Why do you rate posts? - General

Hi there! I've read this subforum rules and it seems like it's okay to ask this in here. If I'm wrong, mods, take me away. This may seem like a stupid/odd question at first, but hear me out. I'm currently working on a game about internet forums, a game that is HEAVILY inspired by Facepunch! Because of this, I've been spending a lot of time questioning why I do certain things in internet forums and social media. So, I'm curious: why do we rate posts? What makes you want to rate posts? There's no real incentive behind rating posts. We could all just scroll past these posts, not rating any of them. Yet, we all succumb to rating posts. Why is that? What drives you to rate posts? What do we all get out of rating posts? Why do we rate posts? [B]EDIT:[/B] why are you rating this post

I like rating posts because it's an efficient way of responding to someone without having to take up thread space. There's also just something addicting about clicking little pictures and seeing the number next to them go up. My favorite rating is funny because I like to think the more a person gets the better they feel. I like making people feel happy. I rated your post informative because I feel that it makes me think. It has informed me to think about why I do certain actions.

I only rate posts when I feel a certain way about a post but don’t want to reply to it.

[QUOTE=cam64DD;53197520]So, I'm curious: why do we rate posts?[/QUOTE] [B]Efficiency.[/B] Seeing [img]https://facepunch.com/fp/ratings/tick.png[/img] x10 is a helluvalot clearer and neater than 10 people responding with "yeah", "Me too", "Agreed" etc... [B]Acknowledgement.[/B] Some posts are real works of art, thoughtful comments, hillarious jokes, useful reference works, or plain shit. By showing them that you went through the extra effort to give them a rating tells them that they've made an impact on you (in a positive or negative way) [B]Reward.[/B] The possibility of earning a [img]https://facepunch.com/fp/ratings/winner.png[/img], or maybe even the very much sought after [img]https://facepunch.com/fp/ratings/funny2.png[/img], might convince people to put in that bit of extra effort in their posts. [B]Pretty colors.[/B] All icons are unique, colorful, distinct and recognisable. If they all looked the same (for example all black vector icons) I'd imagine they would've been a lot less used. [QUOTE=cam64DD;53197520][B]EDIT:[/B] why are you rating this post[/QUOTE] You are curious about the thoughts and opinions of other people and try to put yourself in their shoes. That makes you a nice guy imho. Hence the [img]https://facepunch.com/fp/ratings/heart.png[/img]

I rated [img]https://facepunch.com/fp/ratings/palette.png[/img] because no one did and sometimes people just want to get all ratings on a post for the sake of it :v:

So I can rate dumb/disagree and never reply why I believe those things.

i rate to support a post without cluttering the thread up with my bullshit [QUOTE=cam64DD;53197520][B]EDIT:[/B] why are you rating this post[/QUOTE] because you asked why i'm rating the post when i hadn't rated it, so i rated it just so i could answer your question

not rating you dumb OP, I just want to complete the whole thing [editline]13th March 2018[/editline] just need a winner now

The reason I rated your post was because I saw that was one of the few ratings missing from your post, and wanted to help finish the chain of having at least 1 of every rating us normal members can give you. The reason I rate other posts in general is pretty much the same reasons other people have stated; acknowledging the post is there, and sometimes to give others some nice pixels depending on what type of post they have. Sometimes it's easier to just agree with what someone else said than adding your own redundant opinion.

These tiny icons are the symbolic tribute of posts. The ancients sacrificed some of the yields of bountiful harvests back to the gods as tribute, now I merely donate little pacmen when someone makes me breathe hard through my nose.

Facepunch is somewhat unique in that the userbase is pretty congruous. I think it's half because we often hand out bans to people who just don't really fit in here, and half because if you see an opinion get a hundred agrees when you disagree with it, it's hard to argue against it without being called out. So really it's like voting on what content we want to see more or less of. If I rate someone agree or funny or winner I'm telling them to post more, and vice versa

any rating from me is me calling that user gay

Just like reddit - so I can jump on bandwagon of dumbing user. Also - I would love if they brought back total ratings on your page. It used to show on your profile how many total ratings you've been rated of each.

because i can

I rate posts for the sick, sexual thrill of it. Clicking icons to rate things is my fetish. On porn sites, I get off more to rating the videos than actually watching them. Now you know my dark, dark secret. [sp]I would say the reasons why, but others already posted them. So instead I just rated their posts agree. So there's no reason for me to type out the reason why, since the rating did it for me. wait shit[/sp]

by the way OP if you really want to complete your ratings research don't forget to consult Marphy Black

sometimes i'll write big nerd paragraphs but then halfway through give up and just dumb the post instead

