Here is the issue with getting rid of UNREC......

[KansasVoter]

A post stating "Obama is a total failure" will get many recs and no way to counter it. At least now we can see how the general feeling on the board is. I am not sure why it needs to go unless it hurts peoples feelings too much.

[SidDithers]

1. Hopefully, they're getting rid of recs too...

and posts will appear on most viewed and most replies lists only.

Sid

[KansasVoter]

4. That would make sense!

[DJ13]

6. Just get rid of threads entirely & rec/unrec headlines

[pacalo]

14. Sid, I agree with you...

but your "Unrec's" made me laugh, seriously. You've got spunk & I like spunk.

:hi:

[woo me with science]

29. Yeah, I kind of like the old fashioned way of expressing opinions with words. nt

[leeroysphitz]

31. So people can go out of their way to avoid even reading the threads

of those with whom they disagree?

That is an interesting approach to fostering a dialogue.

ETA: And you KNOW there are people here that would do it.

[tammywammy]

33. +1 n/t

[provis99]

2. you've got a strange idea of the function of the unrec.

It is not a popularity contest, or a poll. It's use is to mark a post as unworthy of reading.

[KansasVoter]

7. And now you will lose that ability!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. insert unrec joke here

[socialist_n_TN]

5. Rarely use the rec/unrec feature. Sure you can counter...............

it. Make a post countering it. Even if it's just "A total failure? What about..."

Look it's a DISCUSSION board. Discuss! The rec/unrec feature is the lazy way. DISCUSS!

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. I won't miss it.

Sometimes it was like DUing a poll on another site.

One particular forum on this site comes to mind, too.

[sarcasmo]

36. Why does this thread make me fell like I am having Dejavu?

[RKP5637]

9. Yep, rec would need to go too IMO! Good point! n/t

[Ian David]

10. If they get rid of UnRec, then I'll have no use for this...

[madinmaryland]

12. Heh...

Get an Un-Rec, MORANS!

Go USA!

[KansasVoter]

13. LOL... Good one!

[SidDithers]

16. Back when we had "less than 0", I did this...

Sadly, no need for it now.

Sid

[madinmaryland]

11. Un-reccing for whining about the rec/unrec feature.

[obxhead]

15. What did I miss? Unrec is being removed? nt

[northoftheborder]

17. If you have "unrec" then it should be tallied as is "rec"

otherwise, there is no way of knowing if a post has a lot of "rec's". Just get rid of it. You still have two reactions to a post: click the "recommend" or move on.

[obxhead]

32. Any chance you have a link where this is explained a little more

coherently? Not attacking, but your answer seems vague.

[county worker]

18. It never made any sense to me that someone could vote for a OP and someone else

comes along and takes the vote away.

If you don't like the OP write one yourself stating your position or reply to the OP.

I know some come here for the pissing contests but I think that is a complete waste of time.

No matter what you say here in an OP someone will come along and piss all over it. That sucks even though I am guilty of it too.

[SidDithers]

19. It never made sense to me that you could only ever vote "Yea" on something...

without having the option of voting "Nay".

Only being able to vote "Yea" is not how democracy works in the real world.

Sid

[county worker]

22. I see democracy as voting for something. You pick one of the candidates and vote for them.

You don't go to vote and vote no to reduce the amounts of votes a candidate has. You vote for an alternative.

If there is only one choice you either vote for it or stay home.

You may be thinking of propositions but these OP's are not propositions.

[SidDithers]

26. The OPs certainly aren't candidates for office either...

But across the world, day after day, local, regional and federal governments call for Yes/No votes on any myriad of issues. That's a more accurate analogy to the question of whether a thread is worthy of appearing on DU's Greatest Page.

Sid

[county worker]

27. That's right they aren't.

I just see this issue differently than many here. It's hard to defend my thinking I guess.

[leftstreet]

20. Are you suggesting the majority of DUers are disappointed in the Prez?

By that I mean his policies, not him personally

:popcorn:

[LostInAnomie]

21. The recs will only go one way.

That's how it worked in the past. Some sub-group will post something inflammatory and rec it all to hell. Then, there is no way for the rest of DU to get it off the greatest page.

