"10 Years of Activity"

Discussion in 'Forum Announcements and Feedback' started by Sundrop, Sep 21, 2016.

  1. Sundrop

    Sundrop Well-Known Member

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    When browsing through old posts I have noticed a "10 Years of Activity" tag below the avatar of unknown to me member. Intrigued, I looked at that person information to find out that he/she joined in 2005 and was last seen in 2008. It makes only 3 years of activity, doesn't it?
     
  2. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    What would you suggest instead? "Member for 10 Years"? Presumably, though certainly not in all cases, people are interacting with recent threads.
     
  3. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    That the system not show the banner for people who are not active, except that I don't think there seems to be an inactive designation.
     
  4. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Not an available option. It is currently set to "member for 3650 days" + minimum 50 posts.
     
  5. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    That's only 5 posts per year. Perhaps try raising the setting to "member for 3650 days + minimum 500 posts"? Over ten years, that's an average of just one post per week, hardly a very high bar.
     
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  6. Sundrop

    Sundrop Well-Known Member

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    "Member for 10 Years" could be much more accurate in some (many?) cases than "10 Years of Activity".
     
  7. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Is there some competition going on that I don't know about? To me, the value of this forum is that plant enthusiasts from all over the world are helping answer questions from those who don't know where else to seek information. I couldn't care less how many years someone has been 'active' or who is a 'well-known member' or how many 'messages' or 'likes' they have received. It is irrelevant to the insight they may provide to specific questions. Let's keep it simple and generous.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2016
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  8. Sundrop

    Sundrop Well-Known Member

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    Or, may be "10 Years of Membership".
     
  9. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    No competition whatsoever. However, even some near-token measures of recognition can improve the community overall.

    See Kollock's The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace

    in particular the section on "Motivations for Contributing",

    I think I'll change it to the ambiguous "10 Years".
     
  10. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    Well, if you're fiddling with things, I think "Well-known Member" seems like more recognition than "Contributor". I've always been jealous of the well-known members, wondering if I'd ever contribute enough to achieve such recognition. :)

    Maybe I could be a "Well-known Contributor" or is that phrase too long to fit on one line? It should definitely only be one line.
     
  11. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    As a tiny aside, the grade Sundrop is in "Well-Known Member" (post #6 on this thread) should be corrected to "Well-known Member" (lower-case after a hyphen ;-))
     
  12. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Sorry, I'm not one of those whose "contributions will likely [increase] to the degree that [my] contribution is visible to the community as a whole". Are we still in grade school, looking for stars by our names or pats on our heads? Personally, I'd prefer to be anonymous, having been raised with the notion that virtue should be its own reward. If I had a choice, there would be no information about me on this forum at all but since that does not seem to be an option, I am hereby discontinuing my involvement.
     
  13. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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  14. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

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    I'm more in line with Margot on this. Except for the leaving part. I would have used the social function of giving her last comment a 'like' but that's kinda vague. I understand the community aspect, yet I also appreciate that this forum is not rife with comments like "me, too" and "ditto" or even the dreaded trail of emoticons. I will however cease using the 'like' button since selecting that for me could mean one of a few things: 1) Seconded. 2) Fascinating! 3) Funny. 4) Creative. 5) Helpful.

    The exchange of information on flora and biodiversity is what I find important here.
     
  15. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    I've used the 'Like' button as a way to say just that without having to make people read a separate posting. Otherwise, I find it a little inequitable and anxiety-provoking. It just depends on the people involved in the posting whether 'Likes' are given or not, luck of the draw, and very helpful people don't necessarily rack up the "Likes". Should I be giving my Cherry Scouts 'Likes' for good photos? Will the ones I don't give 'Likes' to then feel underappreciated and stop posting? So I've hardly used it at all for their postings. Maybe they would do more postings if I were to use it more.

    The thing is, it comes with the system. Removing it would be work that has to be carried forward to every new release. And why should it be a problem that it's available for people who like that sort of thing?
     
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