Lets me provide instant feedback to a post without having to actually make a post. If someone answers my question I can rate them informational/useful/friendly. If someone makes a particularly well put together post they can get a winner. I don't have to make a post saying "Thanks for the info" or "Wow great post" when ratings are available. When people make points that I'd like to make but do it in a better, more convincing way than I can there is agree. Optimistic is self-explanatory. I try to stay away from dumb and disagree as much as I can because if I think someones opinion is disagreeable or dumb I feel like I should have to back that up with something

[QUOTE=arleitiss;53197786]Just like reddit - so I can jump on bandwagon of dumbing user. Also - I would love if they brought back total ratings on your page. It used to show on your profile how many total ratings you've been rated of each.[/QUOTE] Please, never do this, we already have too much leddit upboat/downboat point tier bullshit going on with the ratings. People get banned for caring about ratings so I am convinced it will never happen. We already have blue users and gold users, we dont need more shit to inspire elitism. "I might be a closet nazi but I have less [B]DUMBS[/B] than you so I am [B]OBVIOUSLY[/B] more right than you!"

Rating posts saves time. Sometimes people are just dumb ass holes, and if someone else has already posted a proper rebuttal, rating the other person dumb is only appropriate. At the same time I feel like rating the posts of someone you're arguing with is pretty low - if you're already telling someone why they're a dumb asshole, there's no point in rating their posts. Worse, if someone has already rated a post, it's likely to have a bit of a bandwagon effect.

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;53197855]Rating posts saves time. Sometimes people are just dumb ass holes, and if someone else has already posted a proper rebuttal, rating the other person dumb is only appropriate. At the same time I feel like rating the posts of someone you're arguing with is pretty low - if you're already telling someone why they're a dumb asshole, there's no point in rating their posts. Worse, if someone has already rated a post, it's likely to have a bit of a bandwagon effect.[/QUOTE] Sometimes I rate a post before I decide to actually reply to it, ratings can't be removed when you have first given them, only changed.

you remember those electronic toys you had a toddler where you pressed a button and it made a noise and it was funny this is like that except with people

This has been an interesting discussion so far. I decided to open this thread due to the fact that while I was working on my game, I realized that I had implemented a feature (post ratings) without really thinking how it'd impact the player. Why would the player want to rate posts? Why do we rate posts anyway? The replies you've given me have helped me come up with a few neat ideas on how to solve my original question. I know what to do now. Also, I personally rate posts so that I don't end up clogging the thread and because rating posts feels... good? like i don't really know why but it feels rewarding to rate these posts. interesting.

I only rate for posts that are absolutely worth it, that I am in agreement with on a symbiotic level. Either that or I sarcastically rate dumb posts funny because I'm too cool to vote dumb.

cause you can make people feel good or bad about their post without having to make a shitty reply like 'LOL' or 'nice' or 'you're an idiot'

[QUOTE=cam64DD;53197941]Why would the player want to rate posts? Why do we rate posts anyway?[/QUOTE] It'd be cool if game was hooked to some online database that held people's ratings

Few reasons. 1: Because I'm bored. 2: Maybe I think the person who posted it is dumb or witty or whatever 3: The content they posted was funny or dumb or informative or whatever. 4: If I see someone posting about ratings, without fail, I'll give 'em a dumb. In the end, ratings don't mean anything. They're little more than a little flavor we can throw around. 5: I'll often use ratings as a way to comment on topics that normally just get me dogpiled and harassed, topics that, if I comment, run me the risk of getting banned for trolling or flamebaiting or whatever since the thoughts I hold on those subjects run contrarian to the norm around here and [I]will[/I] start a shitstorm.

[QUOTE=suXin;53197956]It'd be cool if game was hooked to some online database that held people's ratings[/QUOTE] Didn't the old gmod have ratings on the tab menu?

"Don't forget to smash that like button and subscribe" is a pretty powerful life advise

[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;53197980]Didn't the old gmod have ratings on the tab menu?[/QUOTE] It did and I think it still does? Haven't looked at the scoreboard in a coon's age though. [editline]13th March 2018[/editline] [QUOTE=suXin;53197956]It'd be cool if game was hooked to some online database that held people's ratings[/QUOTE] FP used to track that, actually. I don't know if the backend powering it still runs, but back in the day you used to be able to get a breakdown of the ratings you had received as well as see the most common one. Not gonna lie, it influenced my posting. Back then I tried to get as many funnies as I could, figured if that was my highest rating I was making people laugh and therefore wasn't being a pain in anyone's arse. 'Course that disappeared ages ago, at least from the frontend.