New feature; comment ratings

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This should be a real hoot. I don’t know when wordpress added the feature, but I’ve enabled comment rating for the site. Lots of sites are now moving toward this function, where readers can rate the comments of their fellow users. I can remove this feature with the click of a mouse, so if people abuse it, its gone, I just wanted to test it out. If you see particularly troubling comments, stuff that is off topic or just insulting, then flag it with a thumbs down. I believe there is a way for me to generate reports if certain comments receive excessive thumbs down ratings. This might help me figure out who is here stirring up trouble and I can rectify the situation. So, rate away.

42 thoughts on “New feature; comment ratings”

  1. PP:

    I appreciate your caring so about the site and trying to police “bad guys” and reduce abuses. Hey, it’s your site and we’re all guests, so you are free and well within your rights to do whatever you darned well please and I know your motives and intentions are good – they always are.

    Nonetheless, I can tell you that I am not a real fan of the rating comments section. I go onto this site daily to relieve stress and enjoy myself for a few minutes while I take a break from what is a very stressful and difficult job where my performance is held to a very high standard. Either explicitly or implicitly, I am being evaluated and rated every day. Personally, I don’t want to go to a website where my comments, which, really, are just friendly banter and conversation with those who share my common hobby and interest, are also being rated and evaluated. I can only speak for myself, but that’s just not up my alley and, frankly, I think it is not all that difficult to police repeat offenders and, perhaps, people can just send you private e-mails to alert you to this conduct – I think we all have a general sense of who is participating in this site in good faith and who is not.

    In any event, while I reserve the right to change my mind at a later time, for now, I think I’ll suspend posting my comments while the rating system is in place (although I still might send questions directly to Mr. Schwimer), although I’ll still be an avid reader and follower of the site.

    Thanks for asking for our input on the new feature and best always.

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  4. catch good post but if comments are good or bad, imo, isnt the point. i think the evaluations should be taken more in the spirit of not who is right or wrong but more in the context of who are simply trying to make personal comments, like cyber buzzards. opinions are neither good or bad but the people who intentionally attempt to hurt fellow posters should not be censored but pointed out. but ideologically i couldnt agree more. keep posting your valued.

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  5. I gotta go with Catch on this one. Maybe I am a pessimist but I don’t have much faith in this not being used as a “I do/don’t agree” with you tool. I tend to see, for the most point, the site being self-policing, where if a post is off topic most just tend to ignore it. Anyway, just my $.02.

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  6. Mostly agree with John – though I am also going to down rate comments which are nasty to non-posters, e.g. the Amaro bashing we used to see a lot around here, and of course off-topic comments. But yeah, don’t use it for disagreements over substantive opinions.

    I see this as more a deterent, though. People may think twice before posting nasty or off topic comments.

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  7. “the site being self-policing, where if a post is off topic most just tend to ignore it”

    It would be nice if it worked that way but IMO it doesn’t. Many threads have been taken over by off topic discussions.

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  8. Since the introductiion of this feature today(?) the site is now taking off and scrolling itself on threads, and the “compatibility” thing kicks in with some kind of comment as to compatibility. This has never occurred before.

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  9. BP has a similar function but if a comment recieves a large amount of negative ratings, it is not shown in the thread, but just something that says ‘this comment recieved X negative feedbacks, click here to view it’. Is that feature possible?

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  10. I think this is a good idea, if it’s used responsibly. And if it isn’t, PP can remove it. I think the general point should be to clean up the clutter, eliminate comments that have nothing to do with the topic at hand, and perhaps even to encourage users themselves to self-censor (no one likes getting a thumbs down). But again, the key will be that it not be abused.

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  11. To be honest, I read a few Phillies blogs and I appreciate that you by far try the best to keep things in tact. While saying that, there is no way at all to prevent conversations from drifting off topic. It just happens, Give this thunbs up and down thing a few weeks and see what happens.

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  12. @ Catch 22 f/k/a H Man:

    I understand your reasoning, and it certainly makes sense. But I think if the comment ratings are used in the right way, then there’s nothing to worry about. IMO, people should only be using the ratings to flag inappropriate or off-topic comments (as BP does, which RodeJones notes above). In other words, there’s no reason that your original comment should have received 7 thumbs down.

    It’s frustrating to me for something like this to lose us the comments and input of a valued poster like Catch 22, so I just hope everyone uses this the right way.

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  13. PP: I think it’s a good idea generally.

    I’ve been posting here for less than 6 months now but when I do I try to make my points with the hope that it sparks enough interest out there to get a response from other readers. I most enjoy provoking thought from others rather than trying to impress anyone with my own opinions.

