Rec/UnRec: it is really much ado about nothing.

[elocs]

A thread which gets UnRecs is not deleted.
Posts to that thread still kick it toward the top of its forum.

Do people here really obsess about the number of Recs which a thread receives? I have seen good and well written threads which get little or no attention for whatever reason. We all know that there are DUers who could start a thread simply stating, "I farted" and they will get 50 Recs based on their name. Or we have the "Rec this" threads like "Rec this if you think Obama is President" and then the OP can get orgasmic about making it to the Greatest on the Front Page from all the Recs which the intuitive thread received.

If posters are allowed to Rec a thread which they believe is great, then why cannot those who believe it is not great also have a vote. Maybe the totals of both should be shown, but then 5 Recs still gets the thread to the greatest page.

Ultimately it is about choice and as Democrats we like choice? We do like choice, don't we? Or do we only like it when it is our choice?

[cwydro]

1. Good post.

But wow, it sure has some knickers in a twist around here.:rofl:

[UndertheOcean]

2. Agree !!

[Forkboy]

3. Yes, but it's been fun to watch at least.

:)

[elocs]

4. Yes, it has kicked the more recent DU obsessions to the curb. For now. n/t

[Forkboy]

9. I see the Bruno threads taking over by Monday.

:)

[elocs]

18. But now we have the UnRec sword in our arsenal if we so choose. n/t

[LynneSin]

5. I just wish people understood it was that simple

But I swear the tinfoil hats were screwed on tight for this bunch. It was a conspiracy to allow the Corporation to suppress certain threads, the DLC was going to alter the way we posted in DU, there were right-wing DUers out to curb free speech, the freepers would invade and screw around with us. Oh and my favorite - if I oppose what was written just start my own thread instead.

:grr:

People are nutz, hell I'm nutz but I'm also not going to lose sleep over the rec feature either

[realisticphish]

6. honestly

I can't remember the last time I looked at the greatest or front page :shrug:

[LynneSin]

7. I glance at it

But the way some people act you'd think it was the front page of the NYTimes.

I've come to conclusion there are 2 groups in this arguement:

Those who have utilized the K&R feature to help get their very one-sided agenda on the home page and are upset that their one-trick pony was taken away.

And the rest of us.

[sam sarrha]

16. my problem is that Freepers are mostly just Obstructionists.. this is a tool made only for them, who

else would care to use it..??

[elocs]

14. I start on the front page to find out what is currently happening,

then I go to discuss. I seldom go to any specific forum other than the Lounge.

[Telly Savalas]

26. They do. There's just a small but noisy segment at DU that jumps at any excuse to whine.

I think the best course of action would be to have a GD: Inane Whining forum where such threads go.

[slipslidingaway]

8. I disagree, the left side of the GP was very useful, not so much

anymore. Posted this in another thread, although I realize that we all may not use this method, the latest/greatest combo was an efficient tool IMHO.

I do not use the right side of the GP as much as the left side...

which Was a combination of the latest/greatest threads from any forum (that you could rec) placed in chronological order of when they hit the GP.

You could come back the next day or hours later and easily scan through the left side for the latest/greatest of the past several hours and then pick up where you left off from your last visit. If time allowed then you could visit other forums, but this was a quick and efficient use of the left side of the GP...IMHO.

What happens now is a thread might get 5 recs and be placed on the left side of the GP, then someone gives it an unrec, so it drops off the left side, a couple hours later it gets another rec and gets placed back on the left side, BUT it remains where it was placed earlier when it first hit the GP left side.

The right side of the GP does not change nearly as fast so it was not as useful, the left side is pretty much destroyed with threads dropping on and off as people rec and unrec. I can see why they are not placed at the top again as this could happen several times a day, so that would not help the functionality either.

If you look at the current "latest page" there is only about one hour of posts, several of which I would have no interest in reading and I do not want to scan through 12 pages to catch up.

In contrast the left side of the greatest page has the last day or so of threads that at least 5 people thought should get a rec, much easier to look through and also to pick up at a later point as they remained in the same order instead of dropping on and off.

Hope that makes sense, it was the best way to see a combination of the latest/greatest from all forums.

[MindMatter]

10. Deleted - wrong thread

[backscatter712]

11. Agreed - the recs only affect what gets on the Greatest page.

It does nothing to the thread order in the forum thread lists themselves - threads get kicked when you reply to them.

Maybe the formula needs to be tweaked to improve the quality of threads in the Greatest page, which I think what Skinner's trying to do, but I'll leave it to him to decide if it needs more tweaking.

[progressoid]

12. Nazi troll...

:evilgrin: :hi:

[kiva]

13. I had some reservations about the new system,

but have made a point of looking at the Greatest page for the last couple of days - something I rarely did before - and it seems to represent DU discussions fairly, minus the 'recommend this post' dreck.

The biggest surprise for me has been the handful of posters here who have made it clear that they feel entitled to have their posts, or their issues, on the Greatest page.

[TexasObserver]

21. Good assessment.

[TahitiNut]

15. How dare you not clutch your pearls in fauxrage?

:eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

17. It furthers an extremely minority's sense of rage, self-pity, and paranoia....

It also makes it more difficult to sell books, apparently.

[TorchTheWitch]

25. so true

and I'm still aghast at the melt down of the book seller.

[tavalon]

19. Many years ago, before The Greatest Page, I sifted through forums

and spent 10 times as much time on here finding the good stuff. When the Greatest Page came along and people figured it out, it became the biggest time saver for me. It's gotten difficult since people figured out how to game it and I laud the owners for trying to find a solution to the problem. Unfortunately, this isn't the answer. Until they figure out a better solution, or at the bare minimum, ditch this awful idea, I'm going back to my old ways, but I will only see about 10% of what I use to be able to because I just don't have the time to devote what I did those many years ago.

[TexasObserver]

20. "Ultimately it is about choice and as Democrats we like choice."

Agreed.

[NashVegas]

22. Agreed

I'll be happy to see less threads that were made for the purpose of "just starting a conversation," if you know what I mean, and more to express original and sincere thoughts.

[TexasObserver]

24. Yes, the natural consequence appears to be keeping the Tabloid topics out.

Instead, the meaty topics that clearly represent DU thinking are showcased.

[Deja Q]

23. So's my sex life, what's the problem?