We could always have a league table on who's had the most thumbs up & down every month so that we could see whats been going on? It might also highlight someone who might need a hand on a one to one conversation?
Problem being surely is that it would become like X, (formerly known as Twitter), you would only react to posts you like? What I like about this is you don't always agree with everyone's view but you can at least debate generally in a civilised manner. If the only option is to like a post then you would never know if you are in the minority. 🤷♂️
Some heartwarming comments not only on the subject but also a little trip down memory lane to days where the Gasroom was indeed a far more volatile place, some sharp wits and even sharper conversations, we still have our moments but vermin and spackmen have been replaced by thumbs up and thumbs down along the way.
The same issue remains throughout though; people over the years have sometimes with great fanfare quit the Gasroom after particularly divisive exchanges, I myself sloped off without comment and for a long time because I didn't like a lot of what I was seeing and moreover it was fostering in me something that I thought was ugly, I was getting drawn in to petty squabbles and tit-for-tat and the escalation of stakes which destroys the middle ground and just leaves one with a sense of polarisation.
I'm happy that I was drawn back in after a long hiatus and I found that I had learned to pick and choose my own battles with much more care and moreover I have learned to not mind the small things and to simply not engage in that. Amongst other things, that's one of the reasons that I don't contribute as frequently as some, I became aware of a dynamic that has not gone away, I have had to learn to respect my own boundaries and in that process I have also learned a lot about respecting other people's boundaries too.
There are others on the forum who have perhaps not had sufficient time in life or who have otherwise lacked the impulse to reflect upon these things and self-inspection is certainly not compulsory, but I think that everyone on the forum would do well to acknowledge that this is indeed a shared space and that we should be careful with each other.
I think that it would be a sad day if we lose the downvotes because they are useful to me as a gauge as to whether I am straying back into places I don't want to revisit, if I get a lot of downvotes because I believe the monarchy is an anachronism which is doing far more harm to the country than good and I think that the right time to air those views is precisely when it is shedding its skin and regenerating itself, that's fine, I don't necessarily agree with people downvoting something simply because they hold a contrary position but I understand where it is coming from and well, if you don't have a few enemies then perhaps you haven't been standing up to the right people. That's a use of the downvote which I think is helpful and I myself use it when someone is being particularly rude or spiteful and it would be a shame if that manner of feedback were no longer available on this forum.
Where I see the abuse though is in what DrCongo has been describing above, simply targetting people and downvoting everything that they say, it's just harassment in one of its many guises. It is mindless and it has real consequences; I appreciate that Wendoverman has laughed it off a little bit, but at the material time and over a period of time it has been getting to decent people who are here to socialise. If a way could be found to make the deep data analysis less onerous such that a little flag appears somewhere and a polite reminder about not being an ar^%hole to others quite so often is sent to those who are letting themselves down, that would be a beautiful world.
With thanks to DrCongo who will probably end up doing the work here if my proposal does have legs and my appreciation for the stirling work that he has done over the years. Peace and good vibes to all you other Gasroomers too, even if some of you aren't always my cup of tea.
The trouble is, when Wendoverman makes a point of commenting on every thumb down he receives, it probably awakens the mischief in some to thumb down every comment he makes.
Bit childish, sure, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it worse than that.
I think the best way to deal with it would be to get rid of the thumbs up/thumbs down thing altogether, or at least the thumbs down. They're really not worth people feeling bad about them.
But I'm not going to tell The Doc how to run this place. He's got what, as far as I can see, is the best club fans forum on the internet going here so he must be doing something right.
Appreciate the comments in here. I should stress though, that I've really only seen 3 users abusing the thumbs in a targeted way. I assume those users know who they are, and that they now know that I know who they are. Any more dickery and they'll be publicly outed and or banned. I've also now written a little script that does the data diving for me so that it's easier to find abuse.
As for everyone else, the way the data is structured behind the scenes on here is frankly bonkers so arbitrarily working out who thumbed what is more time consuming than it should be, so rest safe in the knowledge that I'm not rummaging around in that information, and I also don't care who downvotes me or how many I get. Thumb away to your heart's content.
The original goal with the thumbs was to help with the signal to noise ratio, and I think it still works on that level. Up votes save us all from wading through ten posts that just say "I agree" or similar, down votes save us from a lot of arguments and mudslinging. Neither gets rid of it all, but I suspect the signal to noise would be considerably worsened if I did remove them.
It took me far too long to learn to live by the maxim that one should never make themselves feel better by making someone else feel worse, but I try to these days. If I appear to fail to live up to that, please call me out. And maybe our three users could also reflect on that.
Comments
Well if you just wanted to be ignored, you only had to say @bargepole.
How can @micra have a 43% negative reaction? I assume @trevor does not post enough or is off the scale of measurement.
Trevor’s negative reactions out of total reactions stand at 81%
How indeed @Wendoverman 😇
We could always have a league table on who's had the most thumbs up & down every month so that we could see whats been going on? It might also highlight someone who might need a hand on a one to one conversation?
Problem being surely is that it would become like X, (formerly known as Twitter), you would only react to posts you like? What I like about this is you don't always agree with everyone's view but you can at least debate generally in a civilised manner. If the only option is to like a post then you would never know if you are in the minority. 🤷♂️
Some heartwarming comments not only on the subject but also a little trip down memory lane to days where the Gasroom was indeed a far more volatile place, some sharp wits and even sharper conversations, we still have our moments but vermin and spackmen have been replaced by thumbs up and thumbs down along the way.
