what would you think

John Doe

of this concept for a forum. Seems to me that the driving force behind a lot of bitching at this place is being banned by moderators. What would you think of a forum where reputations are earned through a point system, and if enough negative rep was earned an automatic banning took place? Reputation would be available to be awarded by a link on every post, and each user would have a vote. Users with more posts, time on the board would have more sway than newbies, who would have little say.

I think the benefits are obvious. First, this puts users in control of their forum, and it becomes in essence "community" owned. Secondly, this cuts down on the anger directed at moderators. Thirdly, this encourages members to get along with others.

True, there would need to be more control than this, but I think this is a good start. Perhaps a well defined user agreement with certain point values for infractions. Say, posting porn is 100 points and results in an immediate and permanent ban. Excessive cursing would be say 50 points, which would be a 3 day ban. Etc. Etc.

I think the main goal should be to encourage a sense of community participation and ownership, while at the same time directing or nudging the discussions towards the topic goal of the forum. Ideas? Thoughts?

beksbks

Honestly Johnny? You want my honest opinion? I think the only thing that matters in a board, is ease of navigation, and number of familiar "faces".

John Doe

Good points, but faces never become familiar if the forum is not up to par. ;-)

John Doe

Come on people! Surely you've got some ideas about what you want to see in a board, say a jw information board? ;-)

TheSilence

It's an interesting concept... how would you keep it from becoming a popularity contest? "You bested my buddy in a debate and he took offense so now our whole gang of buddies is going to point you right off the board" type of thing?

Jackie

John Doe

I've been looking over forum software today. It looks like the latest vbulletin has the reputation feature. I think this is a great idea. Would probably make the $160 license cost worthwhile.

TheSilence

That fixes abuse from a single poster. My concern is groups of friends ganging up on each other or, worse, a single poster. Those of us who play werewolf every game have gotten pretty chummy. I would like to think we are above such things, but what if a group like that forms, and one of the group gets offended by something and riles the rest of everyone up? How do you keep a group from dominating the board?

Understand, I'm not trying to say it can't be done or that it's a bad idea by any means... I'm trying to forsee a possible problem so you can have a solution in hand. If you can work out problems like this I think a community that police's itself is an interesting thought.

Jackie

John Doe

Truthfully, I'm not sure how well it would work jackie. Naturally there will be some popularity contests going on. However, you rarely see someone who doesn't have some people backing them up. Typically, someone who has no one backing them is a jerk that needs to be banned, from my perspective.

I guess the self conflicting goal is going for a guided/constructive board that arrives there mainly from member usage. That's a delicate balance for sure.

TheSilence

Another concern would be the hurt feelings that could arise. Think of the "favorite poster" threads that pop up. Inevitably people are left out and feel unappreciated. Is there a concern that some posters will feel slighted because they are not rated as highly as others? Not everyone has the self confidence not to be bothered by such a thing.

Jackie

John Doe

Depends on the poster. However, popularity considerations are a fact of life. Perhaps have a cap on the amount of reputation one can get?

what would you think

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