User Rating

[FaeMinx]

Something that I've never really paid attention to has started nagging at my curiosity.


The User Rating.


There are some members here that have no stars. Some have 5.


I have 3. ...But why?? What do they mean? :mellow:


I wish I'd been paying attention because I can't tell if I've always had 3 stars or if I started with none.


It's never meant anything to me before, but obviously the Rating serves a purpose or it wouldn't have been implemented.

 

[slaeshjag]

You probably started with none, as that is what I have, and always have had

 

[FaeMinx]

You probably started with none, as that is what I have, and always have had

I've just been updating my profile as I realized it was out of date and had a bit of false advertising in there... When I was done I discovered I had somehow acquired another star!!! :blink:


Either it's a mighty coincidence or the user rating relates directly to how many fields in your profile you've completed and how active you are in keeping it up to date.


So no gold stars for good behavior it seems.


If this is the case I imagine you've done absolutely nothing with your profile?

 

[WizardStan]

Ratings are entirely user generated. Someone likes you, they go to your profile, give you 5 stars. Someone doesn't like you, they give you 1 star. The average is displayed.

 

[FaeMinx]

Ratings are entirely user generated. Someone likes you, they go to your profile, give you 5 stars. Someone doesn't like you, they give you 1 star. The average is displayed.

Wow... shows just how much I still have to learn.


I'll have to start using this feature - I never realized you could click them!


Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Nintendo]

I've just given you 5 stars, Fae.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

Many people, while /reading such kind of personal rating/ like a reputation meter, are /giving ratings/ as if it was a kindness meter. Unfortunately, neither is every "reputable" person necessarily kind, nor is every kind person necessarily "reputable", which messes up the whole system and destroys its usefulness since it may just reinforce some fallacies that are way too popular already. Another related problem is that people who write a lot will often receive many ratings, while those who hardly write anything are more likely to receive few (if any) ratings, though in the end all ratings will appear as if they were equally important/representative (which they never are because they can't be relied upon). I my sometimes not so humble opinion, broken (i.e. semi-automated) ratings shouldn't be applied to people, and instead people should be judged by what they are doing - which isn't possible through looking at an integer.


(Because I implied that this system is irrational, I will now receive bad ratings by people who like the system, and then have 1 star. (Q.E.D.) (It doesn't make sense that this would be worse than having 0 stars.) Or I may get 5 stars because there are many people in here who agree with me. Or I may just unconditionally receive kudos "for fun" in the meantime. Yes, you have probably figured out by now that I absolutely like these rating systems at all.)

 

[Prometheus]

Many people, while /reading such kind of personal rating/ like a reputation meter, are /giving ratings/ as if it was a kindness meter. Unfortunately, neither is every "reputable" person necessarily kind, nor is every kind person necessarily "reputable", which messes up the whole system and destroys its usefulness since it may just reinforce some fallacies that are way too popular already. Another related problem is that people who write a lot will often receive many ratings, while those who hardly write anything are more likely to receive few (if any) ratings, though in the end all ratings will appear as if they were equally important/representative (which they never are because they can't be relied upon). I my sometimes not so humble opinion, broken (i.e. semi-automated) ratings shouldn't be applied to people, and instead people should be judged by what they are doing - which isn't possible through looking at an integer.

You forgot the ones who go around voting people down, as well.


Personally, I find the ratings thing as daft as the "friends list", myself - I think that both how people are seen, and friendships, are defined by actions, and not by clicking a button.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

You forgot the ones who go around voting people down, as well.

See... I implicitly included those who upvote people "for fun" (as opposed to the ones you mentioned, who go around /downvoting/ "for fun").


Since I currently have 0 stars, people could actually try to show that they disrespect me by giving me 5 stars, thinking that it would annoy me. So it is possible to express disrespect by giving a high rating, which means that it is possible to downvote by upvoting.


Clearly I did not forget about those who go around downvoting "for fun".


( )

 

[FaeMinx]

Oh sherbet! Now I wish I was still nieve... I think I preferred it when I believed they were related to profile activity.


Now I could end up offending people whether I give out stars or not! Perhaps we should petition to have this feature removed?

 

[Nintendo]

You forgot the ones who go around voting people down, as well.

See... I implicitly included those who upvote people "for fun" (as opposed to the ones you mentioned, who go around /downvoting/ "for fun").


Since I currently have 0 stars, people could actually try to show that they disrespect me by giving me 5 stars, thinking that it would annoy me. So it is possible to express disrespect by giving a high rating, which means that it is possible to downvote by upvoting.


Clearly I did not forget about those who go around downvoting "for fun".


( )

I just gave you 5 stars, because I agreed with your posts in this thread. You're also an alright person, imo.

 

[FaeMinx]

You're also an alright person, imo.

Yes he is. But does he even *want* the stars... That is the question.

 

[Nintendo]

No-one has a choice, unfortunately.


Although, people have been known to use scripts to alter it.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

But does he even *want* the stars... That is the question.

I don't care because I don't take them seriously. So it's probably better if you waste your time with something else.


I prefer "ratings" through profile comments. They serve a much better purpose, especially if they are of a negative nature (giving negative ratings through stars is like shouting "I hate you" - it won't fix the source of the problem). I think it's weird that you cannot disable profile ratings, but you /can/ disable profile comments (which, unlike ratings, /can/ be used to express opinions about someone in a useful way). They should both be completely optional (or the other way around if any kind of rating system is absolutely needed).


In any case, please do not add any comments to my profile just because I just said that I prefer profile comments over ratings. These comments probably wouldn't serve any purpose either.