Thumb down to the "unrecommend"

[question everything]

We know that there are DUers who would get K&R even if they just post "good morning."

So now there will be the DUers who would get the "unrecommend" just for posting, because someone does not like then, Period, and this is an opportunity to "settle scores."

I have never understood the purpose of the "ignore" function. If you do not like someone or a post, why not just move along? There are plenty of posts on all the forum. Do you really have to read every single one and then "unrecommend" it?

When a similar system was put several months ago, someone put a "disruptive" - or whatever the function was - on a post of mine correcting Jon Stewart about some of his "facts."

We've seen with the "Valentine hearts" that DU has cliques. Now, with the "unrecommend" we will really see a score settling.

For the ones who really really use these forums and functions to settle scores, I pity you that this is the only source of pleasure that you derive from life.


OK, start piling the "unrecommend."

[BuyingThyme]

1. Yes, but thumbs up to the same-page processing.

[BlooInBloo]

2. Prediction: Those who don't like Obama will whine against any feature that allows...

criticism of them.

[Cant trust em]

7. That's what I'm going to use it for.

To unrecommend any thread that goes over the top.

[Regret My New Name]

63. I'm going to use it on anyone I have a personal grudge against...

Not really though.

[scheming daemons]

10. yep.

[Karmadillo]

14. Prediction: Those who like Obama a lot will use it to try to keep criticism of Obama

off the Greatest Page. Just a guess.

[scheming daemons]

17. If there are more of them than there are Obama-bashers, then the system is working as intended

Conversely... if Obama-bashers use it to unrecommend pro-Obama threads.... is that OK?

[Karmadillo]

21. I don't think it is OK. There are a lot of pro-Obama DUers. I don't have much interest

in keeping their posts off the Greatest Page and limiting views (since I'm guessing many of us rely on the Greatest list). It's going to tend to hurt minority views who could get enough looks and recs to get a debate going, but now will be overwhelmed by the majority (not in every instance, but you can already see it on some of the antiwar threads). Just seems like a bad idea to me. I guess we'll see soon enough.

[niceypoo]

36. If Obama refuses to prosecute torturers, for example, and is critiqued for same

...is the person offering the critique, "bashing," Obama?

Just trying to clarify what you mean by Bashing..

[scheming daemons]

bashing is in the eye of the beholder... that's the whole point

Those that think it is bashing, will unrecommend.


Those that don't, won't.


It will be an accurate representation of how the majority feels about a thread.

[tekisui]

44. It will represent issues that the majority want ignored or hidden.

[Jakes Progress]

66. And we know that only the majority should be reflected - right?

We don't want any minority opinions in our garden of delight.

Because the majority is always the right way to think. Just look at the wonderful job the SC did in Gore/bush. Majority must be right, if you say so.

[liberal N proud]

39. Its rather DEMOCRATIC, wouldn't you say?

[Karmadillo]

49. Or maybe, rather, the Tyranny of the Majority.

nt

[tekisui]

42. This is the problem. Criticism of policy does not equal bashing.

And, I predict ANY criticism of POLICY will get pounced with unrecs.

[BuyingThyme]

22. That's the only thing this will accomplish.

[Captain Hilts]

25. Thank you for proving the original post's point. nt

[niceypoo]

33. Stunningly bizarre twisted logic

Congradulations

[Lilith Velkor]

61. Par for the course

"Why do you hate Obama?" is the new "Why do you hate America?"

[question everything]

51. Just to clarify: I like Obama, I agree with almost everything

he has said and done, even though I supported Hillary during the primaries.

Even if I disagreed with most of his actions, I realize that politics is the art of compromise and no matter how "bad" Obama may be, he is far superior to - shudder - McCain and Palin.

I have no problem with people criticizing Obama: this is what democracy's all about. But to read posts "regretting" voting for him - I have to wonder whether they'd rather have - shudder - McCain and Palin.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

58. I think we may need an unrec for your post n/t

[musette_sf]

3. + 1

i don't like it either.

[scheming daemons]

4. K&U

Hey.. at least I gave ya a kick.

;-)

[scheming daemons]

5. Dupe

[MineralMan]

6. Ha! It's a plot to destroy the Lounge, where all the threads

are <0 now. It's a DOR attack by the North Koreans.

[jobycom]

28. The Lounge recs don't count, anyway, but the totals should be amusing.

:rofl: Lounge threads are ineligible for the "Greatest" page--something about Lounge and Greatest being redundant, I hear--but it should create amusing rec battles.

[Bobbie Jo]

8. K & U

:shrug:

[MercutioATC]

9. I'd rather see both recommends and unrecommends as unique ratings.

There are threads I'd like to see on the greatest page, but only because they're so stupid.

It's less of a rating system than a way to increase or decrease a post's visibility.

