I'm going through a lot of trouble putting together some trip reports, but I get so little feedback that I can't help wondering if folks here think they really suck or they just can't be bothered. Seriously though, I need to get some sort of critique happenin' here. How 'bout a rating system for reports? That would at least tell me if I'm going in the right direction (and let me know if anyone bothers to read the fickin' things!).

I would like to second this as a great idea. Often times I read great report, but have no followup questions or comments. So I usually won't post anything that let's the writer know that I appreciated his efforts. I think anything we can do that makes contributors feel appreciated and generates more contributions is a good thing.

Of course other sights have ratings for threads and posters. I am curious if others would think those types of ratings are worthwhile?

Please nooooo not another rating system. After all the bitchin bout the pic ratings why in the world would we want to go there.
I for one read every Asia report and selected others. I comment when I feel I have something to add or have a specific question. I get a little paranoid about too many posts. Do not want to come off as the world's foremost authority or shit like that.
I think it is absolutely amazing to look at the roster of members and then look at the number of regular posters. It would be nice to hear from even 10% of the silent majority out there. The site can only be better with contributions from a wider selection of members.
The rating systems used on other sites for posters or threads tend to be political bullshit or a popularity contest. I'm not particularly interested in either.

I luvs ya Wombat-- keep the reports cummin.

I want feedback, dammit! Sorry Khun_mor, but I'm slappin' yer wrist for that "nooooo." Although you make some good points, we still have to come up with something that helps encourage the writer. I take umbrage when I see the photos of my sweeties getting ranked at 5's and 6's, but by jiminy, someone's taken the time to look! When I see the photos with high scores, I think "Hmm, if I shot my pix like that, I'd get good marks too!" Lard tunderin' Jesus, b'y, I will, too!

I find that the reports that have the most comments are from guys who many fellas know. The comments are more conversation than questions or critiques. So, a 1-10 rating system would be quite valuable.

So, the question is, how should it work?

Wombat/MongerX

Actually, every month, Hombre has awards for trip reports. Each month (May had over 30) the patch is thinned to just a few. People nominate reports and folks can follow the link and vote for their favorite report. This is a way this community recognizes and rewards those putting forth effort to record and share their travels.

Think of this as the hobbyist's Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globes all wrapped into one. I guess we COULD refer to it as the "Golden Balls" award to give it that "dignified" flavor... heheh.

BTW, both of you were nominated in April. I liked the reports from BOTH of you. Now, seeing as you're both friends of mine, I'm kind of stuck on who to vote for...

E

Awards aren't much good, Epi. Sure, it shows you the best of the best, but what about making mediocre good? When I go see a movie, I read the reviews, not wait until it receives a (meaningless) nomination from the "Academy."

Something along the lines of a letter grade would work pretty well. A for "Excellent," B for "Very good," C for "Good," D for "Passable," E for "Needs serious work," and F for "Rewrite it!"

The technical part is the tricky bit. I'd hate to have the screen re-fresh after a vote, so maybe the voter wouldn't see how his results affect the scoring.

Since you can't average a letter grade (no arguments here, just go with it), we'd have to see the total number of A's, B's, etc. This information is useful to the writer (at least to the ones who want to improve their writing).

One thing that wouldn't need any intervention by anyone is to put a counter on how many times a report was viewed. The reports with the high hit counts are the ones most likely to be worth reading. If someone wants to comment upon a report, substantive comments can still be made.

In my initial draft of this message, I started to include a more thorough analysis, but decided to scratch it to keep the current explanation more simple and short. If anyone wants a more thorough explanation of the reasonings, I can get into that later.
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Sometimes you have to go against conventional wisdom and trust your personal judgement. When I started ClubHombre, I had no intention of a site beyond Tijuana nor an exclusive membership (pay) site. I was told by people who I trusted and had been around longer that the challenge would be too steep to put together a successful site and support myself doing so at the same time.

I bring this up because even though good arguments for a report ratings system can be made, my personal judgement and behind-the-scenes view of things lead me to believe it would have a much greater cost than benefit.

One of the things I've learned from the implemenation of the rating system for photos is that it tended to attract critics more so than those that geniunely enjoy photos. In my analysis of voting patterns I strongly believe that many voters gave poor scores just for the sake of giving poor scores rather than any thoughtful consideration of beauty, composition, or the cumulative effect of a tendency of giving lower scores for photos than they deserve.

Improving writing and quality of reports is an excellent and worthy goal which I've thought about and have ideas in queue, but I don't believe this is the way to go. While the photos may be a more fun thing where I don't mind people "ribbing" others contributions anonymously, I take reporting more seriously and do not want to discourage reports, which is what I think this kind of rating system would do in practice.

As for the ideas I have, I don't want to be co-opted on these so I'm not going to post them publicly. I may schedule a chat event or something to discuss them in the future.

I have more to write. I hate leaving this incomplete at this point, but I have to run right now.