How about adding a "Get Serious" button to our feedback options?

[Damaged Eagle]

I'd love to see areas of the forum segregated separately for pro-Trump conservatives and anti-Trump RINOs and leftists. As it is, we aren't recognizing the elephant in the room: we're in a cold civil war right now and actual discussion is not possible, because people are fighting verbally instead.

The forum is a cacophony of obscenity insults, and that is useless for discussion. How can it be otherwise? In a war nobody tries to persuade the enemy in the trench opposite that he should believe otherwise: they just try to kill him. That's what is going on here, only digitally.

If we had it divided into the three sides the country is divided into people could discuss, analyze, make allies within their own belief group. Alliances is what it's actually all about, human relationships: not persuading others of the "truth." There is no truth, only what your own identity group believes, and there is no possibility of persuasion, and besides, persuasion is darned impertinent.

The immediate problem with areas for each army would be trolls. As when men sneak into women's groups and try to sabotage and vandalize them: all the great old women's forums like the MS forum fell to that. I think that could be dealt with by Slashdot-style rating buttons --- people could EITHER (not both) reply to a post or hit the "this guy does NOT belong here" button. After, say, ten or twenty or a hundred or whatever "no, no, no" ratings, out he goes as a misfit for the group.

People can't and don't discuss things and fight a war with each other at the same time. I think that ought to be admitted -- that we are in a similar period to the 1850s before the hot war broke out -- and dealt with openly.

Under the older forum S/W we used to have "rep points". You could essentially +1 someone or -1 someone. You can imagine what that did to NEW members.. It was like baby sea turtles being picked off by the big birds.

IF you survived the march into getting your feet wet, it was a then a matter of Moderation having to impose rules on HOW OFTEN you could "neg rep" a poster. Because the survivors used the system like blackmail. LITERALLY.. Some deviants would sit there looking at the clock, wait for the hour to click over and PM the target telling them to "expect another beating" in 13 minutes"...

So any system that leads to lynchings isn't a good thing. BUT -- I'm a big fan PERSONALLY of having some way to disapprove of trolling and people who are not really adding anything to the discussions. So this idea in the OP is interesting. PERSONALLY - I believe that having a button to hit reduces the urge to violate the rules and go after folks personally. But TALLYING all that up and making it a "rating" -- probably will never happen again on USMB because of the abuse that we saw...

How about my proposals? Neither one is a neg rep...

#1 Nothing But A Good Time

#2 It Snows In Hell

...As a matter of fact the second one allows me to agree with another poster I really don't want to agree with.

*****CHUCKLE*****

 

[monkrules]

I'd love to see areas of the forum segregated separately for pro-Trump conservatives and anti-Trump RINOs and leftists. As it is, we aren't recognizing the elephant in the room: we're in a cold civil war right now and actual discussion is not possible, because people are fighting verbally instead.

The forum is a cacophony of obscenity insults, and that is useless for discussion. How can it be otherwise? In a war nobody tries to persuade the enemy in the trench opposite that he should believe otherwise: they just try to kill him. That's what is going on here, only digitally.

If we had it divided into the three sides the country is divided into people could discuss, analyze, make allies within their own belief group. Alliances is what it's actually all about, human relationships: not persuading others of the "truth." There is no truth, only what your own identity group believes, and there is no possibility of persuasion, and besides, persuasion is darned impertinent.

The immediate problem with areas for each army would be trolls. As when men sneak into women's groups and try to sabotage and vandalize them: all the great old women's forums like the MS forum fell to that. I think that could be dealt with by Slashdot-style rating buttons --- people could EITHER (not both) reply to a post or hit the "this guy does NOT belong here" button. After, say, ten or twenty or a hundred or whatever "no, no, no" ratings, out he goes as a misfit for the group.

People can't and don't discuss things and fight a war with each other at the same time. I think that ought to be admitted -- that we are in a similar period to the 1850s before the hot war broke out -- and dealt with openly.

Under the older forum S/W we used to have "rep points". You could essentially +1 someone or -1 someone. You can imagine what that did to NEW members.. It was like baby sea turtles being picked off by the big birds.

