Staring people on this site - and/or just loking at the name of the poster?

I'm stingy as hell with stars, even more so with flags.

I generally reserve stars for those posts that display a clever turn of phrase or a good sense of irony. Something I don't see a lot of around here.

My flags are used only for exceptional threads, those with a sound premise, good research to supplement said premise, and a rational string of logic leading to any conclusions that are made.

As far as avatars go, I usually don't even look at them, or names, unless the post is something that I find interesting. Then I kinda like to know who wrote it.

reply to post by Vasilis Azoth


I stared your last reply
But I dont like your post nor your avatar

Originally posted by Vasilis Azoth
Let me get this straight. Some of you actually star posts just because you like the person who posted or their avatar but NOT because you agree with the content.

because I think our words should be judged not our aesthetic sense.

Vas

I totally agree... i don't star avatars.... that is strange, i don't just star people i like either... they have to have added something, be it serious or humorous.

Originally posted by Vasilis Azoth
Let me get this straight. Some of you actually star posts just because you like the person who posted or their avatar but NOT because you agree with the content.

That REALLY weird.

Why would you do that?

I have noticed that people with cool avatars seem to have more stars on their posts. In fact the reason I have not avatar after years here is because I think our words should be judged not our aesthetic sense.

Vas

i agree. we should be careful of this. the star system is a good idea and can also be a useful tool. i think we cheat ourselves from the value they can give when over or under used? i've seen debates where it looks like stars are given everyone for no other reason than what side they favor? the side having the most stars does not necessarily win the debate?

when scanning an extra long thread i use the stars as summary points to the discussion. they are useful to mark posts that make concise points of both sides of a debate. i star posts when after reading i think "yes, exactly!" but also "i never saw it that way." or "ok, i didn't consider that?". they should reference quality points to both sides to be most useful.

reply to post by Griff


Man, I had this same debate in my head, and realized something. I usually add people as friends when I agree with that poster a lot. Then I caught myself starring my friends all the time. I thought maybe I was just starring them because they were my friend, but realized that I tend to agree with those on my friend list about 95% of the time.

When I finally realized this it was because one of my friends posted something that was contrary to my opinion, and I did not star them for that post, or thread.

So I came to terms with it, and I really only star posts that contain an opinion that I agree with, or the truth about something.

Griff you are on my friends list, and I starred your post and flagged your thread. I did it because this thread had a point, that I had thought about in the past, and felt was relevant to life at ATS.

[edit on 16-1-2009 by downtown436]

Originally posted by blupblup

Originally posted by Vasilis Azoth
Let me get this straight. Some of you actually star posts just because you like the person who posted or their avatar but NOT because you agree with the content.

because I think our words should be judged not our aesthetic sense.

Vas

I totally agree... i don't star avatars.... that is strange, i don't just star people i like either... they have to have added something, be it serious or humorous.

I've never starred an avatar, but I have commented on a few that I thought were extra special. Maybe we should have a place for showing off our avatars!

Originally posted by Vasilis Azoth
Let me get this straight. Some of you actually star posts just because you like the person who posted or their avatar but NOT because you agree with the content.

That's what I'm getting at. I caught myself doing it subconsciously. Hence why I started this thread in general conspiracies.

i don't star avy's but tend to star the people that consistently post solid posts, but not without reading them and determining they deserve a star first.

one thing that is a small pet peeve is the actual picture of the person posting for their avatar. those are so creepy they are hard to look at. ats has the best avatars on the web otherwise.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by Vasilis Azoth

 

I stared your last reply
But I dont like your post nor your avatar

And of course, you get one too because you made me laugh.

But, I'm trying to get at the point of: do we agree with our "friends" just because they are our friends (peer pressure in a way)?

I have heard your confession and I absolve you.

Now give me two flags and five stars.

Originally posted by blupblup
I totally agree... i don't star avatars.... that is strange, i don't just star people i like either... they have to have added something, be it serious or humorous.

I do want to say that I star my "foes" when they really make me think. For example, as much as I debate with Seymour Butz, he has probably received just as many stars from me than he has from anyone else. That being said, my main point of starting this thread was because I found myself staring a post that, in the end of the post, I totally disagreed with. So, I was curious as to the psychology of this.

HAHA. I have to laugh at myself. Loking? What the hell does that mean?

Originally posted by zooplancton

one thing that is a small pet peeve is the actual picture of the person posting for their avatar. those are so creepy they are hard to look at. ats has the best avatars on the web otherwise.

oh sure...fine for you to use a picture with your dad for your avatar, but god forbid if we do it.

double standard! no stars ever!

reply to post by captiva


Did you ever notice that your "friend" was an alien? Did you ever experience lost time after hanging out with him? How about headaches, or a stabbing pain in your butt?

I think that your "friend" may have abducted you and performed wierd experiments. You might want to go to a hypnotist to find out.

By the way, I gave you a star.

Originally posted by Zerbst

Originally posted by zooplancton

one thing that is a small pet peeve is the actual picture of the person posting for their avatar. those are so creepy they are hard to look at. ats has the best avatars on the web otherwise.

oh sure...fine for you to use a picture with your dad for your avatar, but god forbid if we do it.

double standard! no stars ever!

wow. not sure what to say about your comment.
thanks?

I'm seeing a lot of lack of stars here people!!!

If this is going to be the official free star thread we better get it rolling!!!

I just went through the thread and gave everyone a star. Except for the OP because he has already admitted that he passes out stars for no reason.

Oh, and I didn't star myself, because that would be wrong.

I don't really pay too much attention to avatars in regards to starring and flagging but i will add Stars and flags if certain people have commented on the thread already, kinda gives the thread a degree of intrest if certain people have chosen to add to the chat.......

i wont mention any names and give out swell heads but thats pretty much how I choose to star and flag.....

I give stars to posts if I agree with what they said, if it made me laugh, or if the poster took the time to write a well thought out post and backed up their opinion with something at least based in reality whether I agree with them or not. Doesn't matter if they are on my friends list or not, if the post meets any of those three criteria I'll give it a star. I do tend to agree with those who are on my friends list, but that's typically how we end up being friends to begin with.

I hardly ever pay attention to who wrote any particular post unless it really makes me stop and think, then I like to know who wrote it. It doesn't matter to me who writes a post, how long they have been a member, or how many points they have. I have read posts written by people who had 5 points that were outstanding and I've read posts written by people who had 70000 points that were crap. Points are not an indicator of intelligence or maturity. Same goes for how long someone has been a member here.

What really drives me nuts about the stars more than anything else is how some people here seem to run around the board in packs starring each other for posting nonsense or posting opinions and trying to claim them as being facts. Then others come along, see a post with five or ten stars and think it must be a quality post based on star count alone while a post with no stars gets ignored even if it is a great post.

reply to post by lunarminer

Oh man.. I thought I was confused before, but now... so are we getting flags/stars for our avatars or our posts? Just when I thought I was getting it too! LOL
I'm just kidding.