So I have noticed a trend where many see post ratings as the most impressive stat to have a high amount of and for many this translates into striving for a high post rating. Some even go as far as to see this as a measure of how good ones posts are. This is something I want to address more directly since I feel like a high post rating doesn't really say much about the quality of ones posts.

Often times people like a post because they hold the same opinion as that person, so it could indicate you have the popular opinion. Just stating the popular opinion doesn't necessarily mean your posts are particularly well written however. Just one that a lot of people agree with it. Sometimes bringing a less popular perspective can lead to a more interesting discussion since it can force people to think more deeply about a subject. Since this is a forum, isn't that we're all striving to do? Having interesting and fun discussions with other members? I think that goes to show that sometimes the more thought provoking and interesting posts are ones that don't have a high post rating.

I've also noticed people also often like posts as a courtesy, for example when being summoned to a thread, say something like a milestone thread, in stead of replying to that thread they'll like the post to let the person know that they read it. I think most of us can agree milestone threads usually aren't the posts we put the most effort into yet they often end up being some of the most liked. So the logic of it being a measure of just how good posts are seems to fall flat to me. 

Now don't get me wrong, my point with this thread wasn't to try and rag on people for enjoying receiving post ratings. I agree it can be nice to see that people enjoy/relate or at the very least care about your posts and in that way having a high post rating is still something note worthy. However in the end it's just a number and I feel like people should stop fussing so much about whether they're receiving them or see them as a direct measure of how good ones posts are. I hope at least after reading this that I'm not alone in thinking that.

Feel free to share your own thoughts on the matter though whether you disagree with me or not. Discussion is what it's all about

I hope my thread isn't the reason you made this. Because I agree with you.

Lexatom : It wasn't really due to any single thread or anything more just a lot of posts I've seen on the site recently, in particular the past few weeks. Which lead me into a lot of thought on the topic finally resulting in this thread

I agree pretty much with everything you said. 

Someone can make like a 10 word or less joke post that is hilarious, then earn like 20+ post likes out of it.

In contrast, someone can make a very high quality, well-written game review that might receive only 1 post like. This is just an example that pretty much proves Zlinqx's point. I'm sure many users have seen something like that happen before.

But that doesn't mean post rating is a bad thing. Post rating is a good thing and having a high post rating is also a good thing, but post rating is not an equivalent to "well-written, quality post rating". It just means some people like something about your post (like a funny joke or a common opinion). Summons to a milestone might also get you post ratings just so someone doesn't feel ignored (I guess an extra reward as well for making a milestone).

Mohammedroxx3 : Exactly, like I said I wasn't trying to stop people from enjoying them and there can still be value to them with it showing that people enjoy or at least care about your posts. My point was more that I feel like people place too much importance on them and sometimes treat them as a direct measure of how good posts are which is what I addressed in this thread.

You know, I've actually been looking at my post rating as compared to others' recently, and been like "Wow, my posts must be even worse than I think they are," but this makes a lot of sense. Thanks for putting this all here, makes me feel a little better and makes sense, too. I never really though. Like you said, post rating isn't a bad thing, but this clears it all up pretty well. Thanks!

Butts.

I'm on board with you 100% on this as well. I know I've done my fair share of liking short posts for one reason or another, or liking a post because I agreed with the overall message it was trying to present.

I know personally I made a comment not too long ago (yesterday even, maybe?) about how it was impressive for someone to hit a 1000 Post Rating. I was trying to say that be it from humor, quality, just being popular, etc, it still takes quite a bit of posting period to get to that point. No matter how you get to 1000, it's still not an easy milestone to reach.

Now I'm curious as to who has the highest Post to Post Rating ratio on the site, and if there's any way to see it other than looking it up manually?

Titan127 : Thanks, that's good to hear since that was the effect I was hoping it would have. Just because your posts aren't the most well liked doesn't mean they aren't good or can't lead to interesting discussions. So even if you aren't receiving a lot of post ratings don't let that discourage you from posting!

Lord Leggy - King of IT : I have a feeling you made that post to see if anyone would like it, probably not going to work.

Mynamescox44 : There somewhat is. You can see it on the member list the same way you can see cp, post exp etc. Just bring something like the cp rankings up and replace the Contribution Points part of the url with post likes and you'll get it. The same way you can also see who has the most dislikes. I think currently it's David, followed by Eniitan and I think Geeo. Could be wrong since I didn't double check that though.

Zlinqxthecooluser™ :

Well it would have proved your point that post quality does not correlate into post ratings so...

Lord Leggy - King of IT : I think I already somewhat did with the milestone thread example. If it's needed I could probably dig up some older posts to show it's the case more clearly.

Am I the only one that sees the humor in a user with the words "the cool user" in their username making a thread that mentions how being popular has as much of an effect on your post rating as making good posts does, so it's pointless? Jk man, you know me. It was inevitable. Lol

It's true though that post ratings don't reflect the quality of your posts at all. I could easily point at a few people who get likes on almost all of their posts because of who they are. Almost like an "atta boy/girl. You made a post! Good on you!". lol It's a combination of things that get you ratings, and really the posts that take the most work are usually the ones with the fewest likes (reviews and guides).


