status-monitor Reforming the NamePros Thanks and Likes System

[Ategy]

I know I've brought this up in the past .. couldn't find it though so I'm guessing it was within another thread where it was only part of the discussion. I found myself about to post more comments on this in another thread but figured best to create it's own stand alone topic.

Anyhow, in most forums like-count really doesn't matter as much as it potentially does at NamePros, because at NamePros there is business being conducted and money exchanged .. so while a deceptively and unmerited high "like-count" is harmless in most other online forums, at NamePros there could be actual tangible harm do if people equate "like-count" to trust/authority.

Now I know NamePros says people should not make or assume a connection between like count and trust/authority .. but let's be honest and say that people's like count most certainly does influence what people think of them. Particularly newcomers looking for "expert" opinions .. 90%(+) of newcomers will trust someone with a noticeably higher post count than someone else.

Here's what was taken from the other thread ...

Anyone over a ratio of 1.5 is providing good value but for you, your ratio is a whooping 3.4 which is truly amazing - well done and thanks or all the excellent value.

For me personally when I look at likes score I like to see about a 2-1 ratio of likes to posts.
I know I have been using that number as a basis for my contributions.

These were my comments which I won't put in quotes so that the whole thing is visible:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/10-000-likes-the-5-figure-like-club.1169235/page-2#post-7552545

---- Begin Quote ----
That being said .. the likes system at NamePros is effectively meaningless. And I bring this up not to bring anyone with high likes down .. but to point out that there are most definitely people who contribute SIGNIFICANT value to the community whose likes ratio fall significantly lower than many people who actually don't put in much effort.

For example .. I spend hours every day working on my daily lists which I post here at NamePros. For the first year I even did so with NO affiliate links .. but these days with ~150 views a day, I'm lucky to get 1 or 2 likes .. There was a time where I wasn't even getting a single like per week total (plus it was back when my posts were too long I had to split them up, so I was actually getting 0 or 1 like per 14 to 21 posts).

But then I write someone a nice customised welcome in the meet and greet section and get 4-5 likes for a 2-3 minute effort (so 2-3x the likes for literally 100x less effort than I put into my expiration auction posts).

But even more telling of how likes are effectively meaningless at NamePros is that in the very same welcome thread where I'd get 4-5 likes for a nice customised hello/welcome post, someone else will write a one word "welcome", but because they are in a "like group", they get an extra 2-3 likes extra from their "group" and get 7-8 likes .. for a 3 second ZERO effort/content post (they don't even read the person's post because sometimes the first post is junk from an obvious spambot yet they still just post "Welcome" looking to increase their like count .. lol) .. it's pretty sad and why I think most off-topic sections of namepros should have likes turned off and removed as well as having a minimum 100 character count on a post before it can be liked.

Just so you know, it's really not that much, this sentence is actually more than one hundred characters!

More importantly .. in most discussion forum likes are effectively meaningless .. but at NamePros there is indeed commerce taking place .. and most people equate the "likes" to trust (or even worse .. to "authority".. but in the case of NamePros, likes most certainly does not mean that at all the way it's set up now.
---- End Quote ----

I didn't really mean that to mean that people with a lot of likes should not be given props (I'm still grateful for all of mine) .. but more to say I see a lot of people with low like-ratios who often post helpful high-quality posts.

I probably am simply most aware of it because the spectrum of helpfulness of my posts is so wide .. but it's actually my most helpful posts that get the least likes and my least helpful that gets the most .. lol. (So for me it probably balances out when it comes to my ratio, but for others unfortunately it doesn't)

I remember when I first started at NamePros I didn't post in the welcome threads because I felt a little out of place welcoming a newcomer when I was a newcomer myself. But looking back that's a bit silly and everyone should feel welcome to welcome everybody!
(lmaorotf .. Black Box - Everybody Everybody just started playing on my playlist)

I think I had 500 likes and 500 posts both at almost exactly 6 months I think (1like:1post). Then when I started welcoming members in the meet and greet section, my like ratio exploded to far over 3:1 and I think it was closing in on 4likes:1post at one point .. then as I started posting my lists more and more regularly, my ratio dropped and now I've dropped back below 3:1.

