Thumbs down, Up yours

Yes, that is what I meant by "activity": not simply viewing, but replying. Thanks for the clarification.

the point of the voting was to bury stuff that the majority does not like, because the default is to show you posts based upon score. You the user have to work to get out of that scheme, and even then all you have is tags and last post order to help you find stuff that you want to see.

Considering that most of the ideas that I choose to voice at a2k are minority views I have always despised what Robert calls the Popularity metric. It is poisonous to the exchange of ideas. People tend to like ideas andpeople who are like them, and they sure dont like ideas that are held by so few that they are fringe. I care about truth, letting the majority sift a2k distroys why I am here. The only reason it has not killed a2k yet is because a great many of us do not use the feature. I have never voted a post, and never will. I encourage you to do the same.

You get a positive number and you think you've won approval for a brilliant post. Not to rain on your parade, but the first time anyone posts on your thread, there is an automatic thumbs up. This means there are various word games with a + 30 that have been thumbed down by a hundred cowards who are afraid to face you, and thumbed up by none.

I don't do word games. I don't follow crossword puzzles, and I'm not interested in having my screen cluttered up by one more site bashing thread, even by some unknown hero willing insult people he'll never meet.

Byeeee!

I don't understand this, could you please expand.

I disagree, thumbing down simply removes the thread/post from my immediate view, it does not effect anyone elses' view and is therefore not disrespectful of anyone else.

the default, and the first button at the top is "popular"...so you see the threads in order of popularity. Also, unless you opt out of it you dont see individual posts that are voted very negatively...unless Robert has changed this at some point.

He made it very clear at the change that the point was to silence guys like me who had stirred up some dust...my ideas are sound and I will argue them with anyone, but he decided that the majority needed to have the power to silence distributors of the peace. It as a move that was very hostile to the process of finding the truth.

Sure. As Roger pointed out, when you respond to a thread for the first time (or tag it), you automatically increase its thumb count by one. So the more people who join a thread, the higher its thumb count will tend to be. It's not an exact count, of course, since it is possible for someone to thumb the thread down (which, as was also pointed out, is often done simply to remove the thread from view). But the thumb count does give you a general idea of how many people have chimed in. That's all. No reason to take it any more personally than that.

Actually, when you reply to a thread, you automatically vote up the thread by one point.

Ya, but I cant help that. It is very easy to see how popular a thread is in responses because for every thread we have a length count, it should not also be counted in the popularity number...but as I have always said the whole popularity scheme was a bad idea so poor implementation of the program is kinda besides the point.

That is exactly what I thought, thank you

The 'compliment comes for me by them telling me what they did not like.
Put me to task.
Force me justify my position and force you to justify your own.
Thanks

Absolutely agree.
This has been the only logical outcome for me.
What is the point in voting if it can be taken away by someone else.
I enjoy letting people know they have reached me and that I have welcomed and enjoyed them.
Now they will never know.
Sad.

You could always say that in the thread, or PM them. The numbers mean absolutely nothing. A thread that has 5000 responses and 10000 viewings sounds popular, but it could have a thumbs up of 22.

It's not about you.

wait a minute.

22 is bad?

off to rethink my threads...

(they change with the winds)

Approval perhaps, but for me just appreciation, indicates people want more.
So by your line of thought I should stop altogether because it upsets you and you view surly is the only one that matters.
So are you saying that the only reason they give this automatic thumbs up is for it to be taken away?
If you are so sensitive as to banish things from your sight perhaps you should not be here at all.
I know I would rather quit the whole thing than be petty and negatively affectation al towards people. But that's just me, I don't think my rights must come at the cost of someone elses.

Just because You don't do something or well means that it is a bad thing?
What is a site bashing thread?

An insult is only an insult if it has no truth.

Robert is a smart guy, he knows as I do that people are basically lazy so the view he presents first has a good chance of being the majority experience. He gives us the ability to opt out of his scheme and then says that I am all wet for claiming that he is trying to bury minorities because we all have a choice.

Besides, you can never completely opt out....your experience here is always weighted towards what is popular. A thread needs to be popular to some degree to even get tagged, or get tagged correctly. If no one tags a thread you will likely never see it.

It does affect their view, because we all see the same number rating go up and down.
People are easily put off by something that they think others don't like.

I would like to think you would try me out because you don't know not because you think some one else does know and that they must be right before you try.

Are you saying you have never gone to a topic because its rating has been high or low?

I considered the thumbs question as different for posts and threads. On single posts, I very rarely thumb down, but will if it is particularly egregiously offensive. I thumb up sometimes for superb writing, even if I disagree with the poster's point of view. I try not to use the thumb system for agreement or disagreement. If I see spam, I report it and don't post on that thread as that just gives the spammer some internet value; I also don't thumb it down, just click on report.

On thread lists, I'll thumb down as a housekeeping measure, so I don't have to keep looking at, say, crossword puzzle threads when I scan pages of New Posts. However, I usually don't thumb them down and out until other people have thumbed up, so that a newbie poster isn't somehow feeling hurt by it. I'll also thumb up some threads I'm not posting on but reading along with. I am happy Robert is working on a filter system, so that people can just not see certain categories of their choice in the first place, be they crossword threads or cooking threads or sports.

it is universal human nature....Robert knows this

I'm going to bow out now, as I've heard all of hawk's crying and whining before, and it never varies in pitch.

adios...