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georgej
Thanks for the input, and welcome aboard. I've been here less than six weeks myself, but its been fun. Many seem to like the idea of some sort of subjective star-rating system. I don't know about the practicality of having someone specialize in giving the ratings. It might work if it were a panel so that one individual's likes and dislikes would not control the system. But what would that cost us? I have no answers -- just suggestions that, combined with the input I'm receiving, may move me to delve further into the issue.
posted by
notapoet
on November 30, 2003 at 11:02 PM
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Rating System
What he and she said.
As a newcomer, I'd find a star rating system for quality would be helpful especially if it was done by someone other than the bloggers themselves. The Netflix service provides reviews and ratings based on members and outside critics. That would be a good way to go here imho.
posted by
georgej
on November 30, 2003 at 1:34 PM
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Dreamgirl
Aw, gosh, you're gonna turn my head -- and I love it! As long as all you lovely ladies keep paying attention to me, I'm fine. I ascribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory. Unfortunately our current system seems to be "broke" as far as retaining new members is concerned. That's the only reason I'm suggesting fixes. If we can only retain a lucky few newbies who get a lot of clicks early on, normal attrition will soon put us into a static status quo position. Or worse yet, we could actually suffer reductions in our current membership. It would be a terrible thing if the BN ended up dying out because no one was left except the tricksters.
posted by
notapoet
on November 30, 2003 at 12:35 PM
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beachbelle,
Hi Doll! Thanks for reading. I just caught up with the posts you mentioned in your comment earlier today. Sorry I didn't see them sooner.
I agree that a 30-day ranking might cause frustration among some newer members, but I don't recommend totally abolishing what we have until we have something better that we can put into place. Perhaps it would work to use the current "Top 100 Over the Last 7 Days" in conjunction with a longer 30-day period. It seems to me that the place where we first get into trouble is that tricks for clicks work so damned well in the "Most Popular Today" rating. Maybe modifying or eliminating this one would force us to rely more on the recommendations of others for new posts.
I really don't know, I'm just thinking out loud.
posted by
notapoet
on November 30, 2003 at 12:17 PM
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TooeleWriterGal
Thanks for the input, Darlin'. I know that tricks will always work to a certain extent, but their effect seems to lessen over time while, of course, good writing and worthwhile ideas age quite well. Harvey likes the "one-to-five stars" type of rating system and your idea seems to be a sort of synthesis of the objective and subjective approaches. I'm sure there is no perfect answer. However, if we keep knocking decent ideas around we might end up with a better system.
posted by
notapoet
on November 30, 2003 at 12:04 PM
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Notapoet, I agree 100% with you, my dear...Great post. I think the BN Staff
will soon listen to all these suggestions. I really do! As always, excellent writing, my friend.
posted by
Ariala
on November 30, 2003 at 11:41 AM
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Hi my sweet notapoet
I am starting to think we would be better off without a Top 10 or Top 100 - and I am in the top 10 - just rankings in the categories but a monthly rank could work well although it might feel like too long for newbies to feel they could get anywhere. I posted about this in my last two So You Want To Be A Writer posts but received little feedback.
posted by
beachbelle
on November 30, 2003 at 11:38 AM
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It would be nice
if there was some kind of rating system you could rate the blog AFTER the click. Otherwise "tricks for clicks" will always work best, even over a longer period. Plus it would give good feedback for the individual writers, not just how many people read, but how many liked the post.
posted by
TooeleWriterGal
on November 30, 2003 at 11:29 AM
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sassyass
Thanks for the kind words, Darlin'. Its wonderful to be appreciated, but I'm not sure I have the answer, just a possible better way. It is my hope that enough of us who care will address this situation until some solution, not necessarily mine, is enacted.