So not to take anything away from anyone with a lot of post .. but to me it unfortunately becomes a meaningless and even misleading metric .. (I say unfortunately, because indeed if set up properly it could actually be significantly more meaningful (obviously not perfect .. but certainly noticeable better).

To me reforming the likes system is not about bringing people down, it's about lifting those who's contributions are discounted because they don't post a one word "welcome" to a spambot or aren't able to offer promotions or lists, etc. .. it's more about letting those with lower like counts or ratios know, to not be discouraged .. because there are only a few of us who see through and beyond like the current like count and post count systems!

When I had my old club music / DJ forum with 35k members, "like technology" (lol) did not exists, so it was post count that everyone looked at. It got to the point where a select few super-inflated their post counts in the off-topic forums. So I did effectively exactly as I recommended above (except with posts since there were no "likes") and I turned off post-count in off-topic forums. It wasn't a night and day difference, it certainly did not make things perfect .. but there most certainly was a noticeable drop in garbage/non-genuine post and an increase in quality posts.

I know it's not easy to change and reform such an ingrained system .. but figured I'd post the suggestion here since I already wrote half of the above elsewhere (and didn't want to veer the thread in question too much off-topic) .. and more importantly it is a serious suggestion that 100% would increase the quality:post overall. How much I can't say say .. but most certainly better!

@Ategy , I agree with you on "likes" not carrying as much weight as they should, I wish there was a more accurate metric that would reflect the amount of useful contributions that are made in the forum.

Yup .. obviously I agree!

---

Moderators' response:

• https://www.namepros.com/posts/7558235/

 

[Ategy]

@Ategy - you bring a lot, no doubt. I am not going to enter into a debate about like quality. Yes, it is a dull knife but as a resonance indicator, it is really good.

I didn't really mean that to mean that people with a lot of likes should not be given props (I'm still grateful for all of mine) .. but more to say I see a lot of people with low like-ratios who often post helpful high-quality posts.

I probably am simply most aware of it because the spectrum of helpfulness of my posts is so wide .. but it's actually my most helpful posts that get the least likes and my least helpful that gets the most .. lol. (So for me it probably balances out when it comes to my ratio, but for others unfortunately it doesn't)

I remember when I first started at NamePros I didn't post in the welcome threads because I felt a little out of place welcoming a newcomer when I was a newcomer myself. But looking back that's a bit silly and everyone should feel welcome to welcome everybody!
(lmaorotf .. Black Box - Everybody Everybody just started playing on my playlist)

I think I had 500 likes and 500 posts both at almost exactly 6 months I think (=1like:1post). Then when I started welcoming members in the meet and greet section, my like ratio exploded to far over 3:1 and I think it was closing in on 4likes:1post at one point .. then as I started posting my lists more and more regularly, my ratio dropped and now I'm back below 3:1.

So not to take anything away from your 10,000+ likes .. but to me that's a meaningless metric .. what I do value is that despite all the people trolling you, you still make an effort to contribute to the community. That's worth 100x your 10,000 likes (so you're effectively at a million likes if you did the math .. lol).

Beyond that, as a registrar owner/CEO, you also bring a unique perspective that brings a category of knowledge and information that would otherwise be completely oblivious to the community. So that in turn is worth something equivalent to a like that can't even be measured in likes because it's so truly unique and appreciated.


To me reforming the likes system is not about bringing people down, it's about lifting those who's contributions are discounted because they don't post a one word "welcome" to a spambot or aren't able to offer promotions or lists, etc. .. it's more about letting those with lower like counts or ratios know, to not be discouraged .. because there are only a few of us who see through and beyond like the current like count and post count systems!

You could keep things balanced by also turning off post count in the same forums you turn off likes .. but I don't think that's necessarily a must (it might be to those who focus on ratio above count).

