CreateDebate


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Debate Score:23
Arguments:9
Total Votes:35
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 C.D. Vote Rework (9)

Debate Creator

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C.D. Vote Rework

Townhall Q4 Topic?

Here's the issue, too many people have been complaining about the random vote downs without explination.

Should vote downs in particular require people to respond or would this be too intrusive?

This is a debate site, and the vote down is supposed to mean that someone disagrees with you... so they should know why they disagree with you, and should be able to voice their opinion rather easily. So, should the vote down require a reply?

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I am under the impression, and I hope I'm not mistaken, that it is not the disagreement portion that dictates a down vote. It stands to reason and is logical that a debate has two sides. Doesn't it follow then that we'd be forever voting each other down just by disagreeing?

If, on the other hand, an argument is silly, meant to detract rather than add to the sum of stats, facts or knowledge, has off-handed and baseless remarks, prejudicial wording or contains personal affronts to the person...they should be voted down or discarded altogether. The same is true of up voting someone. You may not entirely agree with them but they've given you food for thought or change, as the case may be. In my way of thinking, that's an up vote.

I disagree with anyone who says that a down vote should not be explained to the person suffering that down vote. They may have innocently erred in some way or their communication was not clearly understood by the other person. Not everyone here is a rocket scientist and may not comprehend many ideas, words or abstract thoughts.

All I would like to accomplish in the up/down voting is that it's done fairly so that the numbers truly mean something...or there is no earthly reason for having them there?

Side: no anonymous voting
1 point

No anonymous voting is a good idea. I've mentioned it in the Townhall topics thread.

Side: no anonymous voting
0 points

I completely agree about the worth of an argument, and the need to down something that isn't relevant, but then we could all just tell someone that their argument is invalid. It would take a while to vote people down like that and that's what I meant about a vote down and mandatory reply being intrusive. It would sort of detract from simplicity, but at the same time I think that it would help build a stronger community. People that understand one another better. If you need to vote someone down, tell them why!

Then you say that people need to be more responsible, and vote fairly. This, I believe, cannot happen. There are a great many number of people here, and the anonymity only makes it worse. If someone isn't responsibly using their ability to vote, and no one knows it was them, what will they care?

Shouldn't there at least be a list for people who have voted you down so that you can call them out or look for their opinion on the opposing side and argue the conflicting points between the two arguments?

Side: no anonymous voting

Yes, it is the anonymity here and on all Internet sites that allow for this type of behavior. You're right, they wouldn't care one iota if they knew they could slither by unnoticed. I think it's a splendid idea to have a list of who has voted you down...that in and of itself may be the answer that can work in everyone's favor and in both ways. Number 1. They may think twice about voting someone down and, Number 2. They may just write their objection immediately without having to bother about it later. Good stuff...keep up the great brainstorming so we can have GREAT debates and a better site!

Side: no anonymous voting

I don't know. I got used to being voted down ;) I don't have time to respond to everyone that disagrees with me. If they leave a message I'd feel that I have to respond. But I do think that they should grow a pair and identify themselves. I rarely vote people down but when I do, I want you to know who did it.

Side: no anonymous voting
1 point

I don't think they need to reply; they can do that already if they want to (sometimes you just want to agree/disagree without taking the time to write anything in response). Instead, I think the person who was voted up/down should be able to see who voted them up or down. You already get notifications in the status quo, so why not say who voted? (especially because CreateDebate already IS keeping track of who voted on who; they just don't tell you who did it).

Plus, as I've mentioned to Loudacris, there are a lot of benefits to this:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waaykuul:

Someone just went through all my arguments and voted every single one of them down, causing my efficiency to suddenly drop from 84% to 64%. It's kind of ridiculous because there's no way they could've read 81 arguments in the couple hours between now and the last time I logged on. And the fact that the person went through every argument I've written seems to indicate that it was on purpose. Do you know of anyone else who's had that happen to them?

Loudacris:

Hey Waaykuul,

Man, that sucks. I'm going to take a look to make sure our User Agreement wasn't violated. A ton of new users signed up for the site today so we're dealing with some growing pains. I'll let you know if I discover anything of note. Thanks for the head's up.

Waaykuul:

Thanks. It was really disappointing because I had one of the highest efficiency ratings for the number of points I had. I guess this is the bad part about anonymous ratings (i.e. you don't know who voted you up/down).

hmm...Is there a specific reason for why CreateDebate doesn't tell you who voted you up/down? It seems like it'd be better if it told you who voted on you. One pro is that it'd make it a lot easier to figure out who's an ally/enemy. And it would make you more careful in voting.

Loudacris:

You know, that is a good point. The capability is there so its something we might have to roll out based on the exact kind of problem that you are facing. I'll bring it up with some other folks later today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But overall, I think CreateDebate's an awesome site; I haven't found any better. Keep up the good work! :)

Side: no anonymous voting

I'm so very sorry that happened to you waykuul. There simply is no excuse for that kind of thing. It reflects poorly for you and that's the shame of it...it's so undeserved.

Side: no anonymous voting
1 point

Well since they seem to have implemented a new way of watching the voting up/down, I don't think it needs to be brought up in a townhall meeting. However, they need to look closely at both who is voting and who is being voted. Some folks are consummate trolls and require regular backhandings (or down votes) for their dumb remarks. And then some rare folks are often wise and perceptive and deserve repeated up-voting.

Side: Circumstancial
0 points

Also, if you have any other ideas for changing the vote function, or you're opposed to change all togather, let us know.

Side: Vote Down Reply