[Clio the Leo]

11. I LOVE IT!!!!!

Remember when we had all of those different colored buttons on the right side of the page? Well, the one good thing about that system was the way you could basically tell the DU world that a thread sucked if you thought it did. Sometimes threads are SO trifling, they deserve MORE than just sinkage ...... this is gonna be FUN!!!! WOOHOO!!! (he he he)

Let the "Obama is destroying the world" vs. the "Look how cute he is in this photo" wars begin!!!! :spank:

[ContinentalOp]

52. But what about the "Look how cute Obama looks destroying the world in this photo" faction? -nt-

[kenfrequed]

12. It is worse than this.

I have seen about half a dozen posts on single payer universal and public option both 'unrecommended' within minutes of their being posted. I am worried that this 'unrecommend' will be used to sink discussion on progressive issues by people that have the resources to stage information wars.

[noamnety]

19. This is the real problem.

As a social experiment for a day or two I don't mind it - and I will admit it's somewhat satisfying to be able to express my opinion in a nonconfrontational way that a photo of Michelle wearing a bright yellow dress is not one of the "greatest" posts on a political forum.

But long term, I recognize it's potentially a tool for ensuring that issues that threaten the status quo don't get a wider audience.

[kenfrequed]

46. Exactly.

I have had to go on the latest posts and recommend everything with universal or single payer on it just to undo these strange <0's that show up minutes after their appearance.

Burdensome and time consuming.

[tekisui]

45. And it will be done anonymously.

[redqueen]

67. Oh please.

I saw that same claim made yesterday, searched for these mythical posts, and found nothing.

PM me some links please, if you care to try to defend this claim.

[Mrs. Overall]

13. I think disruptors and trolls will have a heyday with it. I trust DUers to use it in good faith.

[hfojvt]

41. except that admins can keep track of U's and R's

Somebody who gives U to a lot of good progressive issues or articles will thereby reveal him/herself.

[scheming daemons]

15. Alternate subject: "Wah! Now my drama-queen diatribes against Obama will be properly labelled."

Not for this particular OP, per se, but for most that won't like the new feature.

[Ikonoklast]

23. Bingo.

They are already getting shellacked with 'unrecommends'

Usually, it's always the same bunch, the same names bringing the hate.

Never one positive thing to say about President Obama.

[DJ13]

16. I've found that boards using similar features tend to go to hell rather quickly

Important topics deserving of real recommends will end up targeted by disruptor's .

It will become a game for Freepers who will register just to be able to hamper the exchange of information by "un" recommending posts.

[Bicoastal]

18. I've said it before and I'll say it again--Democracy doesn't work!!!1!

I know, I know, it sucks when people pass judgement on your opinion simply because there are more of them than there are of you, but that's America for ya.

[question everything]

53. Or, small attention span rules the day

when a post gets a "less then zero" within less than a minute and with barely 10 views, on a non-controversial topic: i.e., nothing about Obama, Clinton (either of them), Israel, Chavez or Sheehan - one has to conclude that the U was given as a reflex without bothering to read.

[texastoast]

20. Oh, the trolls will love this

And there are so many here.

[Junkdrawer]

26. Amen. n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

27. They already do. Check out the unrecommends re an informative Palin thread.

There are 8 votes all together and a positive 6. 2 of the unrecommended have to be from trolls.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6020597

[Junkdrawer]

38. Problem solved....Now the total votes are hidden....

So the trolls can work secretly....

[Ignis]

47. Oh, that was unexpected.

Great idea, but the implementation leaves something to be desired.

[Captain Hilts]

Agree. It doesn't take discussions anywhere we want them to go and ecourages belligerent posts. nt

[Mojambo]

24. I fucking hate this unrecommend feature.

And I agree that it will further divide this place.

I almost kind of feel the impulse to automatically recommend threads that are getting hit hard by the UR.

[question everything]

54. Same here

Earlier today, when I first found out about the system, I systematically checked each thread with "less than zero" and recommended many to, at least, bring them to 0.

[Sebastian Doyle]

29. Witness the Dennis Kucinich thread for a prime example

Look at the number of "unrecommends" on that one. I'd bet all those IP addresses trace back to a DLC boiler room.

[jobycom]

30. It should take care of those "Rec this if you want to stroke my ego" threads, at least.

Otherwise, I don't know how it's workable.

Although, if the Admins can see who recs and unrecs a thread, as they can see who votes in polls, then it could backfire on some trolls who think they are working in private.

[LynneSin]

31. Oh bull, how the recommend is used in the lounge is different from other forums

Here I think it's long time coming. I'm tired of bullshit threads making the greatest page because a small group of people want to abuse the recommend feature to push their ideas in a promiment location. The DU homepage should only have threads that have broad appeal to all DUers. That doesn't mean those with limited appeal don't deserve a chance to post at DU, but at least those threads will show how DUers truly feel about it and not just one group.