When I had my old club music / DJ forum with 35k members, "like technology" (lol) did not exists, so it was post count that everyone looked at. It got to the point where a select few super-inflated their post counts in the off-topic forums. So I did effectively exactly as I recommended above (except with posts since there were no "likes") and I turned off post-count in off-topic forums. It wasn't a night and day difference, it certainly did not make things perfect .. but there most certainly was a noticeable drop in garbage/non-genuine post and an increase in quality posts.

By the way I used to belong to the very exclusive six figure likes club, but I was kicked out after I started pointing out the Truth about the World.

They removed your likes?

@Ategy , I agree with you on "likes" not carrying as much weight as they should, I wish there was a more accurate metric that would reflect the amount of useful contributions that are made in the forum.

I agree .. and not to take this topic off topic as I think Rob does merits his celebration ..

So I started a new topic on reforming the likes system:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/reforming-the-namepros-thanks-and-likes-system.1169344/

 

[BradWilson]

Now what did I start

 

[Ategy]

Now what did I start

You should have wrote "Now what did I start .. to fix "

By the way I used to belong to the very exclusive six figure like club, but I was kicked out after I started pointing out the Truth about the World.

Are you joking? Or did you have likes removed?

Also that actually gave me another idea .. when people get suspended it might be a good idea that their like count not be visible. And maybe even their post count (definitely should be done for marketplace infractions, as marketplace post count really skews all the metrics at NP and I think overall they should be turned off in that section as well since 95% of the posts there are simply "Bump")

 

[oldtimer]

This is what I had suggested a while back about this subject in the Insider lounge:

As far as raising the bar is concerned a member can have 20000 posts, but not necessarily have contributed that much in real substance and one who is rightfully critical of certain behaviors in the domain Industry might not have been able to accumulate that many likes. We have to find some new metrics that show who has made real contributions to the forum that has helped other members become better domainers and who in the process has helped define the role and the responsibilities of domainers, the forum, and the domain Industry at large. IMO

PS: @Ategy, I don't think there is a six figure like club at NamePros yet

 

[BradWilson]

Okay, is there any hidden meaning between Likes & Thanks that could possibly help this in any way?

Or how about Dislikes?

 

[Ategy]

Likes and Thanks are technically the same thing. I suppose if you separated them into two different metric them it could serve some purpose as I'd think a thank is stronger than a like. But since they've been used interchangably since their start any retroactive distinction would be misleading.

Particularly when you have some threads specifically saying please "Thank" for A or "Like" for B ... in those cases the like count actually is completely artificial and extremely skewing.

ADDED: The real problem keeping NamePros from making the likes system relevant in any way is not changing the definitions and forums where they can be counted .. but it's in trying to make it work retroactively. Yes you can impliment a change in which forums count and which don't, and then reset everyone to zero and do a recount from the start .. it would be significantly MORE accurate .. but there would still be inaccuracies because of the different ways different people used likes/thanks.

As for dislikes .. that too is a completely unusable metric .. as some people misuse it (in my opinion) to mean that they simply do not agree with something.

However I use it only when I think someone is being deliberately misleading, deliberately skewing/twisting what someone else is saying, being rude, posting things that are provably factually incorrect. I will never dislike a post simply because I do not agree with someone else's opinion. But there are people who do that .. so again .. the metric (count) is completely meaningless because it never had a specific definition.

ADDED 2: Basically I use dislikes as a trigger to alert the mods to something that should be looked at. Not that it's necessarily breaking the rules .. but more like a .. "heads-up, this could turn ugly in a few posts" type of thing.

 

[oldtimer]

Or how about Dislikes?

It would be nice to have a "Disagree" button so that you don't have to "Dislike" someone if you don't agree with them. (if this has already been suggested then I would reemphasize the need for having such an option).

Also is there any way that a Dislike can be appealed. (and where do you go to see how many dislikes have been given and by whom.)

https://www.namepros.com/threads/i-dislike-you-whats-your-opinion.1138152/page-3#post-7420326

 

[Internet.Domains]

Is it possible your over analyzing the whole "like" issue?

I don't judge on this "like" metric. I find people with no likes can be just as quality as some with many likes. Therefore, I like all.