IF you survived the march into getting your feet wet, it was a then a matter of Moderation having to impose rules on HOW OFTEN you could "neg rep" a poster. Because the survivors used the system like blackmail. LITERALLY.. Some deviants would sit there looking at the clock, wait for the hour to click over and PM the target telling them to "expect another beating" in 13 minutes"...

So any system that leads to lynchings isn't a good thing. BUT -- I'm a big fan PERSONALLY of having some way to disapprove of trolling and people who are not really adding anything to the discussions. So this idea in the OP is interesting. PERSONALLY - I believe that having a button to hit reduces the urge to violate the rules and go after folks personally. But TALLYING all that up and making it a "rating" -- probably will never happen again on USMB because of the abuse that we saw...

With the new software each member gets to add just one rating to a post. As it is right now, the ratings are recorded and counted, then displayed in the post, and under the avatar of the member recieving the rating.

Maybe there is a way to implement a “Get Serious” rating button.

What if the software can be tweaked just a bit. What if it is possible to add a “Get Serious” button that would simply add its rating to the post so that it is visible and counted as other ratings are, but ONLY under the post to which the rating was applied? That would be the only place the GS rating would show a total of the number of times the post was rated.

In other words, keep it from going any further: don’t total or record the GS ratings near the avatar as is done with all the other ratings — and don’t add them to the total number of ratings received by the poster. Simply total the GS ratings IN the post they are meant to rate.

If this could be done, each member could still only apply one GS rating per post, so there would be no way to ‘pile on’ perceived enemies. Yet the new readers to that thread and post would still be able to see instantly, that other members had concerns about that particular post. They would see that four people had rated the post as “Get Serious”, for instance. And the poster of a questionable message could also see that some other members were not too happy with the content of his "too hateful post", for example.

 

[monkrules]

A minute ago I read a post I disagreed with but I didn’t want to post a written response to it. So to show a bit of quick sarcasm I hit the “funny” button. Many members use the “funny” button to do this.

In fact, I noticed that two other members had already done the same thing. The original post had been written by a right winger. But the “funny” responses had come from Dems. So clearly they were not agreeing with the OP and were using the “funny” button to show their disagreement.

My point that many members are using the “funny” button NOT to say something is funny, but to show disagreement with a given post. Nut this is not a good solution because the meaning is vague, at best.

Since this is a political ‘discussion’ forum, we really need a new button, something along the lines of the “get serious” button I asked for some time ago. The use of such a button would show clearly that the member does NOT agree with the OP and is stating so in a quick, amusing and snarky way. But the meaning would be crystal clear.

 

[Desperado]

a simple "Fuck off and Die" button works for me

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

Hmmm...basically..I think folks want a way to attack their foes. It's the way the funny button is used now. You can see the proponents on one side..use the funny rating on every post from the other side..no matter the content really...it's just a 'fuck you' point. Really doesn't seem to mean anything..as some very good posts will get the 'funny' just because it's from 'the other side'.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

If you took away the funny response there are a couple of hags and fags on here who would stroke out. They've overused it the point it has no effect

 

[longknife]

We've got the little Smiley Face that links us to a lot of them and I suspect most of us find them too difficult to locate and use.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

I have had one moderator mock me more than once by using the funny option when I opposed the rape of children by Muslims.

With a moderator leading the way, I would say that using the funny option as a way to troll is all part of the process here.

 

[OldLady]

Okay, I know there has to be a thread about this, somewhere. But here goes.

The buttons we can click to give quick feedback are handy: funny, funny and agree, informative, winner, thank you. But, to give more honest feedback we really need another button or two, to be added.

I’m not suggesting a ST*U button. But something along the lines of a “ you must be freaking kidding”, or a “get serious” button.

As it stands, we can give only positive feedback. But there are a few members who don’t always agree with every message posted. And having a “get serious” button would save them the trouble of writing a long, heated, response to a thread just to say, in essence, “Get Serious”. And it might save many other members the trouble of having to sort through so many heated, often nonsensical, negative replies.