I saw this problem back during the primaries. The Obama and/or Hillary team would post a thread bashing their opponent and then all the fans would jump on it with "K&R this to the home page" tactics. That means a small group of people of people could hijack the homepage and those of us who disagree have no say in the matter.

DU is welcome to a broad appeal of opinions but the Home Page should be limited to those that have the broadest appeal to all DUers and not a small group with an agenda.

As for the 'clique' thing with use of the feature. Well, lounge threads don't go on the greatest page so it really is just something folks will use to annoy one another or support someone who is having a tough time (I hope more of the latter). I take the feature with a grain of salt.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

32. I do like that when recommending or un-recommending you aren't navigated away from the page...BUT!

I think the un-recommend function is terrible. Bad threads sink like a rock and die naturally.

BTW...unrecommend comes up as incorrectly spelled in the spell check! You have to hyphenate it!

[reflection]

34. I like the 'unrecommend' feature,

and I think it is no more harmful or helpful than the 'recommend' feature. In fact, I think it is a nice counterbalance. If the "score settlers" are so prevalent here as to upset the framework of DU, then it doesn't say a whole lot for the DU membership, does it?

I think DU will be just fine.

[AndyA]

35. I would guess that the powers at DU can tell who recommends or unrecommends threads.

I know they can see how members vote on polls, so I'm guessing there might be the ability to see who is recommending threads and who is unrecommending them.

Shouldn't be too difficult to see if the system is being abused, if one really wanted to. :shrug:

[charlie and algernon]

37. well it's keeping my BS thread off the greatest page

under the old system you'd see "Rec this thread if you like pie" on the front page. Now it's going to sink to oblivion, as it should, lol.

[FourScore]

57. Oh, that is the cutest picture!!! n/t

[hfojvt]

40. it does not keep track of the negative numbers

so there is not much point to unrecommending a thread that already has very few.

What it does do, is let somebody who is reading something that has, say 15-20 recommends, and as they read it, they think 'what a piece of crap', then they can vote to knock it down to 14. And if there are enough DUers who agree with the 'crap' designation, then the OP will be knocked off of the greatest page or the front page.

[SPedigrees]

43. I've never understood K&R. You can recommend a thread but threads don't "kick."

Every person selects what threads they choose to open and read. What do you care whether they use software to facilitate this?

For whatever it's worth I don't use any of this "recommend/not recommend" software, just as I eschew spam filters. I like my content unfiltered.

[earth mom]

48. People are going to game this system every way they can. The greatest page is meaningless now.

:puke:

[OhioChick]

50. Yep. n/t

[FourScore]

55. Perhaps it would help if we could see who

is recommending and unrecommending.

[yodoobo]

56. I don't understand the handwringing over this feature.

They are just threads. The housefly has a longer lifespan than 99% of all threads.


How many people really only read recommended threads?

or do you read the threads you find interesting by virtual of title and forum? (And then afterwards see what the rec status is?)


For all this talk and fear of disruption, the fact is the recommend/unrecommend status has virtually no bearing on anything.

[scarletwoman]

59. It has a bearing on which threads show up on the Home Page of DU.

The top 5 posts from the Greatest page show up on the front page of DU, which has an impact on all the visitors who access DU by going to democraticunderground.com on any given day.

It's a relatively significant piece of online real estate and quite a few DUers care a lot about what shows up there.

[yodoobo]

60. I see

I guess it depends on your browsing habits.

I never start with the home page. I just go to the forums.

[TexasObserver]

62. Yes, it's a big TO DO over nothing.

[Regret My New Name]

64. I think it ensures the greatest page will have things that really are 'great'

As opposed to the normal stuff that usually posted on here... You figure if it's something that most everyone on this site(well, at least those who use the recommendation system), then there must be something great about it, aye?

[LanternWaste]

65. One fo these days, I'll visit the Greatest page...

One of these days, I'll visit the Greatest page to observe what the daily popularity contest tells us is salient, relevant, and germain to the world (never been to that page-- "true story").

Until then though, I'll simply go on as I have for the past six or seven years and simply read a thread regardless of how many views, recommends, kicks or kudos it receives-- that is, I'll base my post reading off of my own interests, rather than the popular interests.


However, I imagine this new feature will allow the Martyr Brigade to righteously rail again The Man with even more self-perceived justifications than previously...

[yodoobo]

68. I did today for the very first time.

I never ventured there until I learned that it underlies what is now the greatest drama of our time.

Apparently people invest their entire ego and self worth into getting their thead title on that section of the board.

The fear of being shut out of that section has shaken some people to the very core of the beings.