When we all act like the responsible adults -or at least mature individuals and artists, then all works pretty well. What happens is a 'few' ruin it all for the masses...
This site doesnt actually babysit us but gives guidelines to follow. As a group all could work wonderfully if everyone reacts and acts responsibly with sensitivity and great humour.
As i have said before, without the ratings it was a slow paced site. The ratings when they were reinstated brought a huge life boon in the membership and activity.
I think they are here to stay, so if people dont want ratings there is an option to just have your work commented on and not rated. So actually the solution is simple, just turn off your ratings... : )
and PS... RQ i certainly know what you are saying...i gave an opinion and a 10 the other day and for some reason the artist didnt like what i said.. i was trying to help, maybe i did..i dunno.. but i'll try and be less guiding with my opinions..i think : )
The real work of photography isn't a lot of fun - the part where I actually prpepare images for sale. My god, I think something looks good on the screen but on paper it's too high, too low, too far over this or that way.
This all came from a meeting with the largest independent book store in Boulder - they have already taken 14 designs - all of which had t be redone and now I am working on more and more.
What's interesting is that many of what they ordered are on the site - some overlooked but all in all, the ones that porint well got noticed here too - so there is some guidance here. It will be interesting to see which ones sell. That will take a couple of weeks.
I cut and fold the cards myself and to be honest, filling an order is the hardest part. Yet, I am pretty damed excited about seeing my work on display in this store. it is alwats fileld with shoppers - the hard work pays off- I hope.
Imho, a site this size, needs moderators to help out, in times of need. :)
You said that without the ratings the site was slow paced and that the ratings brought about increased membership and activity; this shows that the ratings have brought about desirable results!
I started this thread because of reading a large number of threads (in the short time I've been here) in which there are a huge number complaints related to ratings.
The fact is that some people are more sensitive than others and less confident than others and just cannot tolerate criticism. Here is where the problem lies, imo.
Anyway, it would be very presumptuous of me to try and change things at AW when I just arrived. LOL
I think that moderators on this site would be extremely useful - especially on the message board.
Nina :-)
It's rather amazing what I've shared and had shared with me over the past year. it's not all pretty but there is obviously a need for a site like this. What it is, I am not sure i can describe but i can tell you, it is more than the sum of its parts.
The more varied the activitiies in my days, the less each one of them bothers me so i budget my time here and after thousands of comments to and from and messages, a sense of community is developing and there are personalities that are developing and i am not sure we can eveolve through this to beyond without some central sourse of complaint and focus. Somehow, somehtings holds us together because of it or in spite of it.
I'd like the ratings to disappear but that won't happen so, there not much to do but stay on for the ride or get off and there doesn't seem to be an awful lot to risk by at least being a spectator
I think the forums at one point were so heavily watched and indeed threads dissappeared overnight...(which frustrated members with a feeling of censorship)
I think i remember asking AW to stop jerking off threads... and actually any turmoil that seems to rear up is now staying there as a thread. Even though it gets naughty, ugly or heated, most times it gets smoothed out or forgiven on all sides. I certainly am not innocent in displaying temper or frustrations about ratings at times, or members who act childish...i've ranted with the best of them. I suppose its more honest to know whatever i type i better be responsible for, because it usually stays now.. Its a strange feeling to look for threads the next day and feel like a child that someone erased the whole thread and topic.. (which heavily moderation does)
We've watched one member who is not who they say they are, type to themselves for a month, so ignoring trouble works.
I am not sure if AW has the manpower to be on top of everything right now, but i do prefer the ability to give my views or comments on threads knowing they are not going to be censored.
On a positive note, i think the older members here seem to work everything out in the end (even if they arent involved), since theyve seen it all..and because they care..
And Nina, before a few of the rating options (no rating without a comment being one) almost everyone would get very lowball ratings that were hidden, which had the whole member population ranting ...It's very quiet now compared to last July ...
Gosh, i just cheered myself up knowing what it was like at one point compared to now... haha!
I think you started this thread because you care, and because some of the negative does effect us internally and inside our hearts..but have faith it all works out in the end.. : )
There are members of our website that want ratings and others that don't. This is why ratings are completly optional. If you don't want them, and don't want to deal with them, then you can simply turn them off on your portfolio.
ArtWanted receives over 100,000 image votes every month on the images found on our website. Naturally, with this type of volume, there will be people that want to abuse the system or give low/undeserved ratings. We just have to deal with these people/votes when they come up.
People only complain when they get low votes, they never complain when they get good scores. From this we can see that people don't want to do away with the rating system, they only want to do away with low scores on their portfolio. :-)
As of today, only 4% of our active members have their ratings turned off. This tells us that the clear majority of our members still want the ratings on our site. If this percentage ever grows to where there are more people that want them off, then on, then we consider removing them from the site.
If you complain about ratings, or don't want to have them, simply turn them off in your member preferences area and they will never bug you again. This is why we have provided this option for everyone.
Thats all I ask :P
I'd rate myself somewhere between a 6 or 8, most pieces, a few, maybe a 5, and a very, very few, a 10.
You're always your own worst critic, after all.
But I could post a list of which I'd rate which, and everyone could go rate them that for me, lol. =)
Ooh, I know...I'll start adding in a comment on the description about what my own rating of that piece is, and that way no one would feel like they had to rate it high!
Yeah, that's just what I'll do. Maybe that will work!
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