bring back ~'RATINGS'~ of topics please

Yes I KNOW that sometimes folks were just voting for threads of freinds and the like. Hence the abolishment of the voting system

BUT it was usfull to me....I could tell within reading 4 postings if it really WAS a good thread or it was just getting VOTES via 'buddys'

I used the voting outcome to help me decide WICH threads to peruse! Ever since the voting system was abolished..I spend less and less time on ATS.....because now its just a turkey shoot.
Sure a person can tell within a few posts if something is worthwhile or not..but I find myself spending ALOT of time (wasted for sure) reading drivell. So I find myself spending less time here in frusteration.

I SAY BRING THE RATING SYSTEM BACK!

Dont let folks vote a negative........either they give a thumbs up...or nothing.......THAT way nobody can toss a thumbs down just because of some personal feelings. Let all threads stand with ONLY the ability to give them a thumbs up when they are worthwhile......let the other threads be as they are...AVAIALABLE to be read...but maybe they dont have any thumbs up.
THIS SUCKS JUST TRYING TO FIND GOOD STUFF WITH NO RATING SYSTEM!!!

ok I am done ranting.....but please moderators? give this some consideration? I am SERIOUS about not coming here as often BECAUSE of the turkey shoot nature of the board as it stands now.

Sincerely yours...theRiverGoddess

i dont see this happening any time soon.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

the first post (by our fearless SO) explains why it was removed.

over 70% of the votes combined went to 1 or 10. i think that should tell you something, it tells me something. people werent using it as it was intended.

i understand what you're saying and not everyone who used it abused it but an overwhelming percentage of those who did use it abused it. over 70%, that more than 2/3 of the users who voted.


yeah its great to use a rating to use to tell if a thread is worth reading or not but even with bad threads you can glean something from them. even if its a "this is how not to post" lesson there is soemthing to be found in everything and a rating system cant replace good old fashioned reading. and judging a thread based on a rating doesnt seem like a good idea IMO. who rated it before you got to the thread rated it based on their opinion there could be low rating threads that would be overlooked as a result.

in theory it sounds really great but in practice, its a whole other matter entirely.

[edit on 16-7-2004 by ThePrankMonkey]

The thread rating system has the same type of shortcoming as WATS:
� the rating subjectively generalizes the perceptions of the voter.

When anyone could be bothered to vote,
� they were voting on both excellent posts as well as forgettable replies.
There are many examples where someone posts a gem that deserves to be archived,
� only to follow up later with something completely oblivious to the topic.

Far more instructive would be a post-voting scheme,
� but there are many reasons for not doing something like that.
At the least, a post voting scheme could yield a thread average,
� but the coding and implementation would probably be a nightmare.

...X...

Teknik,

Are you saying a "thumbs up" capability for each thread? In other words, "this is a keeper" or nothing at all?

If you are, that makes sense. Then the rating would be the number of thumbs up...everybody can only vote on a particular thread one time.

Also, I would think there would be some correlation between this and TWATS over a period of time...maybe.

Originally posted by Valhall
Are you saying a "thumbs up" capability for each thread? In other words, "this is a keeper" or nothing at all?

Almost, yes, but I mean that this would be a click on a post rather than the thread.
Similar to the 'Way Above' button could be an and a button.
We have seen how scales don't work, but if you can click 'yea' or 'nay'
� to a single post in a thread, once and once only, then this would suffice.
The sum of votes over time would show what is popular and what is not.

Also, I would think there would be some correlation between this and TWATS over a period of time...maybe.

That's the crux of the idea, it is the quality of posts that tell us who to pay attention to.
TWATS is a vote for a personality perceived through remembered content.
Voting the currently viewed content should almost identical,
the difference being that by voting for post content we illuminate quality.

Highly rated posts might be a thread of cross-links unto itself..
My interest would be to go read all those posts that get voted highly.
We have 'recent posts', 'most viewed threads',most replied threads'.
Why not 'most highly regarded posts this week'?
I regard those as the Crown Jewels of ATS.


Unfortunately, I imagine the code would probably be a bit daunting.

...X...

I would agree if there was NOT the thumbs down ability. It appears when you can whack some one you don't like, these things get abused. The abuse would be minimized if there was only the ability to vote against by not voting, or vote for.

In other words, a one-thumb difference - where the negative included would cause a two-thumb difference.

ok l;ets say we only have a thumbs up. then people start to give others a thumbs because they agree on something, not because the person made a good post or posts very well.

you're only eliminating half the problem and leaving the other half.

people WILL find a way to pervert the system and the people on this board are smarter than the average bear so it wouldnt take long for people to find a way to use this system to give each other pats on the back even if its undeserved.

True, the negative would probably be useless at best, abused at worst.

As for 'people abusing the system', that happens no matter what.
There is, at all times on major boards, some fractional percentage of members up to no good.
The biggest draw to abuse would be 'ATS points'.

If something like this were set up, perhaps it could function without points.

This would make voting altruistic, aside from giving recognition to content.

