A New Rating System?

That's a good idea!!! I think raitings to affect points, and that's why I always give positive one. I hand out a lot of 10's.

thanks for the info ... will do.

Hmmmm, I don't even think about it anymore....the jerks used to really bother me, but now, I just figure "oh well," and chalk it up. I don't think that the ratings really even matter much.....almost wish Gather would just do away with the ratings completely......

too many folks are complaining about the lowball ratings but i'm pretty sure they don't impact your points anyways (i think it's just the views that are important but idk). . . i turn my ratings off sometimes just because.

I don't think that they affect your points. From what I understand it is views that do. I always give out 10's and try to do comments on everything. If I really don't like something, I just leave and don't rate or comment. So here is a 10 for you in the comments.

Thanks, Everyone. The reason I got so annoyed is that they were low-rating things that were just links to another story that shouldn't have offended anyone for any reason. Like my post about the pit bull attack. It just didn't make sense and so I decided I don't need the ratings badly enough. I'd rather just have the comments.

Rating - I rarely do it and never even notice mine. I assume that our points are based on page views since Gathers income is based on page views. A 1 rating is just another way of say 'hey I'm an A hole' my mother taught me that if you can't say anything nice than don't say anything. If the post is controversial or if I have something to say or just want to let the poster know I stopped by then I comment.

A 10 for you.

I open up every post from my friends and rate it 10, then comment. If I cannot relate to what is posted, I just say thanks for posting.

For friends who give me low ratings and who never comment on my stuff, I am just deleting them from my friends list.

I have also started having to approve all my comments and this is great, because each comment that is posted you get to see who is actually commenting on your content and then gives me an idea of who to comment on first the next go around.

I think the rating system here is a means some people use to "fight or bully" other people and therefore makes it a non-congenial component for us all and probably ends up being useless anyway, only to cause bad feelings for those who get the ratings, and why is this? None of us really know each other here, so why try and hurt people's feelings. I just have a feeling the ratings don't mean a whole lot and it is page view and comments and just in general how much each person uses the site.

sounds good. I forget to rate. I do not even pay attention to them. a 10

I don't know if ratings affect points or not. My guess is no, but who knows. I think it's page views.

If I say I give someone a ten. I give them a ten. Any time you question it. Just ask me and i can send a screen shot.

Ratings do not affect points....and ratings should continue to be anonymous. If ratings were not anonymous, then members would simply open another account from which to rate.

Also, ratings are not meant to be a feedback mechanism for the author. They are meant to 'rank' the best original content on Gather for other members. Some members use the rating system as it was intended to be, thus leading to ratings lower than a '10'. Rating everything with a '10' is ultimately doing a disservice to the community by furthering the dilution of the rating system.

I have often wondered this myself...thanks for the clarification Kevin!

If I can't rate a 10, I don't rate at all.
I think some members low rate others, not for the quality of their work, but for spite. If I leave a comment disagreeing with someone's political views on an issue, I will probably get a DB1.
I see the low raters as comparable to children painting graffitti. No point other than to be destructive with protective anonymity.

Kimberly,

I'm duplicating this comment here as it remains appropriate to this post as well...

Here is another aspect to rating that perhaps you may want to consider...

Ratings are used to 'bubble up' or 'bubble down' content that the community (or one member) finds compelling in some way. This can also mean that content is rated based upon the 'quality' of the work and the time and effort expended in putting it together.

Therefore, if a member copies a news article from Yahoo (or elsewhere) and pastes it on Gather in a post, it takes very little effort and time. Further, in doing so, this person is violating Gather's Terms of Service (TOS) as well as the Terms of Service for Yahoo, and breaking the law.

What rating would be fair in this case?

Does a rating of 10 seem appropriate as their content is stolen from someone else (and they are stealing Gather Points from you at the same time)?

This article raised a few very good points Kimberly. Please consider publishing it to the The HelpCenter™.

Thank You!!

I recently posted my thoughts on this issue, and concluded that since ratings are seemingly meaningless, I no longer allow ratings on my posts.

Conner and Caeser, and their nieces, Cookie and Dixie give you 4 paws up!

God Bless!

thank you 4 the info