Negative Rep

[Lunacie]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy12

i think the problem isn't that it's more effort but that negative rep seems to be more of a judgement rather than an invitation to have a constructive dialogue. Especially since there is a visual and public reminder. Even though no one would know how exactly your reps are broken now. When you criticise someone on the thread or by pm the criticism seems contained to the topic of the thread whereas bad rep seems more like a judgement of your entire personality since its effect is permanent. It's not that the effect really matters but the intention of negative rep just seems harried it's like the difference between a penalising justice system and a rehabilitative one.

I do realise though that this is highly subjective and others might feel differently about the intention of negative rep. To me it seems like a popularity contest and i think that doesn't have a place on a support forum. I guess most of us face quite a lot of criticism on a daily basis i would like to think that on here people can talk freely even he their opinions aren't popular or conventional. I don't mind if misconceptions are cleared in an objective and friendly way but i just don't like the idea of judgement.

On another support forum i used to frequent they had a hugs button instead. There was an indication of the number or hugs you got as well but since hugs were considered more an another way to say thanks or show support it didn't really reflect on the quality of someone's posts or their reputation.

I've sent simple requests via PM and had them taken as a judgment,

and I've seen posts in open threads taken as judgments or personal attacks

when everyone else could see they hadn't been meant that way.

Some people look for criticism in every response they get.

If they don't want to have messages or rep points, I'm pretty sure they can go

into their control panel and turn them off.

It's just not possible for you or me to know which people are going to be offended

by private vs public messages.

[tudorose]

Originally Posted by Fortune

This complaint makes no sense to me for the above stated reason.

Also, why would the presence of negative rep, or perhaps my asking why you view it so negatively reflect the possibility that you might not want to be here?

My first experience of negative rep was by someone in green. It was not deserved.

I felt like I had no right of reply. I didn't know who to turn to. I still don't know what you can do in a situation like that apart from wait for the person to leave. At a later date it got taken away by someone else in green even though I hadn't made a request for them to do so. Whoever you are - thankyou.

This comes down to the 'fallacy of fairness' thing that I have going on in my head. I HATE and I mean HATE getting reprimanded when I haven't done anything wrong. If somethings going to make me hit the roof it's that. In real life it involves a lot of yelling and carrying on from me. When someone does this to me they sure as hell know about it. So me putting someone on the ignore list and stating how I feel about this on a couple of threads is pretty mild compared to the reaction they'd get if they were in front of me.

When someone gives you negative rep it's like making a mark on your record for which you don't get a right of reply. Yeah sure you can reply in a message but they can just delete it while their judgment of you still stands.

I probably wouldn't have a problem if I'd been redded for an inappropriate post. I have made plenty of questionable posts in my time that I truly did deserve to be negative repped for. I have an infraction on my profile. I see that as fair enough coz I was actually in the wrong that time. I'll cop it on the chin if I'm on the wrong.

I've always felt this way about being punished for something that was not my fault. As a child (10yr old) I had been threatened with the cane many times. One day my parents caned me for something insignificant. I was so angry that they caned me for something so pathetic when they could have caned me for lying or something worthwhile. After that I buried the cane in the garden so they could never do it again.

So maybe this explains the reaction - maybe it doesn't. I hate the fact that people can do that here. The moderator presence on this forum is good enough that it's not needed. I just hate that someone can put a bad mark on my record when I didn't actually do anything wrong. It makes me so mad and that's why I think about whether I will stay - coz it's unfair and when I feel something's unfair I either want to start a fight or run away. I'm not allowed to start fights here hence the thoughts of running away.

[Fortune]

Originally Posted by tudorose

So maybe this explains the reaction - maybe it doesn't. I hate the fact that people can do that here. The moderator presence on this forum is good enough that it's not needed. I just hate that someone can put a bad mark on my record when I didn't actually do anything wrong. It makes me so mad and that's why I think about whether I will stay - coz it's unfair and when I feel something's unfair I either want to start a fight or run away. I'm not allowed to start fights here hence the thoughts of running away.

Thank you for the explanation. This makes a lot more sense to me. I also see what you mean by wanting to leave - I've left other fora because I felt there was no proper recourse to particular actions.

Also, I believe only admin can remove reputation, so it was either Andrew or Andi if they were administrators at the time.

If anyone does leave abusive or nasty negative rep, you can always report it to a moderator - that is, you do have recourse.

[ADDinHDefgHi?!]

I just use the like button. I'm way too impulsive to trust myself with giving out any kind of negative rep points.

Also I've noticed that if I find a certain post offensive or ignorant and come back to that same post a day later I won't find it as offensive. I mean the majority of people here are genuine good people from what I can tell. Most everyone here seems to be trying to improve themselves and get accurate information about whatever subject is being discussed.

This forum is a positive thing for me and many others. I don't feel it's my place to judge. This forum has taught me a lot about looking at life from different perspectives and not jumping to conclusions about a person based on a handful of posts. We all have bad days and get enough sh@t in our daily lives.

