Ratings system needs to be improved

[dgianstefani]

just leave it as it is, it´s good enough

Yep. Changes need to be much better to be worth it.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

haha - self explanatory

Haha is not self-explanatory. It can be both "that was genuinely funny" and "I disagree/I think you're dumb" kind of reaction.
I'm not in favor of change just because clear "FU" kind of reaction to highlight latter use case would probably provoke more flamewars.

 

[Shihab]

Is it a rating though?
I've always looked at it as a quick way to react to something, instead of, for example, a single post with "lol" or "thx" (which, iirc, are frowned upon/prohibited).

TPU used to track "thanks" when it was the only action. I guess then it may have been some sort of an informal rating system. But I don't see any stats for the current reactions anywhere.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

IMHO, the is the only one missing. Easy way to ask for more detail or clarification without derailing a thread.

 

[bug]

Currently I can rate posts with the following:

like - self explanatory
love - basically same as above but with more emphasis
haha - self explanatory
wow - positive surprise
sad - reaction to bad news, usually
angry - reaction to annoying info, usually

This is essentially 3 positive and 3 emotional responses.

It lacks negative responses. What if a poster posts garbage? His opinions are dumb? His information is completely incorrect?

Negative responses would easily fix such. For example:

disagree - if you simply disagree, perhaps without negative connotations
stupid - if you think the poster posts dumb trash/misinformation
shit - essentially for everything else, i.e. an opinion that perhaps is not stupid, but extremely edgy, cringe or otherwise repulsive, or a picture of one's amazing build that looks like thousands of other.

We have the "low quality post". Otherwise it would all turn into an up/down voting war.
But yes, it's awkward at times to be unable to show your disagreement.

 

[AusWolf]

"angry - reaction to annoying info, usually"

Funny story: In the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League topic - there was this video where Batman was owned/killed by a bunch of low IQ chars - and reacted with the Angry emote - cause that scene pissed me off. But the one who posted that video - took it personally thinking i was angry at him/her - so checked my info and used the angry emote on my last post - as form of vendetta (payback).

The same way stupidity is a constant, so is people taking others' opinions on unrelated topics personally. "I like pizza. You don't. Since pizza and I are basically equal in every sense, that can only mean that you don't like me either. Since I need every living being on the planet to like not only me, but also everything else that I like, for self-validation, my day is now ruined." That's how ridiculously illogical some homo sapiens specimens are.

 

[bug]

The same way stupidity is a constant, so is people taking others' opinions on unrelated topics personally. "I like pizza. You don't. Since pizza and I are basically equal in every sense, that can only mean that you don't like me either. Since I need every living being on the planet to like not only me, but also everything else that I like, for self-validation, my day is now ruined." That's how ridiculously illogical some homo sapiens specimens are.

Wth dude, you no like pizza?

/s

 

[68Olds]

I've thought for a long time there should either be a face palm or smh reaction emoji.

 

[Bones]

Best way I can say it on my part is if it ain't broke, no need to fix it.

BTW wasn't there a thumbs up or down thing here before?
For some reason I seem to recall it being here but I'm probrably thinking of somewhere else.

 

[Vayra86]

IMHO, the is the only one missing. Easy way to ask for more detail or clarification without derailing a thread.

Neehhh kinda suffers from the same issues as the 'haha'. Could also be 'you're not making sense'.

Although that does also kinda ask for more detail

 

[neatfeatguy]

I honestly don't care. I don't come here looking for likes/dislikes. If I wanted that I would go post some dribble on tiktok or whatever other crappy social media sites are out there so I can bathe in glory from random internet people's fake points.

 

[Veseleil]

wow - positive surprise

Not in my book. In the absence of WTF and SMH I use WOW as a completely negative response for some time now. It doesn't count into user's reaction score anyway, only like, love and funny ones do.

IMHO, the is the only one missing.

That one could do.

 

[Onasi]

I think that if there is a post you disagree with or you think is blatantly wrong, then, if you wish to engage, typing out a reasonable counter argument is far more valuable in terms of actually using a forum for discussion than any reaction could ever be. It’s why we are here, after all.
If the post is, however, straight garbage, like offensive, disrespectful, disruptive or very low quality, then the Report button is there to let the mods know.
Overall, I think the current state of affairs is fine.

 

[Solaris17]

just leave it as it is, it´s good enough

Agreed, members already use what is available to bait others. TPU isn’t the only one that does this.

YouTube, Facebook other social media outlets removed or made it harder to use emojis in the negative context. It’s a mental thing and I don’t think TPU needs to become a battleground.

Counting thumbs up as is, is childish imo and if you are taking any advice or solutions seriously here or anywhere else online based on reaction score you deserve what happens next.

If this forum isn’t usable enough for you because you can’t harass someone with a dog shit emoji feel free to go somewhere else.

 

[PLAfiller]

I've thought for a long time there should either be a face palm or smh reaction emoji.

+1 for the facepalm, didn't think of this until I saw it written. Actually I'd vote for a couple of these: faceplam, double faceplam, triple facepalm and tactical facepalm.

Largely I am OK with the current selection, but sometimes I miss a few emojis I can use. I have always used it as a quick reaction option or give support to a person. Very rarely when I want to avoid direct confrontation when I am really at an opposite end.