    When I have addressed individual posters it has always been to clarify my points. It seems that no matter how hard you try to make your points clearly someone will misinterpret them. It is a fact of life.

    Make it a contest. Give an honorary award for the poster of the day or week. If you have fun with it it has a chance of working.
    Thanks again,PP, for the opportunity.

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  18. I like the thumbs, it lets people rate stupid comments negatively instead of make stupid comments in response to those stupid comments, thus creating an exponential chain reaction of never ending stupid comments.

    Catch 22-

    I like reading what you have to say, don’t stop posting just because of some thumbs. Its ananomous anyway, so who cares!

    Take a zannex and stop being such a drama queer!!

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  20. PhilLee Says:
    August 12, 2009 at 1:10 PM

    Let’s bring back Jose Mesa for the stretch run, so Lidge can figure it out.
    lefty44 Says:
    August 12, 2009 at 12:48 PM

    I think we should of given Adam Eaton a few more starts

    nowheels please Says:
    August 12, 2009 at 1:53 PM
    Happ is just lucky.

    THESE WERE JOKES
    I understand that if i quoted the bible someone would
    vote negatively. but that isnt a problem for me

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  21. Like I said, I havent determined whether or not to keep it, but its a new toy, I wanted to see if it was worth anything. Using it to mark the people trolling/just stirring the pot is the intended purpose, not to just give someone a thumbsdown because you don’t like their stance on a subject.

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  22. i have been playing with this feature today and i really love it. it really shows people what others think of their post. i vote to keep it

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  23. I can see C22’s points, but I am of two minds, thinking the deterrent factor may be there, since you get more feedback. However, deleting posts or banning is the ultimate deterrent.

    On how the feature is used:

    Agree it should not be used as an agreement meter. However, I have been using it liberally and I give the thumbs down to any personal attacks or discourteous tone. I also give thumbs down to thoughtless posts, regardless of whether I agree with the basic position. For example, one post offered an opinion and then said explicitly that he/she did not feel like looking up the facts that might give the point some backing. Can’t stand that. Either provide some evidence or a reasoned argument based on some facts or don’t post. Quite irritating how some people just like to hear themsleves talk and say whatever comes to mind and don’t have the respect for other posters to give their point some weight.

    I am not on the side of those who want to turn an Internet discussion into a formal debate. There is a lot of room for people with all kinds of opinions who do not make it a hobby to know every stat or rule of debate. But everyone can show respect by not posting unless they have something to say that carries a little weight and was prepared with some thought.

    The posts about player observation vs. stats is a good example. I think stats have real value in exposing some long-standing prejudices in people’s observations. I have been trying to learn here and there and am making progress. But personal observations can be powerful too. When? When they are a product of observing over time by an analytical mind and offered in a reasoned way. So many posts are the product of parroting what some sports writer said and then confirmed by a bad night by that player in one trip to the ballpark. Not my cup of tea. But there are many wise comments on many of the Phils forums that are not stat-related but have a lot of force, because the poster is not parroting or talking out of his or her butt.

    Another way of saying that is that some posters have their own BS meters and you can tell that by their careful, reasoned statements. Others are in love with their own BS. And that disctinction crosses the boundaries of all styles of posters.

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  24. One major problem I’m having is that it makes the large threads (like the 2009 Draft Picks) take an extra few minutes to load because it adds the thumbs to each post separately.

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  25. Mixed bag of opinion on the comment rating?

    Perfect analogy to this site as a whole and why I come here so often (aside from the brilliant reporting on the Phils’ minor leagues)- the differing, yet cogent, opinions of the many posters.

    And I hope I’m not a ‘cyber buzzard’ (jpd either) for simply pointing out that john ne rarely makes any sense…

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  28. I don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows.

    First it’s a new toy.
    then it’s a tool to prove someone is wrong or right.
    then it says more about the person voting than it says about the original post.

    There is a group of regular posters on this board who do far more to keep the discussion on course than any rating system could.

    As always, thanks for the great site James. you are always thinking of ways to make it better and include the people that post regularly in how to make the site the best it can be.

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  29. john from philly.ne Says:
    August 12, 2009 at 4:39 PM
    that is exactly what this is meant to prevent. immature political campaigning. make your comment about bb and move on. no more personal nonsense that wastes time.

    no, make ur comment about (our) MINOR league baseball, major league talk also wastes time(on this site)..not directed at you just working off of your response

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  30. James,

    I think with the popularity this site has gained with Phillies minor leaguers, that it may be in the best interest to rid the site of the comment ratings system.

