Here Comes the Judge
We've talked for a long time around the office about ways to make the forums more interactive, and last week we launched a new feature that does just that. More fun than a barrel of monkeys, more addicting than mom's mac and cheese, I bring you "Judge it!".
Clicking on the Judge it! link in the header of any post will give you a list of adjectives to choose from, each with their own fancy icon. You can select up to three descriptors for each post, but be warned, the robots are savvy. You can not click two contradicting adjectives for one post. In other words, you can't judge something "brilliant" and "clueless" at the same time.
We've had over 250,000 posts judged in just the first few days and we're showing no signs of slowing. One side effect you might notice in more heated discussions is that the addition of these fun little icons on a post can have quite a disarming effect to the reader. This isn't to say that posters shouldn't treat each other with respect and mind their manners, but it is hard to let even very controversial posts get under your skin when you see a cartoon peanut at the top of them, don't you think?
Technically, the forums don't fall under editorship at this stage, but many of our editors are very active in the forums, so I'm sure you guys have something to say about this.
P.S. Feel free to mark all my posts as Brilliant.
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Comments (4)
On April 5, 2008 3:46 PM, TrilbyKat said:
Ah ha! I wondered who Edubya was - it's you. I love your avatar.
Speaking of brilliant, the new Judge It! feature is just that, in my opinion. It allows for an immediate reaction to other posts (so satisfying) and shows up for all to see. It's a psychological tour de force.
Sure, there are those who may abuse the system by picking on people and judging them in a derogatory manner, irregardless of the content of their post, but those folks can be outvoted.
I have noticed however, that many define spam very differently, then I do. I reserve the Spam designation for blatant link posting that promotes a poster's website (I report those, too) or those obvious off topic messages that are reposted again and again in any forum that shows a good amount of activity.
In any case, kudos to Topix for another great tool that we will use and enjoy.
On May 3, 2008 3:10 PM, Karen Jones said:
Hey, that's really interesting and clueless! :D.
No, seriously, that's neato how your program works to prevent contradiction.
On July 11, 2008 4:01 PM, Kathy SF California said:
Hi!
Now, the jury may not be out yet about the "Judge It!" function but IMO it is not working out as planned.
Remember, "The road to destruction is paved with good intentions..." and while this is a very good intention indeed, it has had dire consequences over the past week on our little forum, turning away several regiatrants and being used as a toy by others. We are a forum of ladies, many not saavy computer users, and it has been expressed by some to be quite upsetting to see a post being "judged".
Many don't want to use it in a collective way either so it's touchy if it does get used by anyone.
As for the fact that it will not allow for "contradicting" adjectives, well, quite frankly that is totally irrelevant here because most of the time a person is going to judge straight through one way or another.
I strongly suggest that TOPIX revisit this function, suggest that it only registrants can us it provide a certain number of restrictions to using it like only three times per day so it can't be overused or abused by anyone.
I'm sorry, but speaking for some on my forum, it seems to be a toy for a troll or cyber bully right now and in my view not making any progress towards good intentions.
Thanks.
Kathy SF California
Editor
On July 17, 2008 3:31 AM, Joan Swanson said:
PLEASE Topix; get rid of these stupid judging icons! All it does it create hard feelings and it makes people angry. This idea is a DISASTER and its not funny or cute.
I know many posters who have left because of this stupid addition.
PLEASE get rid of the judging icons.