McGarnigle
Well-Known Member
The thumbs up doesn't really do anything. I have a ton of them, there all for humorous/snarky comments.
I gave a thumb's down to the post suggesting we use thumb's more often. It seemed like a funny thing to do.
The thumbs up doesn't really do anything. I have a ton of them, there all for humorous/snarky comments.
If you propose to "rate out" the "mis-information" then you also condemn the potential for evolution of concepts.
Thanks for the helpful feedback.
If you propose to "rate out" the "mis-information" then you also condemn the potential for evolution of concepts.
Ok, here's the long answer for you:
It is extraordinarily easy to tell who has a clue on these boards and who doesn't. And with just an ounce of patience, you can almost always be sure that any bad ideas will be routinely squelched by any of the number of experienced brewers that frequent this forum. Anyone can log-in and comment on these boards, so it's up to you to sort the fact from fiction - you know, sort of like the rest of the known universe. To the extent that you would classify someone's opinion as "misinformation," it would serve you well to remember that brewing is only part science. As many will tell you, the yeast does almost all of the heavy lifting when it comes to making your beer. If you or someone else has cracked the code on the definitive explanation of the way yeast behaves in every conceivable circumstance, please do tell. Otherwise, we will all get on here, share our collective experiences (even if said experience is scant), ask our stupid, repetitive questions when it's already covered in a sticky or in another thread still on the first page, give out wildly varying degrees of good advice, and leave it up to the legal-drinking-age adults that are reading the posts to act on the well-intentioned but inherently and obviously unauthoritative resource that this forum is.
In other words, welcome to the internet.
I don't think there is really a problem with misinformation.
If somebody does post something obviously wrong folks will be quick to let them know.
A lot of times there are more then one correct answer to a question, and more then one solution to a problem.
Don't believe everything you read, and if you are not sure what to believe get the answers verified elsewhere.
I gave a thumb's down to the post suggesting we use thumb's more often. It seemed like a funny thing to do.
If you propose to "rate out" the "mis-information" then you also condemn the potential for evolution of concepts.
My 0.02 on the topic is that all you get from someone on a discussion forum is THEIR 0.02 on a particular topic. Even the so-called "experts"....read and act accordingly.
As for a "system" to promote one persons' view over another (i.e. some are "more equal" than others)...I'd probably be out of here if this happened (and I don't think I'd be the only one).
It would really change the dynamic of this board. (again, in my opinion...cause that is what you get on a discussion forum).
... there are also guys on here with only a handful of posts, who clearly know what they're talking about. Like this 42-post "n00b".
Interesting. But the real question is whether there is anyone on HBT with more than my 4,500 posts who knows less about brewing?
but I don't see how anyone could say a post rating system would not be beneficial to the community.
We had this same argument on probetalk.com years ago,& it went the same way as this one. It's starting to sound like folks with less experience only want to weed out the geniuses to listen to. And dump the rest in some other forum away from prying eyes. If you're the "adults" you claim to be,then stop trying to create an elitist group. Because this is how it always winds up. Decide for yourself. If you don't know,& have to ask,then decide what'll work for you...
We had this same argument on probetalk.com years ago
See, this is exactly what's wrong with it. Multiple posters above have told you, in detail, why they think a post rating system a bad idea. You disagree, but instead of saying you disagree, make a blanket statement that discounts their opinions. As stated above, welcome to the internet.
Here's a couple more reasons it would not be beneficial to the community:
- it would elevate the opinions of those who are quick to click the thumbs up or down, but not willing to write a post to express their opinions or thoughts, thus owning or claiming their opinions
- like any anonymous rating system, it is prone to abuse by those who hold a grudge
- there is no way to tell if a thumbs up or thumbs down came from a member who knows what they are talking about
- it has the potential to drive off posters and members - if I posted something and had a bunch of people thumbs downing me, it would not be encouraging to me
We had this same argument on probetalk.com years ago,& it went the same way as this one. It's starting to sound like folks with less experience only want to weed out the geniuses to listen to. And dump the rest in some other forum away from prying eyes. If you're the "adults" you claim to be,then stop trying to create an elitist group. Because this is how it always winds up. Decide for yourself. If you don't know,& have to ask,then decide what'll work for you...
Who said anything about it being anonymous?
I think this is a terrible idea. If admins/mods determine who is rated as a trusted poster, then why not just say only admins can answer questions?
This forum isn't an authoritative reference or a peer-reviewed academic environment. It's a forum. You'll get good accurate information, inaccurate information, something in between and information that might be thought "bad" today only to be "accepted" tomorrow. It's up to you to sort it out, just like in the rest of the world. If you don't want to exercise that sort of judgment, arm yourself with whatever comprehensive reference book you prefer and choose to believe it all. But don't rely on two, because they'll contradict one another... then you'll need a moderator again. Darn! Gathering information and making your own informed choices seems almost inevitable, huh?
It's mentioned later in this thread that we already have a thumbs up/thumbs down feature on this site. Would it be possible to expand this feature so that we could see which posts have been given a thumbs up/thumbs down and how many of each have been given? I think this would be a better way to accomplish what I'm attempting to achieve here.
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Original post below:
I'll start off by saying that I have learned 90% of what I know about brewing from this site and it has been essential to me throughout my journey as a homebrewer.
One thing that I've continued to notice as I become more experienced is the continuous spewing of misinformation by people who are just parroting the misinformation they've read in a similar thread while having no real world experience on the subject. I know I was guilty of it when I was a beginner but now I get frustrated when reading these kinds of posts here.
Why would someone take my advice when there are 10 posts above mine with differing/incorrect information?
Obviously Yooper can't reply to every thread, so how are beginners going to know who to trust? When I was new here, I assumed the premium supporters were all knowledgeable people but then I realized you can become a premium member without knowing the first thing about brewing. Eventually I learned who the knowledgeable people were but that took a while.
I propose we come up with some kind of designation for trusted members. Their IDs would stand out in some way similar to how premium members do. The admins could deem anyone a trusted member if they notice them giving out lots of good advice. This would let the beginners know who to trust when it they get 10 different replies to a question with 10 different answers.
I think this would contribute greatly to the community and help stop the misinformation and myths from being so regularly repeated here.
I just went over to probetalk.com but found it wasn't about probes at all . . .
Who said anything about it being anonymous?
"S05 yeast is a good yeast!"
The idea rating isn't a bad one at all but I don't think it should be applied to a person but rather a thread and/or post. I may give out 50% good advice and 50% bad advice. Does that make me a trusted poster? I wouldn't say so. However, when I post something that is good advice, and others agree, that post could be rated as "xx% agree with this post". It's a formal way of putting weight on an individual post.
Since the rating system is already tied to each post, there could easily be a up/down count on each post and you could even allow threads to be sorted by post rating.
People already try to get this effect by posting +1 and -1 replies to individual quoted posts. Why not use the tools already in place to formalize it?
- it would discourage threads where there is give and take, leading to understanding and evolution of thinking (like Gila and WildWest said earlier), in favor of a quick 'up or down'
- because its just an up or down, with no explanation, you can't tell if its a worthwhile opinion or not
- it would discourage people from participating in the forum
One of the issues I have with the thumbs up or thumbs down is we get those everyday (mods see them) and sometimes it's just someone who doesn't agree with a statement of "S05 yeast is a good yeast!"
gotta be honest here,, i been here everyday for 5 years and never noticed the thumbs up/down thingy till today
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