“Rain Storm, Union Square” by Childe Hassam. 1890.
In yesterday’s post, Trulia Voices: It Never Ceases to Amaze, I rambled about how “points” (more accurately the ranking based on number of entries) were impacting the quality of Voices answers.
In the comments of the post, Active Rain was mentioned more that once.
Our dearest Lani left this gem of a comment that summed things up nicely:
Any online venue that promotes a user based on how many times they stick their nose in (via Trulia voices or AR comments), there will be an endless sea of uselessness. Take away the points and you’ve got a more sincere system that is comprised of agents answering questions for the consumers’ sake, not for their profiles’ sake.
In a fluke of timing, apparently Active Rain had a little glitch yesterday and {GASP!} points were not being rewarded to members for making posts or comments.
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
I suspect there was a flurry of emails sent off to the boyz at AR. Likely a bunch of posts too. Here is one post that I found via Twitter. (It’s “Members Only” so you’ll have to have an AR account and be logged in to view).
Allow me to share a little of this AR beauty….
Truth it, my regular posting and commenting habits are directly related to the accumulation of points. I like seeing myself climb through the ranks. I had a lot of catching up to do, and I worked hard to get where I am. I have linked, invited, posted, and commented with fervor and dedication.
So now my biggest fear is this:
I am not accumulating any points,but am I the only one? Is my competition catching up on me while I’m locked into my current tally? Will I be awarded points retroactively?
Wowsa…. so much for “blogging” for things like learning, sharing, business, networking, friendship, personal and professional growth. Nope, it’s all for the points baby!
The author of the post is not alone. Here are a few comments:
- It is a bummer not to be getting points if it effects some and not everybody.
- And yet I wondered … if we do get them later … should I keep commenting? Quite a dilemma!
- I wasnt real concerned as I figured it was a glitch. Glad to hear it wasnt a glemlin in my box. A day off wasnt too bad either.
- Yep..pointless here too for Friday…what is life with a day without points?
- I know it! I am always watching my back, keeping an eye on those that are gaining on me!
- I was afraid of losing “retroactive” points so I kept plugging away!
And here is my personal favorite:
I had the same dilema yesterday, my end result was, if I’m not going to get points why spend any time here? (my emphasis)
For the record, I was one of the first members of Active Rain. Been there since before they even had blogs. There are some brilliant writers there. I’ve met some fantastic people there that I may not have otherwise met.
But I haven’t posted there in a long time. There’s just too much nonsense and “point grubbing” going on.
I write this post to point out (no pun intended) a living breathing example to drive home Lani’s observation:
Any online venue that promotes a user based on how many times they stick their nose in (via Trulia voices or AR comments), there will be an endless sea of uselessness. Take away the points and you’ve got a more sincere system that is comprised of agents answering questions for the consumers’ sake, not for their profiles’ sake.
While it would undoubtedly improve the quality of the content, I can’t see ActiveRain or Trulia Voices getting rid of their points/ranking system. It’s their bread and butter for having agents load up their servers with free content. Award points, make Top 10 lists, and sit back and watch people fall all over themselves to provide free content for your web site.
You think they are going to stop that for the sake of quality?