How do you like that?

Peace! Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!

 

[BradWilson]

How about adding a Helpful Star Rating system?

 

[oldtimer]

Is it possible your over analyzing the whole "like" issue?

I don't judge on this "like" metric. I find people with no likes can be just as quality as some with many likes. Therefore, I like all.

How do you like that?

Peace! Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!

Most experienced domainers probably think the same way as you do, @Ategy was more concerned about what effects this will have on new members when they see someone with thousands of likes, they might interpret that as a sign of trust and authority even though those likes might have been accumulated through a lot of useless posts.

IMO

 

[Ategy]

I don't judge on this "like" metric. I find people with no likes can be just as quality as some with many likes. Therefore, I like all.

That's actually exactly my point here!

Is it possible your over analyzing the whole "like" issue?

It's more the fact it's even there .. if it's not going to have any real meaning then just get rid of it .. otherwise it's a tool that potentially COULD be used significantly more accurately and meaningfully .. so why not actually use and take advantage of that fact? (Yes .. even more specifically for what @oldtimer just said ...)

Most experience domainers probably think the same way as you do, @Ategy was more concerned about what effects this will have on new members when they see someone with thousands of likes, they might interpret that as a sign of trust and authority even though those likes might have been accumulated through a lot of useless posts.

 

[MapleDots]

Anyhow, in most forums like-count really doesn't matter as much as it potentially does at NamePros, because at NamePros there is business being conducted and money exchanged .. so while a deceptively and unmerited high "like-count" is harmless in most other online forums, at NamePros there could be actual tangible harm do if people equate "like-count" to trust/authority.

I look at everything...

1. Feedback score

2. How long someone has been a member

3. Post count

4. Like score

Notice how the like score is at the bottom of my list?

So for me personally likes do not count highly toward a trust rating. For me number 1 & 2 are the most important when I decide to engage someone in commerce on namepros.

 

[MapleDots]

What I like about the "likes"

It gives me an idea of what the community likes, so 10 likes to 2 dislikes probably mens the poster had some good information or contributed in a positive way.

What I don't like about "likes"
The whole dislike system, I would prefer disagree but I have a whole topic on that already.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

IMO, all likes are not equal.

e.g. You can post a simple Hello or Haloa in the welcome to nP section, and instantly get an average of at least 10 likes per post. (usually dependent if you spam like every other hello in the welcome thread)

Thus, if I see a member with close to 10,000 likes, and notice most of their posts are in the break room or networking, meet and greet (check the area of posting), I think artificially created, and/or not the same as members who earn their likes, rather than stacking likes for a simple hello, and spam liking others hello.

I'd like to see the total amount of likes/thanks per area; just as it shows the amount of posts per area.

Because there are some members with many more likes/thanks than active participating members, simply because they stack likes in networking, meet, and greet (or the break room with threads such as mods count down, members count up thread) I mean, if that's not a post count padder, IDK what is. .

 

[Ategy]

So for me personally likes do not count highly toward a trust rating. For me number 1 & 2 are the most important when I decide to engage someone in commerce on namepros.

Again .. exactly my point .. those other metrics COULD potentially have more meaning and actually make your overall interpretation/analysis even more accurate/meaningful if those metrics actually did have their potential meaning.

What I don't like about "likes"
The whole dislike system, I would prefer disagree but I have a whole topic on that already.

Then maybe there should even be an "Agree" button with a clearer definition .. remove likes (because most people use like so as to mean "Agree" anyways. And from there split off the "Thanks" metric as to me a thank you is very different from "Agree"/"Like"

IMO, all likes are not equal.

e.g. You can post a simple Hello or Haloa in the welcome to nP section, and instantly get an average of at least 10 likes per post. (usually dependent if you spam like every other hello in the welcome thread)

Thus, if I see a member with close to 10,000 likes, and notice most of their posts are in the break room, I think artificially created.