The same issue remains throughout though; people over the years have sometimes with great fanfare quit the Gasroom after particularly divisive exchanges, I myself sloped off without comment and for a long time because I didn't like a lot of what I was seeing and moreover it was fostering in me something that I thought was ugly, I was getting drawn in to petty squabbles and tit-for-tat and the escalation of stakes which destroys the middle ground and just leaves one with a sense of polarisation.
I'm happy that I was drawn back in after a long hiatus and I found that I had learned to pick and choose my own battles with much more care and moreover I have learned to not mind the small things and to simply not engage in that. Amongst other things, that's one of the reasons that I don't contribute as frequently as some, I became aware of a dynamic that has not gone away, I have had to learn to respect my own boundaries and in that process I have also learned a lot about respecting other people's boundaries too.
There are others on the forum who have perhaps not had sufficient time in life or who have otherwise lacked the impulse to reflect upon these things and self-inspection is certainly not compulsory, but I think that everyone on the forum would do well to acknowledge that this is indeed a shared space and that we should be careful with each other.
I think that it would be a sad day if we lose the downvotes because they are useful to me as a gauge as to whether I am straying back into places I don't want to revisit, if I get a lot of downvotes because I believe the monarchy is an anachronism which is doing far more harm to the country than good and I think that the right time to air those views is precisely when it is shedding its skin and regenerating itself, that's fine, I don't necessarily agree with people downvoting something simply because they hold a contrary position but I understand where it is coming from and well, if you don't have a few enemies then perhaps you haven't been standing up to the right people. That's a use of the downvote which I think is helpful and I myself use it when someone is being particularly rude or spiteful and it would be a shame if that manner of feedback were no longer available on this forum.
Where I see the abuse though is in what DrCongo has been describing above, simply targetting people and downvoting everything that they say, it's just harassment in one of its many guises. It is mindless and it has real consequences; I appreciate that Wendoverman has laughed it off a little bit, but at the material time and over a period of time it has been getting to decent people who are here to socialise. If a way could be found to make the deep data analysis less onerous such that a little flag appears somewhere and a polite reminder about not being an ar^%hole to others quite so often is sent to those who are letting themselves down, that would be a beautiful world.
With thanks to DrCongo who will probably end up doing the work here if my proposal does have legs and my appreciation for the stirling work that he has done over the years. Peace and good vibes to all you other Gasroomers too, even if some of you aren't always my cup of tea.
The trouble is, when Wendoverman makes a point of commenting on every thumb down he receives, it probably awakens the mischief in some to thumb down every comment he makes.
Bit childish, sure, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it worse than that.
I think the best way to deal with it would be to get rid of the thumbs up/thumbs down thing altogether, or at least the thumbs down. They're really not worth people feeling bad about them.
But I'm not going to tell The Doc how to run this place. He's got what, as far as I can see, is the best club fans forum on the internet going here so he must be doing something right.
The other point I'd make is, if they really bother you that much then don't look at them
On a separate note I am all for Subject lines such as 'Thumbing'
It creates such intrigue. I almost had no idea what to expect from the thread.
I was mildly disappointed that it was about voting a post up or down.
Just as well it wasn't 'Fingering', then.
We could talk about greatest thumbs - Paul McCartney's bass playing thumb has to be up there!
Tom
More topically.....
Thumbelina
I was expecting something along those lines to be honest..... Took me right back to those heady days of youth club dances in the late 60's .
Well that didn’t work quite how I imagined it.
The fuck is that?
Their autobiograhy contains the superb line I know you've been shagging the magician's assistant, you've got glitter on your balls
Appreciate the comments in here. I should stress though, that I've really only seen 3 users abusing the thumbs in a targeted way. I assume those users know who they are, and that they now know that I know who they are. Any more dickery and they'll be publicly outed and or banned. I've also now written a little script that does the data diving for me so that it's easier to find abuse.
As for everyone else, the way the data is structured behind the scenes on here is frankly bonkers so arbitrarily working out who thumbed what is more time consuming than it should be, so rest safe in the knowledge that I'm not rummaging around in that information, and I also don't care who downvotes me or how many I get. Thumb away to your heart's content.
The original goal with the thumbs was to help with the signal to noise ratio, and I think it still works on that level. Up votes save us all from wading through ten posts that just say "I agree" or similar, down votes save us from a lot of arguments and mudslinging. Neither gets rid of it all, but I suspect the signal to noise would be considerably worsened if I did remove them.
It took me far too long to learn to live by the maxim that one should never make themselves feel better by making someone else feel worse, but I try to these days. If I appear to fail to live up to that, please call me out. And maybe our three users could also reflect on that.
Thumbing does need context though, as thumbing your nose is quite different again...
There are worse appendages to be thumbing in public.
I really don’t take any notice of thumbs down in response to my posts. I take it as someone simply disagrees with me and that is their prerogative.
Interesting explanation on the purpose of the votes, thanks.
Also, "dickery" is an excellent noun.
Wasn't Cedric Dickery in Harry Potter?