Introducing the Rep System

[Hapori Tohu]

Today we are happy to announce the addition of a new feature to BZPower. Our forum software calls it a 'reputation' system, but basically it's going to be BZPower's version of a 'like' system that you've probably seen on Facebook and other websites out there. The rep system, as I'll refer to it, will allow members to highlight things that they find cool, neat, informative, helpful, awesome, insightful, fun, etc. It will help give creators of content feedback, as they can get an idea for how many people are enjoying what they're posting. For more information about the system, read on!

 

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[Relapse]

Are there not more important things, like the broken word filter and blog issues?

 

(no one like this ironically please)

[Chro]

Are there not more important things, like the broken word filter and blog issues?

 

(no one like this ironically please)

HA

 

I'm sorry, I had to

[Black Six]

Are there not more important things, like the broken word filter and blog issues?

 

(no one like this ironically please)

What blog issues? Have you opened a Tracker ticket about them?

[Bfahome]

I'm skeptical about how well this'll be used. Hopefully this is as close to "social network" as the forum will come, because I like having a forum as a forum.

 

e: The ability to take back the "likes" would be nice too.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Bfahome

[shadow pridak money gang]

Eh.

 

-Tyler

[Lyichir]

I am definitely excited for this. Occasionally I see a post that deserves to be noticed, but have no options to raise its profile (the only option previously would be to post about it, which only buries the noteworthy post under more comments if anything, or quote it, which effectively removes it from its context. Like any new feature, we'll have to see if it's effective at what it sets out to accomplish or needs more fine-tuning, but for now this looks like it'll improve the user experience dramatically.

[believe victims]

I honestly can't see this being too useful here (unless it's also enabled in the blogs because it'd be neat there) but at least I have a shot at making BAC the most up-voted topic on BZPower

[Black Six]

I honestly can't see this being too useful here (unless it's also enabled in the blogs because it'd be neat there) but at least I have a shot at making BAC the most up-voted topic on BZPower

The feature is available in the blogs as well.

[bonesiii]

The blog issues I'm aware of have been solved, apparently (that the sidebar would disappear).

 

Anywho, major Likeage! Have been hoping for such a system for a long time. Like you said, there's many people who don't post anyways, or don't post anything but what we tend to have to say is spam (no details, etc.). Arguably this gives them a way to be heard without being spammy. I do hope it won't discourage posting, but from the similar systems I've seen across the web it doesn't seem to be noticeable if so.

[EmperorWhenua]

I know this was asked for (pretty sure of it, anyway) but I'm not too excited by it. It does seem like something easily abused. It's hard enough to control members who use the Internet's offered anonymity to be antagonizing to others and their ideas, but an even more anonymous "liking" system can negatively affect people's experiences as things that shouldn't be liked get upvoted, invalidating discussion in favor of a secret ballot popularity contest.

 

Maybe it's just that I'm a cynic but I don't see this being much use to the overall experience on BZPower. Nevertheless, I recall similar arguments when the "star rating" system was introduced so I'm not protesting anything either way.

[Eljay: Toa of Mangosteen]

I can see this as a great commercial:

 

"Introducing the Popularity Contest System! Also known as the Comics Forum 2.0."

 

Yeeaaah... I would have taken Hot Topics over this, sorry.

 

Edited February 9, 2014 by Eljay: Toa of Mangosteen

[Aanchir]

I agree with Lyichir, I'm very excited about this feature. I am always hearing assertions that a "like" system or the like (no pun intended) will reduce the amount and the quality of online discussion. And I am always seeing evidence to the contrary on sites like Facebook, where "likes" perform an entirely different function from posts rather than taking the place of them. The only posts that "likes" will discourage are spammy "hahaha", "cool!", or "I agree" posts that are already discouraged as a matter of principle.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Aanchir: Rachira of Time

[Legolover-361]

While I'm not a diehard supporter of the reputation system, I do like how 1. there's no way to "down-vote" something, which minimizes potential trolling, and 2. posts like "Good job 10/10" and "Nice work" will be discouraged because of redundancy. Basically, as long as people have useful things to say, the reputation system won't detrimentally reduce posting volume. Kudos for implementing the feature; I hope BZP members will find it helpful.

