No the system is not flawed. The users can bother to take the time to learn how to use the system properly. ...
since the users are not doing what they should it is the users fault for what the system stands for. ...
It still requires the members to take the proper action.
the site would not work as intended without the users. Part of being in management is to motivate, lead, and educate users into following their vision. You tried something. You identified issues. Now its time to adjust.
This will do nothing that the Rep System doesnt already do. What difference does it make if I have 30,000 topics responded to and only 3,000 asked?
it puts more data points into consideration. I'm proposing a new system that uses number of different metrics to accomodate a broader range of users.
Me, as a user, thinks that the rep system is flawed. Two sites that i can think of off the top of my head with, possibly, a better system would be Expert Exchange and Microsoft Forums. I think this because the mods rate the thread. However, i do understand if you say, "Well, we dont have the manpower" or "We have higher priorities." Part of being in competition with other sites is to see a need / want that the users have and fulfilling it.
How can you say that my effort is not there cause I dont generate more content than someone else. I answer more topics instead of create more. If I create a topic it is for the Review or Tutorial Section or something like the Index threads or other important topics. I dont have many questions to ask. So how can you accurately assess what my "rating" would be? There is no way you could.
i know i havent nailed it down perfectly yet but im working on it. Never say Never. ....or always say Never and hopefully ppl will want to succeed that much more.
The Rep system would be far more accurate for this type of thing than a metric based off of useless numbers that dont mean jack crap. The post count means nothing. I will take myself back down to 1 post. I dont care what my count says. I can raise it to infinity. Does either number matter? Heck no. So no metric that is based off of such a useless item on the site will mean anything.
Post count does mean something, but like youre saying possibly not much. But if you couple this with page views, now we're getting somewhere. Online marketers will commonly monitor click thrus and conversions. Well, in this case a conversion is a reply comment, a problem solved, and / or rep added.
Take a look at your top posters, though. Would you say that they have helped less people throughout their tenure? If not, I'd disagree. To the site, these are your top customers. I'm sure there are companies that have people that they'd like to keep away, but don't cus its still repeat business.
Useful content is a matter of opinion. What you may find useful, I may find useless. So who is to say what is useful or what is useless? The members that come here. They do this with the current system that is already in place. Digg is junk and thing fade off of there so fast that it doesnt matter. We are not a passing trend site, we are a support site. So what matters to person A is not going to matter to person B and vice versa. So there is no metric that can be used that will pull usefull information for both members that is relevant to the topic that they are here for. If person A is here for a OS X issue and person B is here for a Ubuntu Problem, what good is having a metric based on popularity of the topic when the Off Topic Section will win every time. So it wont be important to them. This is the very reason why the crap that Digg does is not important here and cant be used here. It serves no purpose to those that are here for a reason and are looking to get help. No system could ever be created to do what is needed for every member.
There is no one metric that perfectly rates its user base. Most companies use several KPI to evaluate the user base. Segment them into group. Find a leader. Promote your vision.
It didnt take me more than 5 seconds to see such flaws in those responses. Sorry to pop that bubble, but heck no. I have already pointed out how many flaws with such thinking and that was with no time to actually think about bad things. Stop thinking of fads, stop thinking of Facebook, G+ and Twitter style things. We are not an instant access site. We are a forum. Things operate different for us. We cant do what hot crap cause it doesnt work!
Maybe it is time to start thinking like FB, G+, & Tw to gain popluarity. It could give you competitative advantage by successfully implementing the cutting edge technology.
good work with this last re design though. content seems more accessible and feature rich.