What might seem nonsense to you may seem perfectly honest and reasonable to someone else. I agree it would be great to have a thumbs down button to "disagree" with, but I wouldn't necessarily let other posters' ratings cause me to "skip" reading a post or a thread.

 

[OldLady]

A minute ago I read a post I disagreed with but I didn’t want to post a written response to it. So to show a bit of quick sarcasm I hit the “funny” button. Many members use the “funny” button to do this.

In fact, I noticed that two other members had already done the same thing. The original post had been written by a right winger. But the “funny” responses had come from Dems. So clearly they were not agreeing with the OP and were using the “funny” button to show their disagreement.

My point that many members are using the “funny” button NOT to say something is funny, but to show disagreement with a given post. Nut this is not a good solution because the meaning is vague, at best.

Since this is a political ‘discussion’ forum, we really need a new button, something along the lines of the “get serious” button I asked for some time ago. The use of such a button would show clearly that the member does NOT agree with the OP and is stating so in a quick, amusing and snarky way. But the meaning would be crystal clear.

I hate the funny button as a dismissive, insulting comment on a serious post. I don't use it that way and it pisses me off when others do. If you aren't willing to make a comment to disagree/disapprove, just move on. You don't need to reply to it. Until we get a button that would more accurately reflect how we felt about it. The funny button should be for stuff that makes us laugh, but not in a mean way.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

A minute ago I read a post I disagreed with but I didn’t want to post a written response to it. So to show a bit of quick sarcasm I hit the “funny” button. Many members use the “funny” button to do this.

In fact, I noticed that two other members had already done the same thing. The original post had been written by a right winger. But the “funny” responses had come from Dems. So clearly they were not agreeing with the OP and were using the “funny” button to show their disagreement.

My point that many members are using the “funny” button NOT to say something is funny, but to show disagreement with a given post. Nut this is not a good solution because the meaning is vague, at best.

Since this is a political ‘discussion’ forum, we really need a new button, something along the lines of the “get serious” button I asked for some time ago. The use of such a button would show clearly that the member does NOT agree with the OP and is stating so in a quick, amusing and snarky way. But the meaning would be crystal clear.

I hate the funny button as a dismissive, insulting comment on a serious post. I don't use it that way and it pisses me off when others do. If you aren't willing to make a comment to disagree/disapprove, just move on. You don't need to reply to it. Until we get a button that would more accurately reflect how we felt about it. The funny button should be for stuff that makes us laugh, but not in a mean way.

I agree...but the whole purpose many are here for..is to vent their hatred of 'the other side'. Many posts..on both sides..can be very hard to refute logically--because they are right--or because the authors are smart enough to parse out an argument that takes effort to rebut--many here would much rather be able to shit on a post..and keep walking, secure in the knowledge that their stupidity is hidden.

Plus, there is the element of personal animus--poster take a dislike to each-other..and use the funny button on every post their "enemy" puts up.

I freely admit that I use the funny button to express disapproval...if that is the game here--then I'm playing.

 

[OldLady]

So, folks, if all your friends were jumping off a bridge, would you go along?

It does seem strange that a political message board doesn't have a single "disagree" button. As if posters will all have rosy thoughts about each other. Maybe it was too debated a topic if a "disagree" should not count in the ratings or should subtract one from the total, like I hear the old rating system did. I'd be in the hole, for sure.

On this board, posters shouldn't have the power to remove "positive points" because there is too much personal animus here. Like the OP suggested, maybe that disagree point could be counted separately? I don't see why it should have to be isolated to a single post, though.

 

[monkrules]

I hate the funny button as a dismissive, insulting comment on a serious post. I don't use it that way and it pisses me off when others do. If you aren't willing to make a comment to disagree/disapprove, just move on. You don't need to reply to it. Until we get a button that would more accurately reflect how we felt about it. The funny button should be for stuff that makes us laugh, but not in a mean way.

I agree.

But many members are now using the "funny" button as an insult. Saying, in effect, "your post is pure crap". And they're doing it because it's a simple, quick way to show their disagreement with a posted comment. Because it's being widely used (and understood) in that way I find myself sometimes using it that way, too. So the "funny" button has become a point of confusion.