[Black Six]

While I'm not a diehard supporter of the reputation system, I do like how 1. there's no way to "down-vote" something, which minimizes potential trolling, and 2. posts like "Good job 10/10" and "Nice work" will be discouraged because of redundancy. Basically, as long as people have useful things to say, the reputation system won't detrimentally reduce posting volume. Kudos for implementing the feature; I hope BZP members will find it helpful.

1. Technically speaking, we could enable down-voting, but I feel like that has the potential to be abused even more.

2. Posts like that are already discouraged and considered spam for the most part.

[Ghosthands]

B6, I think you may have misunderstood LL.

 

1. Technically speaking, we could enable down-voting, but I feel like that has the potential to be abused even more.

2. Posts like that are already discouraged and considered spam for the most part.

 

This is the exact point he was making.

 

As for my personal opinions...well, I rarely (if ever) venture outside the RPG forum, but I can see potential both positive and negative for this feature. For now, I suggest we roll with it and see how it goes.

Edited February 9, 2014 by GhosthandsOfChristmasPast

[Black Six]

B6, I think you may have misunderstood LL.

 

1. Technically speaking, we could enable down-voting, but I feel like that has the potential to be abused even more.

2. Posts like that are already discouraged and considered spam for the most part.

This is the exact point he was making.

 

Yes, it seems that I did. Oops!

[Toa Smoke Monster]

This is a cool feature, I guess. I don't know how often I'll be using it, since I don't even hit 'like' on Facebook that often. But time will tell if that changes for me.

[TBK]

I'm hopeful for this update, but I can't help being a tad skeptical. It could definitely be helpful for pointing out beneficial posts, but with just as much potential for turning into a get-the-most-likes contest. Like facebook. Ew.

 

In any case, its worth will be determined by the integrity of its user, and I'm trusting that BZP users will handle it well.

[Stroxx]

Finally something. At least now I'll know how many people actually stumble upon my comic and art stuff and generally like it instead of trying to guess it based on the views.

 

I wonder if I can somewhere check out a list of all the content I've liked after I've returned from my more or less self-conscious clicking-spree... I mean, I tend to use likes to mark certain stuff I want to comment on later. I have a horrible habit of staying up really late (just like now) and loose my capability to create coherent and grammatically correct sentences as I slowly fall asleep over my laptop and start drooling all over my claviature.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Stroxx

[Vezok's Friend]

Upvoting good posts is not a bad thing, Very happy to see downvoting was not included though. Like others pointed out, it's an often abused function and would probably do more harm than good.

Personally, I think upvoting might improve the old and well-known "looking and leaving", since it allows for people to get away without a comment and still 'like' a post. =)

[Voltex]

I approve of this system and hope it stays, although it'd be cool if we could have a block in the profile of each member detailing how many "reputation" points they have. The block isn't very intrusive from what I've seen in use on other forums.

 

This will be extremely useful in the creative forums, where looking and leaving is very common for those uncomfortable or unwilling to give proper criticism of the work. In terms of discussion and debates that occur, the upvotes will show how many people might agree with what a particular member is saying whether they feel the need to add to the discussion themselves or not.

 

And most importantly, epic stuff gets recognized for being more epic than other stuff even more.

[dviddy]

Are there not more important things, like the broken word filter and blog issues?

 

(no one like this ironically please)

What are the current blog issues?

 

(Also I guess without a big announcement no one has noticed, but the word filter has been changing and getting smaller, dramatically so, for years now.)

[Aanchir]

I'm hopeful for this update, but I can't help being a tad skeptical. It could definitely be helpful for pointing out beneficial posts, but with just as much potential for turning into a get-the-most-likes contest. Like facebook. Ew.

 

In any case, its worth will be determined by the integrity of its user, and I'm trusting that BZP users will handle it well.

Again, I keep hearing this about Facebook being a get-the-most-likes contest and not having meaningful discussion. I have never seen the slightest indication of that. Maybe I just have better friends or participate in better groups than some people, but the only reason I can think of for why that might be the case is that I tend to be somewhat selective about who's on my friends list — to date, I only have 111 friends. So maybe I just tend to befriend people who use Facebook intelligently?