Yup .. again .. exactly my point .. with such varied undefined usage from extremely off-topic to extremely informative/helpful, likes essentially are meaningless. So why even bother? Or more importantly .. why not actually make them as meaningful as possible (knowing it will never be perfect .. just looking for "much better / more accurate")


ADDED: Specifically look at @Grilled .. I DEFINITELY do NOT agree with everything he says .. lol .. he's even crossed the line with me in the past .. but I can also certainly say that many of his posts have been very informative and helpful (from his point of view at least .. lol) .. yet he doesn't even have a 1.5 like:post ratio ... maybe he does a lot of auctions and thus "bump" alot or have other off-topic posts I'm not aware of .. but in all honesty I'm surprised to see his ratio so low compared when you compare to a lot of people who don't post with nearly as much content as he does. In theory I'd expect him to be one of the leaders in terms of like:post ratio

 

[D Haynes]

Why not just get rid of the "like" record completely? You could still "like" posts and they would still be displayed at the bottom of the post as it is now but take the total "likes" count away from the profile. I belive this is what Instagram have done (although I have no social media accounts).

 

[xynames]

I post Thank if it supports one of my already posted ideas, or if it is some useful suggestion I’ll follow - Like otherwise.

Today I wanted to post “Yes you would sure know you’ve screwed yourself enough times by not following that advice” but the option wasn’t available.

I can’t recall the last time I posted Dislike I think that’s weak of members to post that so freely.

 

[Lox]

Just ... Thanks

 

[Ategy]

Why not just get rid of the "like" record completely? You could still "like" posts and they would still be displayed at the bottom of the post as it is now but take the total "likes" count away from the profile. I belive this is what Instagram have done (although I have no social media accounts).

100% that could be done .. and possibly even improve the "density of quality" .. but I think @NamePros would likely be against it because indeed some people do post for likes ...

But what I'm saying is that at least make people earn them by posting a minimum of ON-TOPIC posting.
(AKA .. only allow likes for posts in ON TOPIC forums with 100+ characters)


.

I post Thanks if it supports one of my already posted ideas, or if it is some useful suggestion I’ll follow - Like otherwise.

"If it supports one of my already posted ideas" = I "Like" what you said
"If it is some useful suggestion I’ll follow" = "Thanks" for doing some work that benefits me or for helping me

Again though .. it's never going to be perfect .. everyone will have slightly different definitions .. and in this case I'm not even saying @xynames is wrong in attributing a thanks in that way .. as depending on what the idea being supported was, then maybe a Thanks was indeed both the better and clearer option.

(ADDED: Just to show how it will never be perfect .. Above for @Grilled's post .. he did some work and added new information that supported my position so I suppose that should have been more a "Thanks for your work" over a "I like what you said" .. so in that case @xynames perspective would have been equally accurate .. and since we can't both Thank and Like, then I probably should have given Grilled a Thanks)

In the end I'm simply talking about using the tools available to the forum (the like/thank and post count systems are all tools) to actually both (1) make the content quality of the forum better and (2) make the information displayed in the forum more accurate.

Today I wanted to post “Yes you would sure know you’ve screwed yourself enough times by not following that advice” but the option wasn’t available.

sigh .. now you're going to make me ask @NamePros to add an "LOL" button! lol

 

[Chris Hydrick]

ADDED: Specifically look at @Grilled .. I DEFINITELY do NOT agree with everything he says .. lol .. he's even crossed the line with me in the past .. but I can also certainly say that many of his posts have been very informative and helpful (from his point of view at least .. lol) .. yet he doesn't even have a 1.5 like:post ratio ... maybe he does a lot of auctions and thus "bump" alot or have other off-topic posts I'm not aware of .. but in all honesty I'm surprised to see his ratio so low compared when you compare to a lot of people who don't post with nearly as much content as he does. In theory I'd expect him to be one of the leaders in terms of like:post ratio

Fully agree.

Because of some of your stances, I can't stand some facets of your posts. However, those little subsets of dislike, is usually superseded by the time and effort you spend in your posts (and by the value and knowledge I gain after reading a lengthy and usually well written perspective). I try to look the other way, or just not engage with you in areas of dislike anymore, as you're a writing machine, and it's seemingly a guaranteed additional hour+ spent in an online battle with tin foil armor, and word swords. Well maybe not tin foil armor, and word swords. But generally still a word battle nonetheless.

