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Why is there a reputation system?


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You're right. I should instead set the flowers at the grave of our pleasantly demeanored friends mother.

 

What warning given by the mods here, did you not listen to, not to talk about my late mother? Better yet, how many warnings will it take before some kind of action on you is taken?

 

I don't understand why you keep talking about my mother... leave her out of things. I have hardly been personal towards you so have the same respect please.

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Eh. I have a dark sense of humor, I suppose. It clearly doesn't appeal to everyone. I'm also in no rush to treat this guy as anything more than an annoyance.

And what about everyone here who gets a sick feeling in our stomach when you won't cease talking about someones dead mother, even after comments by the moderators? Just because you don't like someone it doesn't mean you have to make your beef with him public. That's not what forums like this are for. Please show a little decorum.

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pmb, the way for you to make that happen is for you to stop engaging on this point with anyone here. Allow inow to appear as a surly misanthrope, a role he doubtless enjoys. You are appearing as a something of a whiner, a role you do not enjoy. You can end it, yet you choose not to. That seems foolish to me.

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!

Moderator Note

Enough!

This thread is about the need/use of the reputation system - all personal attacks, insults, jibes are to stop now! For the avoidance of doubt - this moderation is calling for the complete cessation of any comments or messages in this thread that engage with, in any way, with the person, character, posting habits, or family of other members. Further transgressions will not be tolerated. This moderation applies to all posters - please let's get back to a impersonal discussion of the facts, otherwise the thread will be locked and further sanctions may follow.

Do not discuss this moderation within the thread. You can report this message if you feel this moderation is incorrect or misplaced.

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I actually suspected this before, but isn't it interesting to note that the moderators are completely aware of who reps who. Why keep it a secret to us but then let be known to you guys?

Edited by Aethelwulf
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I actually suspected this before, but isn't it interesting to note that the moderators are completely aware of who reps who. Why keep it a secret to us but then let be known to you guys?

Yes. That hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet so I'm glad that you brought it up/ Moderators not only know who's repping who but the also appear to be sitting injudgement of us when we use the rep system.

 

Let it be known that I will never rep anybody again for this reason. I don't like being spyed on and then judged from the results.

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I actually suspected this before, but isn't it interesting to note that the moderators are completely aware of who reps who. Why keep it a secret to us but then let be known to you guys?

I don't know, and it's a good question.

 

I can assure you it's either a practical (technical software) problem, or it just hasn't occurred to us. It's not a conspiracy, and I think it's worth considering.

In a previous version of the rep-system, you could see who gave rep, and it was even possible to comment on why you gave the rep, visible only to the receiver.

 

But that's a previous version of our forum software. I am really not sure this is possible now.

Yes. That hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet so I'm glad that you brought it up/ Moderators not only know who's repping who but the also appear to be sitting injudgement of us when we use the rep system.

[edit] Please don't think it's a conspiracy by them evil mods. I can assure you that we have better things to do than spy on people. We only do that when a situation calls for it - usually after something got reported. And even then, the rep is hardly worth our attention. :)

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The reputation system is inherently emotional, and often quite silly. People take it far too seriously. Just look at my own experience in this thread.

 

I made a comment that I found funny given the context and the ridiculous path this thread had taken, and others thought my comment was in bad taste so pressed the little red button. I got like 6 neg reps. So what? Their feedback is noted. I suggested I should place flowers at your mothers grave to apologize for suggesting she was ever impregnated with you, and I still find humor in what I said, but I recognize that not everyone shares my sense of humor. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. Big freakin' deal. Give me a break.

 

Yes, the rep system has problems. You get neg repped by creationists when you post something about evolution, you get neg repped by deniers when you post something about climate, you get neg repped by homeopaths when you show it's a load of horseshit, and you get neg repped for having a different opinion in politics or religion, or for being a bit mean when delivering criticism. So what? Grow up, and if you don't like it, leave.

 

Also, if you keep getting neg repped for the same behaviors, maybe you'll get a clue at some point and rightly place the blame on your own behaviors instead of the rep system itself. If you're comfortable with that, then by all means... carry on. That's what I do. I've found the rep system to be quite fickle... The posts where I spend hours doing research and formulating an unbreakable argument go unnoticed, but the quick 10 second posts where I say something funny get 8 pluses. It is what it is, and I suspect it's just part of human nature. Oh well. But if you don't like how people react when you are condescending and rude to them, then quit being condescending and rude to them, but quit whining already about the way they use the rep system to express their distaste with you, will you please?

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I don't know, and it's a good question.

 

 

I would be very curious to know if many posts that have quite a lot of negative reps are actually committed by serial offenders rather than a broad spectrum of people.