...X...

Believe it or not this is the first time I notice the ratings gone, I have not miss them, funny I did used them but only to rate post that I found interesting. I never rated the bad ones.

well look at the stats at the link i provided in one of my previous posts.

35% used the 1 and 35% used the 10 in the old rating system.

even if you got rid of the thumbs down...based on the history we have on this there would still be a lot of people to give thumbs up to crap. pure crap.

rather than a thread you'd have peope,giving a thumbs up to people posts and if you have people giving thumbs up to crappy posts (just like they did with crap threads) you'll see posts with lots of thumbs up they may not be deserving of those.

that and i think he also deemed it to be a waste of time and isnt really needed in the grander scheme.

unless a higher up or another mod wants to give a different outlook on this...

Originally posted by ThePrankMonkey
well look at the stats at the link i provided in one of my previous posts.

35% used the 1 and 35% used the 10 in the old rating system.

I am one who was guilty of the 1 or 10 vote casting, but it was because of the initial weighting of the system (roughly ten five point votes was the starting point as near as my small monkey brain can figure). With the mean set to five with ten "votes" already in the equation it didn't take a Mensa like me long to figure out that the only way I could impact the rating (for better or worse) was to use the extremes (even if the thread didn't warrant the highest or lowest possible score).

Note: The calculations alluded to in this post were all conducted with twigs, and small pebbles (with the exception of one that was etched into a small patch of dirt) so the results are guaranteed to only one pebble or twig's worth of accuracy.

MM: the anchoring system was an initial reaction to people who would use 1 or 10 anyway on an initial vote.

Originally posted by Kano
MM: the anchoring system was an initial reaction to people who would use 1 or 10 anyway on an initial vote.

I would be interested if the percentage of "ones" and "tens" increased after the "anchoring system" was put in place, as a means (no pun intended) to understanding the underlying thought process of ATS membership as a whole (in regards to thread valuation). I was relieved when the rating system was discontinued, simply because as previously stated in the thread, it was little more than a "ATS Beauty Pageant", or worse still, an opportunity to hurl rotten vegetables at some misguided thread originator in the "ATS pillory". Neither was fair, or accurate, nor did it contribute to better content. I never found that I could not use a rating as a guide for perusal, instead I consider the forum, title of thread, thread originator, and the most recent member who has replied as my "ATS Compass".


[edit on 16/7/2004 by Mirthful Me]

I know on some boards, there is the ability to "give kharma" to other users for certain posts...and the way above top secret vote is similar to this on ATS. On other boards, there are options to give a rating of 1-5 stars to a thread, but you can only vote if you reply to the topic...I think this would be good, as at least the person has to say how they agree/disagree with what was posted. Still, there is a difference between a thread being good or bad, and a thread being good or bad according to the reader's political affiliation.

I think the best thing would be to have a 1-5 stars or else thumbs up or thumbs down, but you can only vote if you reply to the original post. Also, maybe it should publicly say what that person voted on the thread when they post..if you can vote for a thread, and have to post a reply too, then it seems people would have no problem with their vote being seen by everyone else. If they give it 1 star or 5 stars, they still have to justify it. A rating system of some sort definitely does help the board though.

Originally posted by Shoktek
give a rating of 1-5 stars to a thread, but you can only vote if you reply to the topic...I think this would be good, as at least the person has to say how they agree/disagree with what was posted.

~THIS~ is an awsome idea Shoktek!
Readers please take note that above I was suggestimg ONLY an ability to give a thumbs up...and no ability to vote in the negetive. (I to, was guilty of voting either a 1 or a 10...with all threads STARTING at 5 it seamed the ONLY way to make any differance)I did vote a 3 or a 7 'SOMETIMES' but it was mostly on the extreme.

I recall alot of 'hooplah' about ATS being 'almost' the number 1 conspiracy site on the net! And please recall we HAD the ratings system in place at this time. The ratings system was done away with and now we arent hearing about our EXTREME popularity anymore. I seam to see a corallation. I just want to see ATS be the best it can be is all. Ive said all I am going to on this subject now, its NOT my website. Sometimes my ideas are not the best..... I am just trying.

[edit on 17-7-2004 by theRiverGoddess]

The correlation is to the fact that our mouthpiece - SkepticOverlord - is dealing with personal issues right now and doesn't get to come on and toot the ATS horn for us.

Originally posted by Valhall
The correlation is to the fact that our mouthpiece - SkepticOverlord - is dealing with personal issues right now and doesn't get to come on and toot the ATS horn for us.

yes...

we should not forget this...

im with you SkepticOverlord

anyway IF (i dont realy care) the voting system is to be ressurected, make it able for the creator of a thread to vote for his / her own thread

that would be great!

"BUT it was usfull to me....I could tell within reading 4 postings if it really WAS a good thread or it was just getting VOTES via 'buddys' "

which means you had to read the thread anyway. So why not just read the thread and decide for yourself. You don't want other people to decide for you and you want to deny ignorance.