posted by
notapoet
on November 30, 2003 at 10:52 AM
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Harvey
I agree with much of what you say and I'll be the first to admit that I don't have all the answers. Hell, when it comes to blogging, I don't think I have any of the answers. I do feel that there is a time for comments, though like you I comment infrequently. I do try to recognize exceptional writing and/or thought with a comment and I try to avoid acidic comments because I think they actually benefit the popularity of the blogger that I would like to take down a peg or two. I briefly belonged to a writing group that used the "stars" system. It was awful. There were a handful of helpful little old ladies who were handing out four and five stars to any one who could spell three-letter words correctly and remember to start their sentences with a capital letter. On the whole, I think subjective judgments cause a lot of trouble because someone might be offended if I gave him three stars at the same time his buddies were giving him four and five. Just like comments, it can backfire.
We all have different tastes and different issues that are important to us. All I can do is try to tell people when I think they are on the mark by reading them frequently and occassionally telling them I appreciate their efforts.
Hmmn, we've both just about written another post discussing this. Looks like we both need to get busy doing some rabble rousiing.
posted by
notapoet
on November 30, 2003 at 10:47 AM
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We have all been guilty
of writing pieces without substance. I call it a "brain fart" day. My mind doesn't always work the way I want it to. You keep writing like this though, and you will get used to being in the top 100, and climbing to #1. It was very informative, and thanks for a good opinion of how things should be.
posted by
Sherri_G
on November 30, 2003 at 10:21 AM
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Good observations on a complicated issue.
It occurred to me that we have different expectations as blogger/writers. Some are here to read; some are here to write. Some write to become better writers; write to express themselves or promote their opinions and ideas. Some excellent thinkers are poor writers. Some excellent writers, don't think at all. Others just are here for the entertainment and get a kick out of provoking others. I've been writing online for more than six years and have seen several formats for ranking and ratings. I think I prefer no rankings but ratings on individual blogs. One had a star rating system (five being the best) and you could just rate a blog with or without comments. One star indicated a waste of the readers time. Two stars indicated needing some work. etc.
This allow you to rate a piece without commenting, which I liked. Sometimes we just don't want to comment or don't have anything constructive to say. With the star system, we could let the writer know we were there and express our opinion with a single click.
posted by
HarveysAgain
on November 30, 2003 at 10:16 AM
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Laz
I agree, I'm constantly tempted to write a few lines about anything that pops into my head rather than really saying something. It's also difficult to resist the temptation to comment on everything just to pick up a few clicks. About the former, I have to admit I've succumbed a few times. No apologies for the latter, I can't help flirting with the ladies. But I do feel, as you mentioned, a bond of friendship and mutual respect with some of the members. It is enough to keep me going for now.
posted by
notapoet
on November 30, 2003 at 12:30 AM
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another sad side effect of this is that the better writers are being drawn into the fluffy side as you mention... to compete for visibility...quid pro quo...damned if they do, damned if they don't...it's a balancing act...BN is a human laboratory...many mature players like amateur scientists are exasperated, ready to walk out but constrained by some invisible chain...there are undeclared friendships here...
posted by
byebye
on November 30, 2003 at 12:05 AM
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Thanks, Laz
You also make some interesting points. I wonder if there is any way, other than hours of clicking, to get a fairly accurate count of just how many bloggers we have. I suspect it is far fewer than many would assume. I also suspect the majority of new members leave after their first month for two main reasons: 1) inability to make any headway against those 20 bloggers with 5 blogs each in the Top 100; and 2) disgust at the overall sophomoric quality of the postings BN. I should also think it would be disturbing to most that fiction and poetry together make up barely 20% of the total blogs on a supposedly writer oriented network.
posted by
notapoet
on November 29, 2003 at 11:49 PM
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Excellent post notapoet...should link this to Community Section addressed to BN Staff...there's been a spate of recommendations to BN to change the ranking system which have fallen on deaf ears...too hard basket...I think we now have more bloggers than readers...just imagine also the twenty bloggers having five blogs each in the top 100...
posted by
byebye
on November 29, 2003 at 11:22 PM
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