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Please don't think it's a conspiracy by them evil mods. I can assure you that we have better things to do than spy on people. We only do that when a situation calls for it - usually after something got reported. And even then, the rep is hardly worth our attention. :)

I would never have brought it up unless I didn't already get a PM from a moderator who questioned my use of the reputation system and then negatively judged me about who and why I +repped someone. They claimed I was abusing the system. I won't have that kind of crap in my life. I consider if to be very offensive. In fact the same moderator called me immature for reporting someones insults because I'm "too sensitive" and they don't even know me.

 

I'll let you in on something personal. Life has pounded the crap out of me. Aftrer getting Leukemia I damaged my back so I'll have to live on constant pain for the rest of my life and I can't work. My career is down the tubes. There's no rewards for me for a job well done. There's no sense of achievement in my life now. When I became disabled all my so-called friends abandoned me. So yeah! When people insult me I get irritated. Who wouldn't under identical conditions? So I've been deleting all PMs from that moderator and will forever do so. I won't be judged.

 

So forgive me if I take one last excuse out of my life that someone could use to sit in judgement of me.

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1341416202[/url]' post='688398']

Yes. That hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet so I'm glad that you brought it up/ Moderators not only know who's repping who but the also appear to be sitting injudgement of us when we use the rep system.

 

Let it be known that I will never rep anybody again for this reason. I don't like being spyed on and then judged from the results.

 

I mentioned it on page 1 of this thread, just FYI.

And to reiterate what Captain said, mods don't use it to spy on members. I can promise you we have better things to do than comb through posts and check who gave what where. It really serves us no purpose except where some sort of abuse of the system is suspected and even then, going through each post is really a last resort. Certainly the only judgement we make is whether or not the use of the reputation system by a given member is appropriate or not. Other than that I fail to see to what end we might use the added visibility. The reason the software isn't set to allow members to view it is, to my mind, simply because it lends itself to a higher propensity for people to use it to punish or reward individual members and incite flame wars and hostility within threads.

 

1341417131[/url]' post='688406']

I would never have brought it up unless I didn't already get a PM from a moderator who questioned my use of the reputation system and then negatively judged me about who and why I +repped someone. They claimed I was abusing the system. I won't have that kind of crap in my life. I consider if to be very offensive. In fact the same moderator called me immature for reporting someones insults because I'm "too sensitive" and they don't even know me.

 

I'll let you in on something personal. Life has pounded the crap out of me. Aftrer getting Leukemia I damaged my back so I'll have to live on constant pain for the rest of my life and I can't work. My career is down the tubes. There's no rewards for me for a job well done. There's no sense of achievement in my life now. When I became disabled all my so-called friends abandoned me. So yeah! When people insult me I get irritated. Who wouldn't under identical conditions? So I've been deleting all PMs from that moderator and will forever do so. I won't be judged.

 

So forgive me if I take one last excuse out of my life that someone could use to sit in judgement of me.

 

Pmb, I have stated to you and restated to you that my comment in the PM was in absolutely no way in reference to you. I am confused as to why you took such offence to it and while this is off topic, I seriously object to you publically making such a blatantly false accusation. If you wish to discuss it more, please PM me or report the message, but either case I ask you as a member to stop dragging it into the forums.

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ted to you that my comment in the PM was in absolutely no way in reference to you. I am confused as to why you took such offence to it and while this is off topic, I seriously object to you publically making such a blatantly false accusation. If you wish to discuss it more, please PM me or report the message, but either case I ask you as a member to stop dragging it into the forums.

 

He didn't mention your name, as far as I was aware?

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And as an added note, I object to you stating you got a message from a moderator. I made it quite clear that my messages to you were in my capacity as a member here and not as a moderator.

 

1341418066[/url]' post='688413']

He didn't mention your name, as far as I was aware?

 

I do not believe I said a false accusation about me in particular.

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There is seems to be a significant level of paranoia running through some of the posts. Surely there must be an element of authority being used in the running of the site. Another way of saying this, which some people might not like, is that the site needs policing. How can "authority" run and where necessary control what goes on without knowing what does go on? I notice that one member is called Spyman with the title "Prowler". I don't know (or actually care) whether he is an official. What I do know is that he certainly knows his way around the site and I have been surprised by what he could find out. This knowledge and ability has proved helpful to me in the past. We don't want the site to deteriorate into some sort of uncontrolled warlike shambles - do we?

Edited by Joatmon
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He didn't mention your name, as far as I was aware?

