I’ve noticed something… I totally enjoy my rep going down. Even though I may not deserve it at times.
While I do get Negative and Positive rep for reasons unknown to me… I know that every time I get negative Rep with a comment, or to a post with a controversial opinion in it, I know I have made a difference, and I know I have been heard.
Especially when I make jokes. I get the worst rep from telling lame jokes…
And hell, I’ll admit, I abuse the rep system. “HE HAS MORE REP THAN I DO??? I think NOT!!!” Then I proceed to disaprove of some post they had months before the rep system was around hoping to make a small difference.
So just letting you all know, I could care less if I’m getting bad rep, as long as I’m getting some. It’s often the best way to communicate to me, since I usually never read long winded rants.
Yes. I think people should realise that the rep system, although it may feel gratifying or justifying, is just tearing us apart… it does more harm than good.
My logic is simple the more bad rep points I give the less people are better than me.
Actually my rep has stayed the same for quite a while now even without actually dishing out bad rep points. It seems my posts arnt really worth reading, go figure.
the rep points are not for your own personal enjoyment…they’re for other people. so if you post something, they’ll know whether or not to take you seriously or to like you, based on how high your rep is. having a low rep means having low credibility.
Speaking of low rep points and how credible they are, I saw this in my CP when I was looking at my rep. That comment is singlehandedly the most funny thing I’ve read on this forum yet.
Did I make a difference? Meh. Did I contribute negativly to the forum? I don’t think so. Does it make a credible point? I don’t think so. Is the comment funny? Hell yes.
i thought that pic was funny! I know someone who’s like that, so it’s even funnier!
psh.
I don’t pay attention to rep either. I mean, i look, but i’m not angry when i get bad rep. But it is nice to see that some people like what i say, and it makes me feel good when i get good rep, but i don’t care about bad.
The only thing a positive or negative rep point means is that someone either agreed or disagreed with something that you said. If you post an opinion on some divisive subject, like Bush or creationism or Xena Vs. Wonder Woman, and your view is in the minority, your reputation will take a hit, with no relevance to how credible a member of the community you are.
And I would prefer that people decide whether they are going to take me seriously based on what they learn about me from my posts, and not be told by others how much they should like me, beforehand. I haven’t been posting a lot recently, so my rep is rather modest compared to a lot of others, but I don’t think that I’m any less worthy of trust or respect than anyone else.
That would not be the correct way to use the rep system. The rep system is intended to award people who make good posts, whether they agree or not with the post.
I agree that that isn’t how the system is supposed to be used, and I don’t disapprove of its intent so much. Unfortunately any system that relies on its users’ willful self-discipline for its proper implementation is doomed to be misused, for such is human nature. In the absence of any other controlling influence, people are more apt to use the system in whatever way suits their needs than they are to adhere to a stated intent. The rep system exists at least in large part as an attempt to discourage the perceived incorrect use of the forums, but incorrect use of the rep system itself is no less inevitable. Reactions to opinions are, I think, going to be the most likely triggers for rep use.
Of the six rep nuggets in my collection at the moment, three (two green, one red) sprang from opinion posts about the rep system itself. Another came from someone who apparently liked a Hopper painting that I posted in the Test forum. Another kind soul found one of my attempts at humor amusing. And, one from someone who actually felt that I’d posted something of practical use to unicyclists. I suppose I would have to argue that my rep is unfairly high, since five out of the six votes were responses to my learned opinions, finely-honed wit, or superlative taste in test-image art, and only one relating to the informational value of my post. I can’t tell how many points each slug is worth, so I don’t know whether the red one cancelled out any of the green ones or not.
It’s not a big deal from my own point of view. I don’t pay much attention to anyone else’s rep or to my own, except when I’m overanalyzing the thing for a post like this of course. But a lot of other folks seem to take it seriously as a measure of one’s status, and I’m skeptical.
The rep system, like the search option, is used according to the understanding, abilities, and whims of each participant in the forums. I have received at least one piece of “rep” that is in accord with Gilby’s description of how it “should” be used; that is I got good rep for a post that the rep comment clearly indicated the giver of the rep disagreed with.
I like to think of the rep system as a distraction within a distraction.