[Iggo]

23. If they'd just get rid of The Greatest Page, none of this would matter.

Right?

[SidDithers]

24. Exactly...

:thumbsup:

Sid

[LostInAnomie]

25. That would be true.

I don't usually look at it much anyway. But, if you are going to have a page that is designated to be the best DU has to offer you should allow the entirety of DU to have feedback on what makes it there. If the votes only go one way that's not possible.

[greendog]

28. Wouldn't "Obama is a total failure" get locked by the mods as flamebait?

[Iggo]

30. Get ready for the "Rec this thread if..." threads.

They were all the rage before unrec.

[tammywammy]

34. Those were quite annoying.

And pointless

[MiddleFingerMom]

35. I think both the rec AND unrec should stay... with a counting of the unrec's also.

.
.
.
There are, OBVIOUSLY... plain old-fashioned assholes who are bullies on this site --
who know enough not to cross the line into rule-breaking, but just plain annoying
to those who don't wish to be involved in that in any way, shape or form... and/or
intimidating to those of our kin who are perhaps more timid than others. The unrec
(but only really when counted) allows them to express their opinion without drawing
the ire, abuse or arrogant attentions of those forementioned assholes.
.
.
.
And by the way... WHERE THE HELL'S THE "MEH" OPTION?!?!?!?
.
.
.
.

[Peace Patriot]

37. I wouldn't mind the Rec/Unrec thing so much if there were separate totals.

I've come across posts I was interested in and thought important, I rec'ed the post and the total was "0". Somebody's unrec had cancelled my opinion out, before I even rec'ed it. That seems weird as well as unfair. It would be better if the line said: Rec = 1, Unrec = 1.

"0" is uninformative in that circumstance. The truth was that one person felt strongly enough to rec it and another person felt strongly enough to unrec it. That implies a controversy, and something of potential interest, that is hidden by the "0"--the "0" just cancels out the two actions, as if no one had an opinion.

I've also seen posts that were just straight news and information--no opinion stated by the poster--that got unrec'ed. Why would anybody unrec such a post? It seems repressive, like they just don't want folks to have that information.

At this point, I began to be annoyed by the anonymity of the rec/unrec. I wanted to know which DUer would unrec an information post. I wanted to ASK why they did it. Not hostile. Just, "Huh?" But it was an anonymous action.

I think it's best to at least be able to identify a DUer--even though it's not their real name. If they want to say something, whether it's merely rec or unrec, or a comment, we should have an identifier. You develop a feel for those you trust and those you don't trust, or those who have a particular bias, or those who are good at providing information or analysis, or those who are good on a particular subject, by what they post and what they write. Rec/unrec hides some information that can you help make this judgement and help you wade through the awesome amount of posts, comments and forums at DU. I'd like to know who rec's and unrec's what.

I never use Unrec. I don't want to suppress anybody, even if I really, really disagree with them or despise what they've posted. Why bother to go into a post, start reading it, and then Unrec it? It seems hypocritical. SOMETHING interested you. But you don't want anybody else to see it? You want to drive people away? If I have something negative to say about the post, I say it. Unrec'ing seems kind of sneaky.

Here's what I would do. Yeah, you can Rec or Unrec but you have to "sign" it. You have to do it with your DU name. People often Rec posts with a "K&R" as a comment. The Rec function could replace having to do this but keeping the identifier. "Kicked and recommended" by ____. This would give the post a kick. But Unrec wouldn't do anything. Everybody could see who thinks it's crap, and how many think that. But a post with an Unrec is of interest. There is a difference between what you agree with and what is of interest to you. You might be interested in a very bad post. Others should know that it's interesting because, in your opinion, it's so bad. They may agree, they may not. But nobody should be able to kick a post DOWN the ladder. Let's see how many unrec's it gets, and what the comments are. Let's not bury it. Let's discuss it.

[Bluenorthwest]

38. The whole 'hurt feelings' concept evades me, not invested in

that and I don't post many OPs anyway, so as it is I don't really care, but if this was my website, that thing would never have existed for many reasons, all of them unrelated to feelings or any of that. I knew it would go or be massively adapted because of those things. Unrec was the only thing I have seen the admins do that I thought was not very smart. I think I told them so then, I tend to do that.