Negative voting getting out of hand

[Deactivated] on 30/09/2007 - 07:29

This negative voting is getting out of hand.

I suggest killing the weekly prizes until this can be fixed. As maybe its related to this, as these voters don't seem to have any other common reason why they are doing this.

Just because i don't think it's a bargain doesn't mean its a negative, in that case just DONT vote.

Negative votes were meant to indicate that something was fundamentally wrong with the deal. eg there is a better offer currently available, like with the iphone, or its spam as maybe in the case of 123inkjets, or the offer has a catch that's not explained or obvious like there is $5 postage cost on the free sample, not that the sample - as defined by it's name - SAMPLE, will induce you to buy.

I reacted to this by voting negative on one of the latest abusers of this, but then realised that those we very old posts, and that in itself was being negative also.

Voting negative isn't making a valuable contribution. At least the courtesy of telling someone why they thought the post rated a negative vote, thats a positive contribution in itself, rather than just pressing the negative vote.

One voter went to the trouble of indicating that they did this in error - to them I say thanks, anyone can make this mistake and an explanation in the comments helps everyone understand why.

Maybe negative voting is a privilege that comes with contribution, and/or even then only one negative vote a day or a week, so that it's used judiciously rather than "I don't like any free offers" ,"deals from Timbuktu" or something like that.

Alternatively maybe others could post a thread here recommending what should be posted and what shouldn't be posted, so we can all work together

Site Discussion

Comments

  • MiCCAS on 30/09/2007 - 16:41

    I still think we need a little box to open up and ask why do you wish to make this a negative vote?

  • kcyw on 30/09/2007 - 17:27

    I think it's a good idea to prompt for reason/confirmation… It's probably too easy to put in a negative vote at the moment, but the situation isn't that bad IMHO.

  • scotty on 30/09/2007 - 20:10

    Let me try to write it in list form

    1. Negative vote with optional comment is definitely coming. Maybe it should be compulsory instead of optional? I'll try to do some coding tonight if time permits.

    2. As OzBargain community grows larger, we also need well written and specified guidelines for posting and voting.

    3. I do not see correlation between the competition and negative voting. Only a small number of people cast negative votes, but if a deal is good, it'll get far more positive votes regardless whether one or two individuals do not like it.

    4. Maybe we should just treat negative votes as individual's opinion about something. Some people are more indifferent so if it is not something they like, they'll give it a pass. However some people's opinions can be more polarised, i.e. if they don't think it is a deal, they'll vote against it.

  • yousuf on 30/09/2007 - 21:12

    i first hand found the negative votes and reasons a bit silly … for the better of this growing community something should be done. i dint want to comment on this before as i felt it would be too harsh on people and let it slide as i am a fairly new member.

    in case something is needed to rectify i think the moderator should step in and nullify the negatives

    plus i completely agree with Oz pete. something should be done .. till then il be off too!!

    cheers

  • moo on 30/09/2007 - 22:41

    I agree that negative voting needs to have a valid reasoning behind it. eg. "because there is a hidden condition/clause somewhere OR it is not a bargain because it is cheaper at store X"

  • [Deactivated] on 01/10/2007 - 09:46

    Oops

    An apology for the emotive words I used in my original post. (edited out so it doesn't continue) Its just that I saw on member just block vote a number of negative items in one session, so I saw red (funny about that being the negative voting colour).

    So I don't want to start a "boycott", thats counter productive and against the spirit of sharing that Scotty's worked so hard at creating. I guess I was trying to get across to that person the impact of just being negative.

    And in effect I did that myself - so a negative vote by me against me!!

    And now I have prompted Scotty to make changes and take up his weekend. Sorry. He had already told me in a private email he was planning these - so now I have stuffed up his long weekend - sorry mate.

    That aside, the remarks here have been great, and hopefully the negatives will result in a more positive creation as i see already Scotty has taken some of these suggestions on board.

    One member who had been voting negative on one type of the deals offered, was concerned enough to contact me directly. The point they were trying to raise by doing so was about what constitutes a "bargain". In this case they have a valid point. Are freebies a bargain?

    Both provide "savings" but they are not the same. And the board is getting more freebies.

    Might a split in the board that shows Freebies and deals as separate streams be more appropriate, that way people can choose to look at either or both, thus satisfying everyones wishes.

    Sorry if this creates more work Scotty.

    Cheers and thanks for all the great insights others have contributed. Now if you dont see any deals from me, its now only because I don't have any at present.

  • JeffreyM on 01/10/2007 - 13:40

    I believe that negative voting (from when it was introduced) should have been when you vote negative, you'll have to put a comment in about why you voted negative for that bargain & it would be displayed in the Votes section of the bargain & I fully support MiCCAS, kcyw, moo & ozpete by supporting this idea. And to Scotty for listening to the idea & trying to make this site better for all of us.

    I also believe that the website/board (what ever you want to call it) should be split into two so Freebies & Deals can be on separate areas, so people can decide if they want to look at both or maybe one & again I fully support this idea.

    e.g - Bargains: www.ozbargain.com.au/bargains

    And the main OzBargain page could be a portal to both websites & have the top deals from both websites

    But I would like to say a big thanks to ozpete for bring this up in the first place, the negative voting was getting out-of-hand & at least via this three things can come out of this:

    1) Now (hopefully) negative voting will be toned down & if a member needs to vote for a negative they would have to state reasons why.

    2) Bargains & Freebies can be separated so if you don't like Freebies, you only have to look at Bargains & etc.

    3) This member (I know & most members know who I'm talking about) who has voted negative votes for such good (& high rated) bargain, learns a lesson, that here at OzBargain, most members don't like it when you vote negative votes for no reason (& with no comment too.)

  • yousuf on 01/10/2007 - 14:10

    I strongly support the idea of two different sections for freebies and bargains by Ozpete and JefferyM.

    thereby we can stick to the main purpose this site was created for and still serve those who would like freebies/samples etc.

    cheers

  • moo on 01/10/2007 - 14:19

    Though there are alot of freebie related sites (and forum threads) already. It all comes down to the amount of resources/time to manage different section of the site. Just my 2 cents! :) What are your thoughts on it scotty?

    PS. I am back now…..am still in the process of moving :)

    • scotty on 01/10/2007 - 14:33

      Welcome back!

      Yes. Time and resource — something that I am relatively poor with. Maybe I'll find some moderators to help around here :)

  • scotty on 01/10/2007 - 14:25

    Action points for Scott —

    1. Require comments for negative voting.
    2. Separate freebies and bargains

    I'll try to get (1) done today or tomorrow, and (2) maybe next week as it still needs some thoughts.

    Personally I prefer a streamline view instead of multiple sections so there is just one place to check coupons, deals and freebies. So maybe by default (and for visitors) we'll display all three, but as a user you can change preference to filter out freebies. Or maybe "only show me freebies with at least 5 votes" or something like that.

    That would be another thread for discussion.

  • scotty on 02/10/2007 - 11:09

    First part of the change is now ready for testing. See the forum discussion thread for details:

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join