The "negative comments" feature

[dukebluelemur]

A lot of nice people, back in the day, got burned at the stake because of negative comments made about them.

I bet you weigh the same as a duck...

[sagegrouse]

How do you even tell if you've received an anonymous ding? I guess I haven't paid that much attention to it.

Well, A-Tex, you gotta lot of reading ahead of you. It's under "Settings" as others have pointed out.

sage

[killerleft]

100% agreement! I'll bet that a large share of negative comments are made because of disagreement with a post. That's the part I hate, and it's worse when the comment is anonymous. These comments can wrack up bad points against someone, should be changed.
A lot of nice people, back in the day, got burned at the stake because of negative comments made about them.

Not to mention the poor wretches who were poked with soft cushions or made to sit in comfy chairs.

[JasonEvans]

i don't like it because you can be attacked with no recourse...i hate that...

But no one but you can see it

I agree with the overall sentiment that anon comments are annoying. I get them all the time. Heck, I hate it when I get positive anon comments as I would like to thank some folks for their comments. The administrators have looked into making the comment feature non-anon... so far to no avail

I am glad to see that some folks care about and read their comments. Those of you with multiple pitchforks should be proud of the rep you have earned from the community. But, I think it is not worth getting too bent out of shape over a negative ding-- anon or signed. The vast, vast majority of rep points are positive ones and your negative one is likely to be wiped out by many positive ones if you continue to post high-quality material.

--Jason "raaah, raaah, cheer, cheer... I think this post was largely useless... ahh well" Evans

[killerleft]

I don't recall ever giving anybody a ding. I've given quite a few sporkie points. I guess if I disagree with someone or find their comment out of line I say so within the thread, no need for a double-negative.

[snowdenscold]

Well, A-Tex, you gotta lot of reading ahead of you. It's under "Settings" as others have pointed out.

sage

Wow! I figured if I ever received comments they would show up at the top with the # of unread inside ( )'s, like PMs. So now I just discover a bunch from the past 18 months I was totally unaware of. I feel a bit silly now...

[gus]

The anonymous insults feature has made me question more than once whether it's worthwhile posting here. I've gotten barbs for what I think are fairly innocuous posts.

It's annoying, but fortunately it's fairly easy to ignore the sad and pathetic people who can take the time to flame but apparently don't have the ability to sign their names.

[feldspar]

Wow! I figured if I ever received comments they would show up at the top with the # of unread inside ( )'s, like PMs. So now I just discover a bunch from the past 18 months I was totally unaware of. I feel a bit silly now...

Silly, but hopefully appreciated!!

[feldspar]

On a related note, what the heck is that thing that is supposed to be the "report this post" icon? Is it a street lamp? Weird flashlight? A whistle that lights up? I can't quite figure that out.

[gus]

On a related note, what the heck is that thing that is supposed to be the "report this post" icon? Is it a street lamp? Weird flashlight? A whistle that lights up? I can't quite figure that out.

The whistle?

[devildeac]

On a related note, what the heck is that thing that is supposed to be the "report this post" icon? Is it a street lamp? Weird flashlight? A whistle that lights up? I can't quite figure that out.

I thought you were a referee.

[Indoor66]

I thought you were a referee.

Of course he his, check out the great eyes.

[jacone21]

Of course he his, check out the great eyes.

TWEET! Flagrant foul! 2 shots and the ball.

[feldspar]

I thought you were a referee.

Ha ha! Nice...

I guess I didn't recognize it because no respected official uses a pea whistle like that! I can spot a Fox 40 from a mile away though

[davekay1971]

Understanding that the positive/negative comment feature is a site owner thing, not a mod thing, I would prefer that positive comments be allowed without the negative comment feature. It's very nice to receive (and hand out) positive feedback for the excellent posts we see on these threads. I absolutely agree that those "thumbs up" type comments, while appreciated, are generally best left off the thread and in the private feedback to avoid cluttering the thread.

Posts we don't like or agree with can be dealt with in any of 3 ways, all more productive than "dings". If it's a significant disagreement about content in a post that is relevant to the thread, then it should probably be addressed in the thread, to generate further discussion. If it's relevant to the thread but a minor disagreement, either let it go or discuss it in the thread, but either way an honest difference of opinion probably doesn't deserve a "ding". If it's just a crappy post - completely uninformed, offensive, or overtly negative and/or mean-spirited - the mods tend to be pretty active about policing that sort of thing. A PM to a mod may be worthwhile there if the post is sitting on the thread without any evident action from the mods. Just my opinion, but if a post is bad enough to really deserve a ding, a ding from a mod is probably deserved and has much more bite. I have 3 mod-issued warning flags still lurking atop my settings page and all 3 resulted in an alteration of my posting behavior.

[moonpie23]

But no one but you can see it

but in this case, i'm the only person that matters...

[devildeac]

I thought you were a referee.

Of course he his, check out the great eyes.

Ha ha! Nice...

I guess I didn't recognize it because no respected official uses a pea whistle like that! I can spot a Fox 40 from a mile away though

Perhaps as a referee you need a whistle like this then:

400474_1.jpg

[DukieInKansas]

Why? That would be expected. Don't accountants always say something dumb?

Not always. In fact, probably not any more than anyone else. Of course, I often hang out with other accountants - so it just might be hard for me to tell.

[throatybeard]

On the mod board, I argued against the reputation system, but my ululations fell on deaf ears.

My rationale was that the system could be gamed. A cadre of malcontents could gang up on someone, unfairly.

Then later, as a David Simon disciple, I realized any numbers game is susceptible to gaming. No, it requires gaming.

Then I threw up my hands. I have mostly given up on the human race in general. I salute the CrazieTalk folks for labeling these "sporks." I have ceased to concern myself with sporks.

While spork-appeal is fraught, it's basically a non-issue. Let's all launch ourselves back into death-match arguments about which guard gets how many minutes. It's at least as constructive.

I just got myself negative twenty sporks. Oh well.

[CameronBornAndBred]

On the mod board, I argued against the reputation system, but my ululations fell on deaf ears.

At least you tried.
Have a spork or three.
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