 

[KedsDead]

I think it is fine the way it is. Otherwise you could end up with ppl who will just down vote a post simple because it mentions a brand they dont like.

"This guy recommended (Insert Brand Name Here), I'm poo'n that garbage."

This forum is much better off with out that.

 

[the54thvoid]

If this forum isn’t usable enough for you because you can’t harass someone with a dog shit emoji feel free to go somewhere else.

Cunning idea has come to my mind:

Spoiler

As the poo emoji would exist just to be nasty or overly negative, use of it in the forum would be akin to pressing Alt +F4 in games -- instant reply ban.

 

[QcRMoD]

I do think emojis mark someone being emotional. There is no way around it. If we were machines we wouldn’t react to anything at all, and a smily face would mean nothing. Yes the machine could learn what it means, but without having emotions itself, it would still consider them useless to its own purposes and probably would have a hard time understanding how we humans emotionally use them at times to convey more than the emotion represented. Emojis are a social contract in how they are used.

I don’t look at them necessarily as rating - I mean they sure can be and we do use them that way, but they still mark an emotional response primarily, so someone wise will keep on reading to see where it goes, or respond if they think it needs to be pointed out. Seeing a laughing emoji in a serious discussion doesn’t mean that I dismiss the post. I keep on reading. Then if the laughing guy offers no pertinent info but just keeps « laughing » down posts, he’s a subtle troll but a troll nevertheless.

If you ask me, we’re fine with that social contract on TPU. It’s usually self explanatory IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. I’ve been on forums where additional reactions, in trying to cater to all kind of emotional responses, would strictly become upsetting even for someone just reading the thread but not invested in it. The underlying aggressions were just… contaminating everything else.

I have a particular affection towards this one:

Aaaah sorry didn’t know we couldn’t use that. But you know the guy with the monocle. Best represented here by: but already that's much more negative.

It does emotionally convey severity and calls for scrutiny but it is not particularly negative nor aggressive.

I do like smh but I find it tends to at once reject the entire post in a block AND call the poster stupid.

 

[freeagent]

I am ok with things as they are. Do we really need a poo emoji?

I mean, we are for the most part all adults here right?

You can roll the dice and speak you're mind rather than use a poo emoji

 

[Deleted member 57642]

I've thought for a long time there should either be a face palm or smh reaction emoji.

There's a bunch with same meaning: - just really low quality - mIRC running on Windows '98 Edition.

 

[Onasi]

There's a bunch with same meaning: - just really low quality - mIRC running on Windows '98 Edition.

Those smilies are a bloody stone cold classic, some of the last remnants of the Old Internet. I don’t think they should be removed or updated, the TPU is fairly refreshingly old-school in how it works and runs.

 

[AusWolf]

I do think emojis mark someone being emotional. There is no way around it. If we were machines we wouldn’t react to anything at all, and a smily face would mean nothing. Yes the machine could learn what it means, but without having emotions itself, it would still consider them useless to its own purposes and probably would have a hard time understanding how we humans emotionally use them at times to convey more than the emotion represented. Emojis are a social contract in how they are used.

I don’t look at them necessarily as rating - I mean they sure can be and we do use them that way, but they still mark an emotional response primarily, so someone wise will keep on reading to see where it goes, or respond if they think it needs to be pointed out. Seeing a laughing emoji in a serious discussion doesn’t mean that I dismiss the post. I keep on reading. Then if the laughing guy offers no pertinent info but just keeps « laughing » down posts, he’s a subtle troll but a troll nevertheless.

If you ask me, we’re fine with that social contract on TPU. It’s usually self explanatory IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. I’ve been on forums where additional reactions, in trying to cater to all kind of emotional responses, would strictly become upsetting even for someone just reading the thread but not invested in it. The underlying aggressions were just… contaminating everything else.

I have a particular affection towards this one:

Aaaah sorry didn’t know we couldn’t use that. But you know the guy with the monocle.

It does emotionally convey severity and calls for scrutiny but it is not particularly negative nor aggressive.

I do like smh but I find it tends to at once reject the entire post in a block AND call the poster stupid.

But that begs the question: What's there to be emotional about in the first place? Tech news? No way. Another forum member's attitude? That's what the report button is for. An opinion? Just grow up, please.

Besides, as it was mentioned before, any disagreement is handled much more elegantly by a post elaborating on the counter-argument than a laughing or angry face lazily clicked on. I could have clicked on an emoji instead of writing this post, but would that have brought the conversation forward? Would it have given you the chance to think about and react to my points? Would then I be able to think about your counter-arguments? Would we reach any sort of consensus in the end? Absolutely not.

 

[freeagent]

Those smilies are a bloody stone cold classic, some of the last remnants of the Old Internet. I don’t think they should be removed or updated, the TPU is fairly refreshingly old-school in how it works and runs.

Kids nowadays

 

[Shrek]

I like to idea of a poo emoji as the haha gets overused (either as funny/funny or as sarcasm).

 

[Onasi]

I like to idea of a poo emoji as the haha gets overused (either as funny/funny or as sarcasm).

Can we not, maybe? This whole discussion of how much we need poo starts to whiff of coprophilia.