[Cambion]

this is a good idea, except for the fact that it's possible to upvote your own posts

[Aanchir]

this is a good idea, except for the fact that it's possible to upvote your own posts

I don't think that should be too much of an issue. It's unnecessary, for sure, but a difference of one upvote will not have a huge impact on the perceived reputation of any given post. What difference does it make, for instance, if a post has five upvotes or six?

[InnerRayg]

I'm hopeful for this update, but I can't help being a tad skeptical. It could definitely be helpful for pointing out beneficial posts, but with just as much potential for turning into a get-the-most-likes contest. Like facebook. Ew.

 

In any case, its worth will be determined by the integrity of its user, and I'm trusting that BZP users will handle it well.

Yes, it sure would be terrible if this turned into a competition for people to produce content that others will like. Truly a shame.

[Ehksidian]

For someone who almost never 'likes' posts on social media sites, this won't affect me.

However, it is good for if I want to look at, say, a MOC, and then I can say 'Good job!' without actually posting spam of that nature.

[Meiko]

I like the initiative of this new feature, but I think there is something a bit better that could be used that's along the same lines as these rep points. At RRU, there is a "Thank/Like" button that, similarly to the rep points here, allows for anyone to "upvote" a post by someone else. The main differences are that it shows who liked the post (which can better determine who is appreciative of the post and who is just liking everything for no reason), and that the collective total of "likes" displays on a user's profile. Screenshots:

• Post - at the bottom of the post, same location as BZP's current rep point button is, shows the like/thank button and the people who have liked it
• Profile - on the right-hand side, the green box shows the collective total of likes the user has received on the site. This system works a lot better than the star system currently on profiles. The issue with a star is that it's an average instead of a collective total, so negative star ratings from several years prior still effect the average, while the like/thank system only has positive voting, so there is no negative impact on the reputation of the user.

That's just my suggestion. I'm not sure what the IP.Board plugin that I'm talking about is called; all I know is that it's used well on RRU, though I'm hardly active there. You could probably just search "IP.Board thank" or something and it'd come up.

[Art Vandelay]

Personally, I am not a fan of having the reputation system enabled here. That's one IP.Board feature that I was hoping you guys would never use. I have it enabled on SM.com currently, but I will soon be disabling it. It will inevitably turn posting here into a competition for likes, to some degree at least. Like based reputation is also not a good way to show the integrity of users. It'll turn into more of an indication of a user's seniority and how frequently they post here as time progresses.

 

Please do disable liking of your own posts as soon as possible, BTW.

Edited February 10, 2014 by XONAR

[Black Six]

this is a good idea, except for the fact that it's possible to upvote your own posts

We could disable this feature, I believe it's enabled by default.

I like the initiative of this new feature, but I think there is something a bit better that could be used that's along the same lines as these rep points. At RRU, there is a "Thank/Like" button that, similarly to the rep points here, allows for anyone to "upvote" a post by someone else. The main differences are that it shows who liked the post (which can better determine who is appreciative of the post and who is just liking everything for no reason), and that the collective total of "likes" displays on a user's profile. Screenshots:

• Post - at the bottom of the post, same location as BZP's current rep point button is, shows the like/thank button and the people who have liked it
• Profile - on the right-hand side, the green box shows the collective total of likes the user has received on the site. This system works a lot better than the star system currently on profiles. The issue with a star is that it's an average instead of a collective total, so negative star ratings from several years prior still effect the average, while the like/thank system only has positive voting, so there is no negative impact on the reputation of the user.

That's just my suggestion. I'm not sure what the IP.Board plugin that I'm talking about is called; all I know is that it's used well on RRU, though I'm hardly active there. You could probably just search "IP.Board thank" or something and it'd come up.

 

We currently have both of these features disabled. We feel that the anonymity could add to more sincere and honest appraisals. As to the profile count, we feel that the amount of things that you post that get liked is unimportant. It's arbitrary. What's important is the actual content that is getting liked. I think having the count show up in your profile would greatly increase the potential of the system being abused, as people try to convince others to like their stuff so their level goes up.