As per my like ratio, and area's I post, I yield back to my previous post about area's of posting. With respect to your 889 posts in the Networking - Meet and Greet thread, as your posts are usually more inviting than simple one word welcomes, but I would venture to guess your like ratio (and others, mine included) would significantly decrease if you removed all likes and post count from Networking - Meet and Greet.

 

[Ategy]

As per my like ratio, and area's I post, I yield back to my previous post about area's of posting. With respect to your 889 posts in the Networking - Meet and Greet thread, as your posts are usually more inviting than simple one word welcomes, but I would venture to guess your like ratio (and others, mine included) would significantly decrease if you removed all likes and post count from Networking - Meet and Greet.

I almost never use the "Areas" section of people's profiles because it's too much of a bother to get too. But on this I'm in 100% agreement. In fact, while I had no clue I had that many posts in the meet and greet section, it really doesn't matter .. the changes I'm talking about would cut 1000 posts and likely 5000 likes from my counts .. my ratio also certainly would go down .. but the metrics would be more accurate. My percentage certainly would go down .. but so would everyone's .. and when everything gets re-calibrated your 1.3:1 ratio would be more meaningful.

How about adding a Helpful Star Rating system?

Star systems do exist (although more on a thread based level .. never seen it on an individual post level, although I suppose it's certainly possible) .. and in @NamePros defence here for not using them .. while the thought/theory of a star system is great .. the problem is that indirectly it's that level of detail that also leads to distracting clutter (I can say this with a degree of certainty because I've actually had it on my forum many years ago .. it made things too busy). Like and Post counts are great because they fold neatly into member's information .. AND .. they have the POTENTIAL of having cumulative meaning. And it's not that they don't have meaning now ... admittedly I think the current system is likely better than nothing .. but I'm just saying there are things that can be done to make it noticeably more accurate and meaningful AND also have a longer term effect of increasing the density of quality in terms of content.

With respect to your 889 posts in the Networking - Meet and Greet thread, as your posts are usually more inviting than simple one word welcomes

This is why I also suggested a minimum number of characters. In fact .. they can start by doing one and see how that goes (either turn of likes in off-topic forums .. OR .. making it a minimum number of characters in a post before it can be liked/thanked). I'm thinking starting with the character count restriction would be most effective, but there's no doubt both would have some separate positive effect.

as you're a writing machine, and it's seemingly a guaranteed additional hour+ spent in an online battle with tin foil armor, and word swords.

ADDED: I wasn't planning on going to Namescon this year because it's not in Vegas .. but if we could set this up ... mayyyyyybeeeee !!! lol

 

[karmaco]

I would not reform anything. Like and thank are both useful and do not define the user. The users words and actions define the user.

I don’t judge users based on their likes one way or the other. Not everyone has the gift of gab or time to post frequently. They are not any less valuable.

Reasons I use the like or thank button: you made me laugh, I agree, well said,I support you,encouragement. None of the reasons are negative.

 

[JB Lions]

I definitely don't want to rain on Rob's parade here, because not only does he make an effort to contribute to the community, but his content contributions also have the extra benefit of coming for the unique perspective of registrar owner .. which gives community members extra unique insight we likely couldn't get from anyone else. Plus .. most of us will never be in a position offer $5.49 .com transfers/registration for 300 likes! lmao

That being said .. the likes system at NamePros is effectively meaningless. And I bring this not to bring anyone with high likes down .. but to point out that there are most definitely people who contribute SIGNIFICANT value to the community whose likes ratio fall significantly lower than many people who actually don't put in much effort.

For example .. I spend hours every day working on my daily lists which I post here at NamePros. For the first year I even did so with NO affiliate links .. but these days with ~150 views a day, I'm lucky to get 1 or 2 likes .. There was a time where I wasn't even getting a single like per week total (plus it was back when my posts were too long I had to split them up, so I was actually getting 0 or 1 like per 14 to 21 posts). But then I write someone a nice customised welcome in the meet and greet section and get 4-5 likes for a 2-3 minute effort (so 2-3x the likes for literally 100x less effort than I put into my expiration auction posts).