I guess a Troll might warrant a neg rep point from me but I'm sure they'd be banned by the time I got around to giving out a negative rep point. But even Trolls spark interesting discussions at times.

[Lunacie]

Originally Posted by Fortune

Thank you for the explanation. This makes a lot more sense to me. I also see what you mean by wanting to leave - I've left other fora because I felt there was no proper recourse to particular actions.

Also, I believe only admin can remove reputation, so it was either Andrew or Andi if they were administrators at the time.

If anyone does leave abusive or nasty negative rep, you can always report it to a moderator - that is, you do have recourse.

Quoted because that is worth repeating for those who don't already know it.

Probably best to report it to Andi herself via PM, quoting the message and the name of the poster.

[angora]

I think I gave neg rep once but it was in the name of science - the labrat experiment to see if someone could get more than one red square.

My understanding is that all rep is reviewed see this post here http://www.addforums.com/forums/show...&postcount=246

[spunkysmum]

Originally Posted by tudorose

My first experience of negative rep was by someone in green. It was not deserved.

I felt like I had no right of reply. I didn't know who to turn to. I still don't know what you can do in a situation like that apart from wait for the person to leave. At a later date it got taken away by someone else in green even though I hadn't made a request for them to do so. Whoever you are - thankyou.

This comes down to the 'fallacy of fairness' thing that I have going on in my head. I HATE and I mean HATE getting reprimanded when I haven't done anything wrong. If somethings going to make me hit the roof it's that. In real life it involves a lot of yelling and carrying on from me. When someone does this to me they sure as hell know about it. So me putting someone on the ignore list and stating how I feel about this on a couple of threads is pretty mild compared to the reaction they'd get if they were in front of me.

When someone gives you negative rep it's like making a mark on your record for which you don't get a right of reply. Yeah sure you can reply in a message but they can just delete it while their judgment of you still stands.

I probably wouldn't have a problem if I'd been redded for an inappropriate post. I have made plenty of questionable posts in my time that I truly did deserve to be negative repped for. I have an infraction on my profile. I see that as fair enough coz I was actually in the wrong that time. I'll cop it on the chin if I'm on the wrong.

I know just how you feel. I really see red when I'm reprimanded for something that I did not do. I am pretty mild-mannered otherwise, but that brings out the brass in me.

I've always assumed it's my strong sense of justice and corresponding hatred of INjustice that makes me react this way.

[ginniebean]

One person kept giving me negative reps and I felt they were unfair. It pained me to do it but I neg repped her back. I did feel she was abusing the rep system.

[ginniebean]

Originally Posted by Lunacie

I've sent simple requests via PM and had them taken as a judgment,

and I've seen posts in open threads taken as judgments or personal attacks

when everyone else could see they hadn't been meant that way.

Some people look for criticism in every response they get.

If they don't want to have messages or rep points, I'm pretty sure they can go

into their control panel and turn them off.

It's just not possible for you or me to know which people are going to be offended

by private vs public messages.

I no longer risk "taking it private". I got burned pretty badly so I won't respond to any angry PM's. People can edit what you write and send it in, it's always a your word against theirs so I keep it public even tho at times this can be frowned upon but I see it as the lesser of two evils.

[Dizfriz]

I am not fond of the idea of negative rep. This is a support forum and a good one. As such, I do not feel comfortable with the concept of negative rep in this setting. I like positive rep though and do not give enough of it.

If I have a problem with anyone I will usually address it on the forum for all to see, warts and all. Back channel criticism and sniping is not something that fits my personality very well.

Just my thoughts.

Dizfriz

[Lunacie]

Originally Posted by ginniebean

I no longer risk "taking it private". I got burned pretty badly so I won't respond to any angry PM's. People can edit what you write and send it in, it's always a your word against theirs so I keep it public even tho at times this can be frowned upon but I see it as the lesser of two evils.

I'm not talking about angry comments.

I meant like asking a poster to please - use paragraph breaks - please.

For whatever reason they took it bashing their posting skills.

Even though I gave a green dot instead of a red one.

I hadn't considered that someone could edit a rep comment and then complain to admins.

[Fortune]

Originally Posted by angora

I think I gave neg rep once but it was in the name of science - the labrat experiment to see if someone could get more than one red square.

You can have 11 red squares. Someone on another forum tried to get as much negative rep as he could (as in asking for it explicitly, not being a jerk) and it capped out the same as positive rep. The big difference is that negative rep power is halved, so it is harder to push people into negatives than it is to give them positive.

[meadd823]

Originally Posted by Fortune

It is openly, unless you mean in public?

I mean, you know where the rep comes from, right?

What's weird is I see a lot of people who - when confronted in public - demand that they only be confronted privately.

Some folks are never satisfied.

Originally Posted by Lunacie

I'm not talking about angry comments.

I meant like asking a poster to please - use paragraph breaks - please.

For whatever reason they took it bashing their posting skills.

Even though I gave a green dot instead of a red one.

I hadn't considered that someone could edit a rep comment and then complain to admins.

I think she was referring to PMs - When you forward a PM it can be edited before forwarding. I don't think members can edit reps given by other members.