[Bfahome]

 

I'm hopeful for this update, but I can't help being a tad skeptical. It could definitely be helpful for pointing out beneficial posts, but with just as much potential for turning into a get-the-most-likes contest. Like facebook. Ew.

 

In any case, its worth will be determined by the integrity of its user, and I'm trusting that BZP users will handle it well.

Yes, it sure would be terrible if this turned into a competition for people to produce content that others will like. Truly a shame.

 

I would love if it only worked like that.

 

But I've seen too many "lms" posts on Facebook with 50+ likes to get my hopes up.

[TBK]

 

 

I'm hopeful for this update, but I can't help being a tad skeptical. It could definitely be helpful for pointing out beneficial posts, but with just as much potential for turning into a get-the-most-likes contest. Like facebook. Ew.

 

In any case, its worth will be determined by the integrity of its user, and I'm trusting that BZP users will handle it well.

Yes, it sure would be terrible if this turned into a competition for people to produce content that others will like. Truly a shame.

 

I would love if it only worked like that.

 

But I've seen too many "lms" posts on Facebook with 50+ likes to get my hopes up.

 

That's more what I was getting at. And actually, it would be great to see this give everyone a bit more motivation to produce likeable content. I just don't want to see it abused and turned into, as others have so eloquently put it, a popularity contest. Some may start viewing their value to these forums side by side with their number of upvotes.

 

EDIT: I was happy to hear B6 point out that the number of upvotes doesn't appear on one's profile. I think that might be what is needed to null that "popularity" factor for the most part.

Edited February 10, 2014 by TBK

[Cambion]

 

this is a good idea, except for the fact that it's possible to upvote your own posts

I don't think that should be too much of an issue. It's unnecessary, for sure, but a difference of one upvote will not have a huge impact on the perceived reputation of any given post. What difference does it make, for instance, if a post has five upvotes or six?

 

you have obviously never moderated a forum whose users love to upvote their own posts

 

then again i guess it doesnt matter all that much as long as the "total likes" feature is disabled

[Art Vandelay]

 

 

this is a good idea, except for the fact that it's possible to upvote your own posts

I don't think that should be too much of an issue. It's unnecessary, for sure, but a difference of one upvote will not have a huge impact on the perceived reputation of any given post. What difference does it make, for instance, if a post has five upvotes or six?

 

you have obviously never moderated a forum whose users love to upvote their own posts

 

then again i guess it doesnt matter all that much as long as the "total likes" feature is disabled

 

 

Haha, Arc and I both have dealt with that quite a bit at a certain forum...

 

But yeah, I'm really glad the total likes feature is disabled. I didn't realize that, initially, and that was pretty much my only major qualm with the new like system.

[fishers64]

I don't like it that much.

 

Although, did no one catch on to the fact that the explanation B6 gave for the system seemed a little short? I sense evil and nefarious purposes afoot. Perhaps if we use the system enough, we will find out its true meaning.

 

Edit: I may not use this that much. I just-now up-repped someone's post that I agreed with, and then someone else posted with a better argument, and I wanted to take it back. Arg system...

Edited February 10, 2014 by fishers64

[Sumiki]

I'm skeptical about this. I'll wait a little while before passing judgement on it, though. Hard to tell how something like this will turn out

The green is pretty grating, though. Any way we could change it out for something that fits the blue?

[believe victims]

 

Are there not more important things, like the broken word filter and blog issues?

 

(no one like this ironically please)

What are the current blog issues?

 

(Also I guess without a big announcement no one has noticed, but the word filter has been changing and getting smaller, dramatically so, for years now.)

 

 

I first noticed that when I noticed someone saying legos instead of Lego Bricks

[Dapper-Sama]

I personally don't like the sound of this. It gives the feeling of your posts being under close scrutiny, and could lead to sorts of "like this and I'll..." type things.

[Aanchir]

I personally don't like the sound of this. It gives the feeling of your posts being under close scrutiny, and could lead to sorts of "like this and I'll..." type things.

I don't think that at all. There are already rules against doing the same thing with reply counts (or at least there used to be), and I think that would fall under more or less the same rules. If not, it's not hard to create a new rule prohibiting that kind of thing. Edited February 10, 2014 by Aanchir: Rachira of Time