But even more telling of how likes are effectively meaningless at NamePros is that in the very same welcome thread where I'd get 4-5 likes for a nice customised hello/welcome post, someone else will write a one word "welcome", but because they are in a "like group", they get an extra 2-3 likes extra from their "group" and get 7-8 likes .. for a 3 second ZERO effort/content post (they don't even read the person's post because sometimes the first post is junk from an obvious spambot yet they still just post "Welcome" looking to increase their like count .. lol) .. it's pretty sad and why I think most off-topic sections of namepros should have likes turned off and removed as well as having a minimum 100 character count on a post before it can be liked.

Just so you know, it's really not that much, this sentence is actually more than one hundred characters!

More importantly .. in most discussion forum likes are effectively meaningless .. but at NamePros there is indeed commerce taking place .. and most people equate the "likes" to trust (or even worse .. to "authority".. but in the case of NamePros, likes most certainly does not mean that at all the way it's set up now.



lol .. I find it suspiciously convenient that he timed his 10,000th like right around Boxing Day!

Yeah, the Epik Coupon thread - https://www.namepros.com/threads/epik-com-promo-deals-and-happy-hour-mega-thread.1148974/

Just first 10 pages or so, number of likes per post:
318
30
53
82
21
19
.................. for those mentioning ratio. Coupons get likes. Or give me x number of likes, get a great coupon.

So I started a new topic on reforming the likes system:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/reforming-the-namepros-thanks-and-likes-system.1169344/

Will continue over there.

 

[JB Lions]

I know I've brought this up in the past .. couldn't find it though so I'm guessing it was within another thread where it was only part of the discussion. I found myself about to post more comments on this in another thread but figured best to create it's own stand alone topic.

Anyhow, in most forums like-count really doesn't matter as much as it potentially does at NamePros, because at NamePros there is business being conducted and money exchanged .. so while a deceptively and unmerited high "like-count" is harmless in most other online forums, at NamePros there could be actual tangible harm do if people equate "like-count" to trust/authority.

Now I know NamePros says people should not make or assume a connection between like count and trust/authority .. but let's be honest and say that people's like count most certainly does influence what people think of them. Particularly newcomers looking for "expert" opinions .. 90%(+) of newcomers will trust someone with a noticeably higher post count than someone else.

Here's what was taken from the other thread ...




These were my comments which I won't put in quotes so that the whole thing is visible:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/10-000-likes-the-5-figure-like-club.1169235/page-2#post-7552545

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That being said .. the likes system at NamePros is effectively meaningless. And I bring this up not to bring anyone with high likes down .. but to point out that there are most definitely people who contribute SIGNIFICANT value to the community whose likes ratio fall significantly lower than many people who actually don't put in much effort.

For example .. I spend hours every day working on my daily lists which I post here at NamePros. For the first year I even did so with NO affiliate links .. but these days with ~150 views a day, I'm lucky to get 1 or 2 likes .. There was a time where I wasn't even getting a single like per week total (plus it was back when my posts were too long I had to split them up, so I was actually getting 0 or 1 like per 14 to 21 posts).

But then I write someone a nice customised welcome in the meet and greet section and get 4-5 likes for a 2-3 minute effort (so 2-3x the likes for literally 100x less effort than I put into my expiration auction posts).

But even more telling of how likes are effectively meaningless at NamePros is that in the very same welcome thread where I'd get 4-5 likes for a nice customised hello/welcome post, someone else will write a one word "welcome", but because they are in a "like group", they get an extra 2-3 likes extra from their "group" and get 7-8 likes .. for a 3 second ZERO effort/content post (they don't even read the person's post because sometimes the first post is junk from an obvious spambot yet they still just post "Welcome" looking to increase their like count .. lol) .. it's pretty sad and why I think most off-topic sections of namepros should have likes turned off and removed as well as having a minimum 100 character count on a post before it can be liked.