I intentionally left it out so that this wouldn't get persaonal. Had she not said anything, which is what I was hoping, then this wouldn't be dragging anybody into it. It was intended to be abstract and as such I'l say whatever I please, so long as I don't mention particular people. And as I said, I will never read anything of her's again, including posts. And I mentioned that it was a moderator, not that someone told me something in their capacit of moderator. I mentioned it because it would have no meaning withoug it because the subject was about moderators having access to what we rep.

 

hi - Chill out. You should never have said it was you whom I was talking to in PM. Nothing in those PMs mattered except for the retribution I got for saying how I felt and how I didn't like being observed using the rep system. Nobody knew anything about you until you yourself told them.

Edited by pmb
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I don't know if it's been mentioned yet but some of us, myself included, usually try to negate negative rep that seems to be given out undeservedly. If I see a post that gets a negative rep that I don't believe should have I will positive it even if I don't think it was particularly a good post, but just because I don't think it was so bad as to deserve negative rep. If well used the rep system can be self correcting.

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I don't know if it's been mentioned yet but some of us, myself included, usually try to negate negative rep that seems to be given out undeservedly. If I see a post that gets a negative rep that I don't believe should have I will positive it even if I don't think it was particularly a good post, but just because I don't think it was so bad as to deserve negative rep. If well used the rep system can be self correcting.

 

I very rarely negatively rep anyone, but I have tried to negate negative reps like you have.

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I notice that one member is called Spyman with the title "Prowler". I don't know (or actually care) whether he is an official. What I do know is that he certainly knows his way around the site and I have been surprised by what he could find out. This knowledge and ability has proved helpful to me in the past.

Thanks for the compliments but I am only a ordinary member like you, I took the name Spyman when I joined because I already had been lurking here a long time and intended to mostly continue doing that. Sometimes veteran members gets lucky and are allowed a choosen title, Prowler was my choice.

 

A list of official staff and their ranks can be found here: The moderating team

 

A link to the official announcement of the reputation system: User Reputation System

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I actually suspected this before, but isn't it interesting to note that the moderators are completely aware of who reps who. Why keep it a secret to us but then let be known to you guys?

 

What's so interesting about staff having more access to information — which might, on occasion, be needed to fulfill their duties — than everybody else?

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What's so interesting about staff having more access to information which might, on occasion, be needed to fulfill their duties than everybody else?

I only mentioned it because I was criticized for my usage of the reputation system. I didn't appreciate that.

 

Request: This is directed to the person who criticized me. Please don't reveal who you are in open forum. I don't want to drag anybody into this. The other person made the mistake of revealing their identity so please don't do the same thing. Thank you.

Edited by pmb
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For better or worse, a person's usage of the rep system is their prerogative and the mods may take note but should not intervene imo...persistent undue demeriting is usually symptomatic of other negative behaviours anyway, I would guess, which are subject to open corrective moderation on the boards.

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Thanks for the compliments but I am only a ordinary member like you, I took the name Spyman when I joined because I already had been lurking here a long time and intended to mostly continue doing that. Sometimes veteran members gets lucky and are allowed a choosen title, Prowler was my choice.

 

A list of official staff and their ranks can be found here: The moderating team

 

A link to the official announcement of the reputation system: User Reputation System

Thanks again Spyman, +1

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1341490797[/url]' post='688589']

For better or worse, a person's usage of the rep system is their prerogative and the mods may take note but should not intervene imo...persistent undue demeriting is usually symptomatic of other negative behaviours anyway, I would guess, which are subject to open corrective moderation on the boards.

 

 

I agree to an extent. There are some members who blatantly abuse the system by creating sock puppet accounts to bias the rep points of another member or of themselves. Take this thread for example:

 

http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/65663-bulla-the-rainbow-man/

 

You won't be able to see it, but pretty much every post by bulla in that thread has multiple + rep points from a member and their sock puppet.

 

This is another example:

 

http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/60031-tough-time-brominating-quite-a-basic-ketone/

 

That OP (from before I was a mod) in a single night created over a dozen sock puppets using proxy IP and repped a bunch of posts by fireoncells and another one of his sock puppets that was used to reopen the thread. Poor Cap'n spent the day (and even a few days after) banning and rebanning sock puppets.

 

Those we try to counteract, but we do not punish people for it. As a member I, as with others here, will also counteract the rep on posts if I don't agree with it. As staff, we may suspend a member for using a sock puppet or for some other reason, but to my knowledge there has been no one suspended or banned for misuse of the rep system.

 

Other than obvious cases such as in the above, it's entirely too difficult to determine if someone is not using it correctly simply by combing through posts, which in itself is a pain and hard to do and keep track of. So we don't do it unless we have to, which isn't often.

 

 

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