    I think that there will always be rebuttals in comments people make, so the ratings are just another way is disagreeing – which isn’t condusive for productive discussions.

    Just my thoughts. I’d like to thank you on all of the hard work you put into this site.

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  32. I always liked the thumbs up thumbs down thing on youtube and fagraphs. I think that its kinda cool, like you see that 15 people liked your post and 5 didn’t, or th other way around. Its just kinda nice to know that people think the way you do or dont.

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  33. This is the first time I’ve ever posted on here. I have been following the site daily and absolutely love reading the posts by each of you. In fact, as someone who spends a fair amount of time reading in general, nearly every thought, comment and argument that I read here is vastly superior to every other sports blog site I have ever read. So I must commend you guys.

    To the crux of the issue with the thumbs. I figure that the responsibility for their proper use is two-fold. First those that post, should post knowing that they will be receiving a response of some sort. So, it is up to them to not take the ratings personally or feel attacked by them. Secondly, it is important that, when rating, we do so with the same intellegence and forethought that we use when making our posts. I figure by following these simple guidelines, the site shouldn’t do anything but improve. PP runs a great site, and as we are all avid Phillies fans, we are protective of our own. So treat his site the same and the thumbs just become a garnish to a darn cool site.

    But otherwise, we could always just sit on the thumbs.

    Rate away, maybe I’ll be back.

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  34. To the extra loading time for the 2009 draft pick thread, I also have had trouble with that thread. As in the non-poster originated scrolling as I described in my post above. The thread at times takes off and scrolls up and down out of control since the imposition of this feature.

    Why a couple of lyin’ sneak thief rat weasels would have the temerity to give a thumbs down on that original post on that subject is beyond knowing. Yesterday morining there were very few ratings made. It seems overnight there were alot of thumbs down inserted, likely by alot of Philly.com types. If people are going to give thumbs downs for no good reason, which is almost a given, given the state of the internet today, Then it would require the reviewing of each post to adjudge the reason for the negative rating and to evaluate the content vis-a-vis site guidlines. Such evaluations could and have been done without a rating system, so what’s the point?

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  36. I like the ratings idea…I don’t think it needs to be used to “police” bad or off topic posts, but to further the idea of the site. We are all here to voice our opinions, and since so many people comment, it is not always necessary to comment on something that you don’t or do agree with, since your point was already made in the 47 comments before you. But, just like in a friendly living room debate with your friends, you can simply agree, ie thumbs up or disagree ie thumbs down with what is said…re catch, this is not a way to evaluate you or anyone else, if you were at home with friends watching a game and you made a strong comment about a player, wouldn’t you expect your friends to either agree or disagree with your comment? I would, and I think that is what’s best about having a forum like this site. I come to the site every 2 or 3 days and sometimes, by the time I get to a post there have been 60, 70, 80 comments on the topic, I like to read through the comments and sometimes agree or disagree, inevitably, there is usually someone who has posted my point in one form or another, and in that case I would like to give it a thumbs up, at the same time there is usually someone who has posted something that I totally disagree with, and would like to give a thumbs down to. Don’t get overly carried away with this idea, if you like it, then rate comments, if you don’t then don’t, and if you don’t want to be rated, then don’t look back at your comments to see how many thumbs up or down you received. It’s as simple as that!

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  37. The agreeing or disagreeing with the opinions offered was not the stated purpose of the feature’s creation by the site’s owner/originator. It is for the stated purpose of weeding out troublesome nefarious posters who do not follow the topics as given or violate proper website etiquette as such. Giving ratings as agreeing or disagreeing with the opinions offered distorts this stated purpose.

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  38. I really don’t care one way or the other. But it struck me that the up/down thing is the biggest nonbaseball item ever.

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  39. this hands up , hands down is hilarious. if anyoneone,s not aware by now you can vote ? numerous times on the same post. i could say ive found a cure for psoriasis and i would get negative votes by the gang of 15 year olds. very funny actually.

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  40. Is is just me or did this new feature quickly become an eliminated feature? I no longer see the thumbs?

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  41. IMO im glad its gone, it is really annoying to see thumbs down on comments that are actually very good posts…. The kids (by kids I mean the grown ups that cant act like grown ups) in the room quickly made it something now worth having.

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  42. Yep, its gone.

    Locking this one for commenting. It was a worthwhile exercise, but its value is limited, and if its causing issues viewing certain pages, then its certainly not worth the hassle.

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