Just so you know, it's really not that much, this sentence is actually more than one hundred characters!

More importantly .. in most discussion forum likes are effectively meaningless .. but at NamePros there is indeed commerce taking place .. and most people equate the "likes" to trust (or even worse .. to "authority".. but in the case of NamePros, likes most certainly does not mean that at all the way it's set up now.
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I didn't really mean that to mean that people with a lot of likes should not be given props (I'm still grateful for all of mine) .. but more to say I see a lot of people with low like-ratios who often post helpful high-quality posts.

I probably am simply most aware of it because the spectrum of helpfulness of my posts is so wide .. but it's actually my most helpful posts that get the least likes and my least helpful that gets the most .. lol. (So for me it probably balances out when it comes to my ratio, but for others unfortunately it doesn't)

I remember when I first started at NamePros I didn't post in the welcome threads because I felt a little out of place welcoming a newcomer when I was a newcomer myself. But looking back that's a bit silly and everyone should feel welcome to welcome everybody!
(lmaorotf .. Black Box - Everybody Everybody just started playing on my playlist)

I think I had 500 likes and 500 posts both at almost exactly 6 months I think (1like:1post). Then when I started welcoming members in the meet and greet section, my like ratio exploded to far over 3:1 and I think it was closing in on 4likes:1post at one point .. then as I started posting my lists more and more regularly, my ratio dropped and now I've dropped back below 3:1.

So not to take anything away from anyone with a lot of post .. but to me it unfortunately becomes a meaningless and even misleading metric .. (I say unfortunately, because indeed if set up properly it could actually be significantly more meaningful (obviously not perfect .. but certainly noticeable better).

To me reforming the likes system is not about bringing people down, it's about lifting those who's contributions are discounted because they don't post a one word "welcome" to a spambot or aren't able to offer promotions or lists, etc. .. it's more about letting those with lower like counts or ratios know, to not be discouraged .. because there are only a few of us who see through and beyond like the current like count and post count systems!

When I had my old club music / DJ forum with 35k members, "like technology" (lol) did not exists, so it was post count that everyone looked at. It got to the point where a select few super-inflated their post counts in the off-topic forums. So I did effectively exactly as I recommended above (except with posts since there were no "likes") and I turned off post-count in off-topic forums. It wasn't a night and day difference, it certainly did not make things perfect .. but there most certainly was a noticeable drop in garbage/non-genuine post and an increase in quality posts.

I know it's not easy to change and reform such an ingrained system .. but figured I'd post the suggestion here since I already wrote half of the above elsewhere (and didn't want to veer the thread in question too much off-topic) .. and more importantly it is a serious suggestion that 100% would increase the quality:post overall. How much I can't say say .. but most certainly better!



Yup .. obviously I agree!

I found the other thread pretty ridiculous, you can basically get likes with coupons. For those talking about ratios and stuff.

Just some general thoughts.

This his been talked about many times before, even something like discounting likes in Break Room topics. Nothing is going to change as far as this, this is the system. If they wanted to do something about it, it would have been done already.

And then, some of this really comes off as some junior highish type stuff. Grown ups caring about how many likes you get on a forum. This isn't something you're to put on your grave. Back in the day I got x amount of likes. It's very easy to get likes if you wanted to, see how baseballworld ran it up, post memes all day, etc.

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@Ategy - you continually post about not getting likes in your threads, even in threads about different people. Some thoughts on that:

I imagine you would keep the best names for yourself.

You're putting these names in front of everybody.

I used to run a coupon site, I never asked people who used it for thanks. Their thanks were my affiliate commissions. You're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart, it's thru affiliate links, to make money. That's fine.

Also, I never understood why people just don't use something like expiredomains.net. I tried one of your lists one day, had no problem getting those names to pop off. Domainers are probably better off learning how to use tools, get the domains before they're posted in public.

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I saw somebody post something along the lines of not posting unless they get some 2-1 ratio or they have likes on the mind. This is horrible. It should be genuine. If you want to post, post.