Stars and flags completely redundant?

a reply to: and14263

The way I view the star and flag thing is like this.
If you are paying attention to those things...you are missing the point.
Quality over quantity is what counts.

Flag a thread so others see it,if it is that important or interesting to you.
If you are posting to get flags and stars....I see it as attention seeking and in some cases trolling.

Nothing wrong with the flagging system,its the people who abuse it in my opinion.

a reply to: FlyersFan

Technically stars aren't broken for everyone. My star count is probably accurate for instance.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

The way I view the star and flag thing is like this.
If you are paying attention to those things...you are missing the point.
Quality over quantity is what counts

What's the point in having them if we are not to be paying attention to them?

I can answer my own question... back in the day they served a purpose, now they are redundant... as I said in the OP.

I do not think they are completley redundant but I do think people throw them around like there free.

I use my own version of the wats score based on a quick calculation based on number of flags and posts. I then multiply it by how much I like there avatar and add 6.

I think the only way to really have a good star system would be to base the number of stars you can give on your own stats, that way people would only star the posts they really agree with or think deserve it.

a reply to: nonspecific

You get popular postings to get more stars so you can hand out more later on.

People lots of times star also with what they agree, if a post is out of their comprehension realm, lots of times they tend not to star a post, but those posts are seeds in people brains which they can explore for themselves later on...it will only lead to those posts not being made that much anymore.

Controversial posts are much more important than posts which are agreeing with what people want to be the truth.

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
a reply to: nonspecific

You get popular postings to get more stars so you can hand out more later on.

People lots of times star also with what they agree, if a post is out of their comprehension realm, lots of times they tend not to star a post, but those posts are seeds in people brains which they can explore for themselves later on...it will only lead to those posts not being made that much anymore.

Controversial posts are much more important than posts which are agreeing with what people want to be the truth.

I had not thought of that, my mind does not work that way but I can see that others would do that

It would be interesting to see what would happen if stars were disabled on one line posts

I don't think stars and flags are completely redundant, but I don't give much weight to stars. I value flags more because a person can only give one per thread. Also, applauses are probably the best indicator of overall contribution.

originally posted by: and14263
Maybe we should have pink stars for those who bring throwaway 'lolcats' and blue stars for those who bring knowledge and scientific truths?

Not that I'm personally offended, but pink = throwaway and blue = truth? Seriously? Couldn't you have come up with some other colors that don't already represent something in our society? (just messin' witcha.)

But...but....there are STARs on the American FLAGs. Maybe they should incorporate some stripes in the general reward system also.

Sounds like an American designed system to me.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

Also, applauses are probably the best indicator of overall contribution.

Applauses don`t also say a lot when the mods are all the same kind of breed.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Yeah I know a couple of mods who have issues with my personal opinions who certainly would not give me applause... for anything!

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
Applauses don`t also say a lot when the mods are all the same kind of breed.

WTH? I thought they were all human. With human opinions, failings, likes and dislikes of their own...

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
Applauses don`t also say a lot when the mods are all the same kind of breed.

WTH? I thought they were all human. With human opinions, failings, likes and dislikes of their own...

Nope Sceptic Overlord breeds them at a secret location.

Super moderaters are clones of himself and distributed around the globe.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
Applauses don`t also say a lot when the mods are all the same kind of breed.

WTH? I thought they were all human. With human opinions, failings, likes and dislikes of their own...

But if you have to post in a certain way to get an applause, it doesn`t mean anything anymore.

It's not easy to micro-manage petty jealousy.

originally posted by: nonspecific
Nope Sceptic Overlord breeds them at a secret location.

Super moderaters are clones of himself and distributed around the globe.

Man, am I in trouble if that's true!

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
Applauses don`t also say a lot when the mods are all the same kind of breed.

Well, I don't know about the others but I'm a Holy Half Dead from the Underverse.

a reply to: and14263

I disagree entirely with your premise.

I use stars and flags to gauge the usefulness of my contributions to the site, for the purpose of maintaining standards and making improvements, where possible, to the way I communicate. As for posting nonsense from Facebook, and gaining stars or flags as a consequence of trivial things, I can safely say that I have accumulated a fair number of stars, although fewer flags on account of the relative infrequency of my deciding to create a thread. I have accumulated those stars, not through mindless indulgence in vacuous things, but by being prepared to engage with topics deeply, and to communicate my thinking in a manner commensurate with the depth of the thought I put into doing so.

Stars and flags are still useful to me in this regard, and I highly doubt that I am the only person who finds them necessary to quality controlling ones contributions. I have certainly learned an awful lot about communication since the time I joined this website, and the star and flag system has been a big part of that learning process. I value the lessons I have learned here, and I would hope that others get the opportunity to learn using that method, for a long time to come.

I will not sit here and pretend to believe that the system does not have its flaws though. Of course it does, some of them rather glaringly obvious I might add. But as a system, when it is working correctly, it works really very well. The only question is, does everyone find it as dysfunctional as you do? And by everyone, I of course mean, do more than 90% of the membership feel that the system does not assist them in making better contributions to the site? I would be very surprised if a poll, where every member was made to vote, would return any such figure.

a reply to: TrueBrit

They work for you, that's good.

They do encourage tosh though.... I could post up two usernames from the top of my head who just post tosh for stars and flags. I say get rid of them all!!

originally posted by: rickymouse
But...but....there are STARs on the American FLAGs. Maybe they should incorporate some stripes in the general reward system also.

Sounds like an American designed system to me.

NO!!! Then I'd have to ask people not to "stripe" me when I get to an even or cool number....

Must say, stars and flags only discourage me from posting here. I find user rating systems on forums absurd. They seem to only hurt both the guests and the members. For the guests/casuals/lurkers it becomes harder to find substance among the fluff created- guests can't even see stats yet have to wade through countless monochrome posts created just to boost them. And a senior members stats will tend to intimidate, sometimes alienate a newer member, intentionally or not. It's not as bad here as it is at some other sites I frequent, but I do see it getting worse. Facebook and enlightenment mix together like oil and water.

I'm pretty glad my numbers got messed up. I wouldn't be active if they weren't.