For instance, when I read a post by a member whose political leanings are not known to me, and the post has several "funny" ratings, I now have to click the 'list' button next to the "funny" emoji in order to see who clicked the "funny" button — that's the only way to understand what they meant when they clicked the "funny" button. Only by comparing the political slant of the post to the names in the list who clicked "funny" can one finally understand the clickers' meaning.

Now, if we had the "Get Serious" button I'm suggesting, it would be a simple matter to look at the number of members who used it to get some guage of how the opposition feels about that particular post. Granted it wouldn't be very accurate, but using the "funny" button to show disagreement is ridiculous (but we can't stop people from doing it). Then the "funny" button could go back to being used only to indicate that someone found the post amusing.

It doesn't seem like this issue would be worth all this effort and time, but right now the "funny" button is confusing rather than helpful. Not good for a forum built to discuss politics.

 

[TNHarley]

I like my multi-function funny button!

 

[OldLady]

I like my multi-function funny button!

We know.

 

[TNHarley]

I like my multi-function funny button!

We know.

Hitting the funny button is better than replying "you idiot" 98 times a day, isnt it?

 

[monkrules]

I hate the funny button as a dismissive, insulting comment on a serious post. I don't use it that way and it pisses me off when others do. If you aren't willing to make a comment to disagree/disapprove, just move on. You don't need to reply to it. Until we get a button that would more accurately reflect how we felt about it. The funny button should be for stuff that makes us laugh, but not in a mean way..

I agree. That's why I'd like to see a better option: the "Get Serious" button.

It would be better to leave the "funny" button to indicate that we found a posted idea amusing. But it's too late now, the "funny" button has been hijacked as a way to quickly state a negative opinion of a post. And there's nothing you and I can do to change that. Nothing, except call for a better option.

 

[OldLady]

I hate the funny button as a dismissive, insulting comment on a serious post. I don't use it that way and it pisses me off when others do. If you aren't willing to make a comment to disagree/disapprove, just move on. You don't need to reply to it. Until we get a button that would more accurately reflect how we felt about it. The funny button should be for stuff that makes us laugh, but not in a mean way.

I agree.

But many members are now using the "funny" button as an insult. Saying, in effect, "your post is pure crap". And they're doing it because it's a simple, quick way to show their disagreement with a posted comment. Because it's being widely used (and understood) in that way I find myself sometimes using it that way, too. So the "funny" button has become a point of confusion.

For instance, when I read a post by a member whose political leanings are not known to me, and the post has several "funny" ratings, I now have to click the 'list' button next to the "funny" emoji in order to see who clicked the "funny" button — that's the only way to understand what they meant when they clicked the "funny" button. Only by comparing the political slant of the post to the names in the list who clicked "funny" can one finally understand the clickers' meaning.

Now, if we had the "Get Serious" button I'm suggesting, it would be a simple matter to look at the number of members who used it to get some guage of how the opposition feels about that particular post. Granted it wouldn't be very accurate, but using the "funny" button to show disagreement is ridiculous (but we can't stop people from doing it). Then the "funny" button could go back to being used only to indicate that someone found the post amusing.

It doesn't seem like this issue would be worth all this effort and time, but right now the "funny" button is confusing rather than helpful. Not good for a forum built to discuss politics.

One question: If a poster makes a comment that doesn't make their political leanings obvious, why do you need to dig further to try and find it out? Would you be embarrassed to hit agree on a post from someone who is on "the other side?"

Just curious.

 

[OldLady]

I like my multi-function funny button!

We know.

Hitting the funny button is better than replying "you idiot" 98 times a day, isnt it?

Well, it's easier for you, that's for sure. You think some remarkably astute and thoughtful people are idiots and funny them on a regular basis.

 

[TNHarley]

I like my multi-function funny button!

We know.

Hitting the funny button is better than replying "you idiot" 98 times a day, isnt it?

Well, it's easier for you, that's for sure. You think some remarkably astute and thoughtful people are idiots and funny them on a regular basis.

awesome people say idiotic things. I do it, too. We all do.