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Declan wrote: >There may be the germ of an idea here, but I'm hardly convinced an >automated mechanism such as you describe will work. Even if it did, getting people focused on improving their popularity ratings rather than contributing ideas is hardly going to improve content. The only thing it would accomplish is promoting conformity of thought: "disagree with the group and be punished". It's far too easy to manipulate, anyway: have you considered the possibility of some vindictive loser with nothing better to do or a group of feds orchestrating reputational attacks against key posters? (spoofing, vote-rigging, etc.) As long as nyms unconnected to real names have votes, the system will always be wide open to this kind of thing and the numbers will be meaningless from the beginning. It'll turn into just another way for the offended to disrupt the group: think of all the people who used to post but left, angry and humiliated. They'll be back. Anyone who reads this list on a regular basis has a perfectly good picture in his or her mind of basically what they can expect from any given poster. How is a number going to express anything you haven't already figured out for yourself? Who I like to read most around here is entirely independent of my personal opinion of them, whether I agree with their posts or how nasty I get when I argue with them. I like to think I'd be able to get past the third grade playground mentality and give them a 10 or whatever when they deserve it: sadly I know as sure as I'm sitting here these very same people would do their damndest to obliterate me from the board forever. What a terrible waste of time and talent. This rating system is only going to make people more petty and vicious than they already are. As tempting as getting mickey-mouse revenge on your "enemies" may be, shouldn't we do what we can to just cut the bullshit squabbling and have an honest exchange of ideas with each other? I don't think the subjects of the list deserve anything less. >Perhaps an easier way to do it is to have everyone post their kill.rc >files publicly for everyone else's delectation. :) Seriously, a great idea. Quick, dirty, and to the point, everybody vents and moves on. Something else which might be worthwile is for each poster to go to the inet - -one or MARC archives and do a little statistical analysis of his or her own posts. What are you really accomplishing here? Are you an asset or a liability, a help or a hindrance? Are you bickering or contributing? Mee-tooing or saying something original? Are you fixated on anybody? boring the shit out of people? What can you honestly say you bring to the forum? A little more self-examination wouldn't hurt any of us. ~~Faustine. *** He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. - --Thomas Paine -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPsdk version 1.7.1 (C) 1997-1999 Network Associates, Inc. and its affiliated companies. (Diffie-Helman/DSS-only version) iQA/AwUBPJ40r/g5Tuca7bfvEQIcGACfTCpO+OR8/RXTmMrJ1/eTYDZLrGIAoJuk SzYifCjwdfA709i730GuYVDD =WNvE -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
