think they should go with a rainbow palette, putting the top members in the red and the newest members in violet. All these stats are unnecessary clutter. Simple color border would do the trick methinks.

Stars and flags are mostly irrelevant. The longer you are here, the more you acquire. And as you said, you don't have to be a stellar poster to get them. But as was said, you look at the posters content. Get to know them. Forget the bling. Think of stars as the type of car a poster drives. It may look flashy, but it has nothing to do with who they are, or how smart they are.

originally posted by: network dude
Stars and flags are mostly irrelevant. The longer you are here, the more you acquire. And as you said, you don't have to be a stellar poster to get them. But as was said, you look at the posters content. Get to know them. Forget the bling. Think of stars as the type of car a poster drives. It may look flashy, but it has nothing to do with who they are, or how smart they are.

Nail on the head, well said.
It seems that many people now will sit all day posting one liners on any forum they can chime into, accumulating worthless post counts and being starred by click happy casual readers. As a result many of the older members whose high quality posts and informative and measured discussions which kept me here initially and got me to join hardly bother to post anymore due to being drowned out by mediocracy and 'sniper' posting.
Have a star!

And have an S&F OP, just for the sheer meaningless redundancy of them!

a reply to: HumansEh

Flag stats might be redundant but flagging itself serves a functional purpose. A thread's flags promotes exposure.

a reply to: HumansEh

I think you're both correct. I'm looking down the 'new' threads list and there's rehashes of Facebook videos and pictures all over. I just made a conspiracy thread to put in the pets forum - probably the first ever conspiracy thread in the pets forum.

But as we're repeatedly told: "This isn't a conspiracy forum, it's a community ... blah blah blah." Alternative topics/conspiracies, whatever...

Lesson learned today anyway, I won't be looking at stars, flags, post counts.. anything. I'll try and spend more time clicking old posts to work out if the member is just a star gatherer.

Since stars are only used for 2 reasons I have no problem.

1. If a person appreciates the Opening/post/reply etc.

or

2. Even if not in agreement with the OP's stance, a star is often used in appreciation for their input if done respectfully.

At least that's how I use them.

Peace

originally posted by: Lucid Lunacy
a reply to: HumansEh

Flag stats might be redundant but flagging itself serves a functional purpose. A thread's flags promotes exposure.

Thats true, they are very important for the real=time flow of topics and thread relevance. Keeps relevant topics to the fore.

a reply to: and14263

Stars or thumbs up/down can be a really good indicator about the real mood of the readers/commentators, it`s an excellent shill-indicator and also the mood shift patterns are good to follow with it.

If you have propaganda pieces, and the mood goes against it, it gives an excellent insight on what the real knowledge is of most of the readers and that the propaganda has failed...it serves me well looking over the internet.

Yes they really are completely redundant any more.
At one time they were useful but now they should be removed.
Sure use flags to flag a topic if it's popular but personal stars and flags going to people as some kind of score or reward is not good any more, considering the whole thing is screwed up.

It won't change though so it's a fruitless exercise to even discuss it.