Many are irritated because "unrecommends" cancel out "recommends." I have an idea...

[Ricochet21]

Why not post two different scores?

Recommends: xxx
Unrecommends: yyy

Then, one cannot affect the other and many of the unrecs can probably be ignored as many should be?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. They used to.

They showed the total number of recommends, and the score total, from which unrecs could be inferred.

The usual whiners complained about that until they were blue in the face, so they went to the current system.

[Ricochet21]

8. What was there to whine about?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Unrecs.

Some people were upset that people didn't like the shit that they posted. They claimed it was oppressive. That it censored their right to free speech.

It was bullshit, of course. It still is. But I guess the mods and admins were so sick of the whining that they made the unrecs less obvious.

[JuniperLea]

2. That's a better idea, imho, than what we have...

However, I'd like to see the entire system go away. The threads with the most traffic would make it to the greatest page, and all the threads I hide... erm... we hide, won't.

[Iggo]

3. They tried it. Didn't work out how they wanted it to. Scrapped it.

[PBS Poll-435]

4. I say remove the shield of anonymity.

If you Rec or Unrec, your username will appear.

[LiberalLoner]

5. I agree. Plus maybe we should put the reason why we rec or unrec. The only

threads I have unrecc'd were threads started by trolls who were soon deleted (tombstoned) from the boards. I figured those threads where it was just some conservative trying to start a fight, deserved an unrec.

[woo me with science]

11. If you want a reason, we could always return to the quaint old notion

of letting posts stand for themselves and requiring people to respond with words rather than a button click.

Plus, it's good exercise for logic and written expression skills.

[LiberalLoner]

16. Oh, that's a good idea too...n/t

[liberal N proud]

6. I have an idea

Don't worry about how many rec - unrecs your message gets.

Don't worry, no worry, no problem.

All part of taking nothing personal which is all the rec and unrec becomes for some. Both sides!

[SidDithers]

7. I'm irritated because the "recommends" cancel out the "unrecommends"...nt

Sid

[11 Bravo]

9. The "unrec" feature is the single dumbest option available on any reputable board on the web, but ..

it ain't going anywhere anytime soon.

[Iggo]

12. On the contrary...

...it creates hours and hours of entertainment!

[TexasObserver]

20. The feature is fine. The only problem is the complaining about it.

My suggestion: allow those who don't like seeing a zero beside a thread with negative recommends to HIDE the thread, so they can't see it. Maybe call it the HIDE THREAD feature.

[dionysus]

22. !

well played

:rofl:

[gkhouston]

30. Or perhaps a ROSE-COLORED GLASSES feature, which will hide the recs column,

thus shielding the sensitive from the horrible truth? }(

[11 Bravo]

31. Cool! Un-reccers have a direct line to the truth? I missed the memo.

I'm not whining about the feature, I simply offer up my opinion that it is fucking stupid. It empowers trolls and dipshits, and if that particular shoe fits a bit too snug, wear thinner socks.

[gkhouston]

32. I haven't noticed that either reccers or unreccers have a line to the truth.

I find the ongoing obsession with the number of recs a thread both amusing and mystifying. I generally don't consult the number before I dip into a thread.

[MineralMan]

13. Unrecced for whining about unrec.

IT DOESN'T MATTER except for the Greatest Page placement. That means it doesn't matter at all for most DU visitors. The percentage that uses the Greatest Page as their entry point is low, based on a poll taken some time ago.

It's a non-issue. Any thread worth reading gets both recs and unrecs. In my opinion, the very best threads on DU are the ones that have over 100 replies and a zero rec count. Those are the threads where things are being discussed. A thread everyone likes is generally not worth bothering with, for the most part.

We do not learn from agreement. We learn from disagreement. That has always been true.

[Scuba]

21. Hmmm. A paradox. I agree we learn from disagreement....

...but can't explain why we're so stupid since we disagree so often.

[distantearlywarning]

14. Unrecommended because I'm sick of this topic. n/t

[elocs]

15. If an OP is very good and insightful and gets few Recs does that somehow diminish its value?

DUers need to stop obsessing about the whole thing and get out of the junior high school mind set of watching the Rec/UnRec to see how popular the thread is. Obviously there are people who do that and get their undies all in a bind when their thread gets UnRecs or one with which they agree.

[CTyankee]

17. I've decided that I don't care and that what I think isn't what matters anyway.

The Unrec serves a function for some people and it may just be a healthy thing. Not to put to much of a point on it, I think it helps some DUers cope better, to take out their frustration with a click on Unrec. A dead giveaway is the ferocity when Unrec is challenged ("whiner!). It's not why I like to come to DU...frankly I'd prefer an argument in its place...but I've decided that that's really beside the point.

Better to have the Unrec, IMHO...and I welcome it as a good safety valve (hey, nobody gets hurt!).

[TonyMontana]

18. My idea: PUT A TIME DELAY ON REC AND UNREC

Make it so a random number of minutes pass before either a rec or an unrec takes effect, but make it so they kind of queue up so the net positive rec takes effect after a certain time.

Nobody will know whether a post is being unrecommended, because a truly rec worthy OP will always get a net positive recommendation on average, so the number will slowly go up. The chances are small that the number will go down, and even smaller that a whiner will happen to notice, unless he/she is obsessively refreshing the page to watch the number, in which case that person needs more help than can be offered and there truly is nothing that can be done for said whiner.

[TexasObserver]

19. You must have missed the first 4781 threads suggesting that.

[Ricochet21]

25. Yes, I am new to this page

[L0oniX]

23. I wish that when Deleted message is used...

that it could say something like this: Message from asshole deleted. Supplement "asshole" for various names like fucktard, dick wad, stupid fucker, idiot, moran, etc.

[Curmudgeoness]

29. And I wish that they did not delete the name of the poster

when they delete the message. Or lock it. I am always all the more curious.

[jobycom]

24. I like the current system better than any that came before it.

Before we had "unrec" people whined that there was no way to "unrec" a thread. So if you're wanting to cut out irrational whining, it will never happen. Not ever. Not no matter what you dun gone and dun, it will never stop.

I promise you.

It's inevitable.

People will whine because the current idea wasn't their idea.

The reason they started the "unrec" feature wasn't to placate whiners, it was because every post of the Front Page was some factional group trying to stick something in the eye of another factional group. The front page was made up of posts like "K&R if you hate the Democratic stand on lemon pie!!1" then K&R if you support the Democratic stand on lemon pie!!1" then "K&R if you don't give a damn about lemon pie!" then "K&R if you are tired of the fighting over lemon pie!" then "K&R of you are tired of the 'K&R lemon pie' posts!!1"

Unrec lets all that nonsense neutralize itself within the thread so it stays off the Front Page and threads that more accurately reflect the general opinion of DU posters get on the Front Page for newcomers to judge us by. It's the most accurate, most fair, most democratic solution available to a board that too often devolves into factional posturing. It makes the place bearable for the rest of us (yeah, like I've never been one of the whining posers on any issues). :)

[Ricochet21]

26. Keerist, I wish I hadn't brought it up. lol

:rofl:

[TK421]

27. Why don't we just get rid of recs and unrecs altogether?

:shrug: problem solved

[deaniac21]

28. Why anyone could summon up the emotion to give a fuck about

recs is beyond me.