But here's the kicker: NONE of the stats on here mean anything, no not even CP. You get CP for everything you do, so even just logging in or making fifty short meaningless posts will boost your CP.
Besides, what does it mean to contribute to a free website about gaming? Are any of us going to have people at our funeral praising our accomplishments on a website? Nah. I think, if I may be depressing here, people tend to get excited over the stats on here because it gives them something to be proud of and makes it feel as though they really are accomplishing something in life and making a difference or leaving a mark, because if we really step back and take a look at the grand scheme of things, there isn't much of a point in anything we do in life. As I've said before (and as the scriptures teach), life is pretty much like this: love God, love people, and be happy. So yeah I agree it's pointless, but it makes people happy so meh. Why not?

Just my two cents (no cash value).

Lord Leggy - King of IT : Farts.

geeogree :

Farts from butts.

Lord Leggy - King of IT : that's pretty much where they come from.



As for the thread - I agree. I've always felt that way. Sure post ratings are fun and nice to receive but they shouldn't be used to measure post quality.

I'm not too worried about post quality anymore though.

Butts + Farts = OVER 9000 likes!

In all seriousness though, I do agree that milestone threads tend to get way more likes than the average post, but at the same time, if a user makes nothing but extremely low quality posts, they're not going to get a lot of likes for that unless it's something funny like the butt and fart thing leggy and geeo are doing for example.

I agree with all of your points Zlinqx, however I'd like to add something that I've been noticing for a while now. Popularity is a huge factor in post likes and dislikes. I feel like some popular and/or well-known users just get likes, just cuz, well they're well known and popular. Not saying all of their posts are bad or something, and in fact they had to make good posts to become popular, but their post rating is inflated by their popularity. A really popular user could make the same 2 word post as a trusted member with a not-so-good reputation and the popular member will get 50 likes and the other one will receive 50 dislikes for "spam". Another part of popularity that plays into post likes is how when a really popular member likes a post, 15 other people like it just cuz "Hey, that person thought the post was good, so let me like it too." Post rating has a lot more to do with other factors, rather than just the quality of your post, like you said.


Eirinn : Totally agree with basically everything you just said.

Post likings can happen for any threads at any day or at any time. I mean most posts can go to postivity and being helpful on the site. While others can go for the hard work you do as Eirinn mentioned doing reviews and guide as well. But what I don't get is how some others can get likes for saying one word as a joke.....but you know? People are different with how they like a persons posts or thread in general so you really wouldn't know what to expect. rday stated its based on the most known, and that do what they do. People who gets dislikes for saying something one reason or the other which I find rather unfair in a way. What about them? Just because they don't seem to have a good reputation like other people. Doesn't mean they also don't deserve a like for their posts. Lets take Lexatom for an example. Sorry for calling you out like this just want to say a point. He may had been perma banned and did very much wrong things in the past and still do, but not as much. But as you can see he is trying his hardest. Even though he can be trouble at times. He has a voice of his own to say and it doesn't mean he should get dislikes for that in a way. This goes for some others who are on the same boat as him. So people need to be fair towards them as well. They are just like any person who can make good posts, and you have seen it and agreed with it with a like. '-'

Where do I start?
Basically I learned ages ago that People tend to read your posts over more often if you get straight to the point.       in doing so I've made sure my reviews haven't gotten near 1000 words, and same with my posts. If there's no more information to be talked about then I simply don't add anymore then what's needed.


Any good quality post or topic is in an appropriate length, and in general for the past few years.  Vizzed topics have always remained full of short, but generally likable posts.


I don't tend to use the Post-rating as a way to measure quality. No I always rely on pure feedback from others when looking at my post's.   Eirrin, SonicThehedgehog57 and others have helped me out come a long way.  

The post rating system Is just a general rule of a thumb for me I just use it to agree with people, or congratulate them for their accomplishments.

Sometimes I don't even have time to reply, so I just use the post rating system to my advantage.



At the end of the day,     Anything that's made or in some way shape or form can be abused. So it's not like you can expect people to make good use of the post rating system.

There's even some users who will Simply Down-rate without saying why, or without notifying the user.    This is the primary reason I don't take the post rating system or even the trust point system seriously, is because of users on this site that tend to hide behind the systems.

And yes I've seen a lot of Dumb post's get likes too, when it shouldnt:
https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=56660


This tells me that some of Vizzed's staff Members go out of their way to abuse the current systems as is.  A post like that shouldn't be liked or well rated,  it goes against site conduct as it was spam. 


Ender44's post ended up being disliked more in that thread simply because he was doing his job as a local back then.   I'm sorry, but even if you are a staff member. You shouldn't be abusing post rating like that at all. 

The problem with longer posts like reviews is that most of the time people font even want to read long things and spend all their time on just one post, while they can get to the point much quicker in a shorter one. I only have like 3 to 4 people who would actually read my entire reviews, others do but probably just skim and rarely know what they are reading because of that and simply don't care.