Has the 'Respected Member' tag had its day?

[Dan]

Surely every member is respected.

It sounds ever so cliquey.

I think in the current times when everybody should be totally equal, denoting who's 'respected' it a bit cheeky.

It used to be called "Elite Member" - Christ, imagine if we had that these days?!?!?!
On TilersForums.com it's now 'Trusted Advisor' but even then the advice changes and it's marking old now inaccurate posts as if the post should be trusted. And it can cause a bit of a shitstorm every now and again because some poor sod has tiled their bathroom the old way and their tiles are falling off.

I've put a poll up to get a feel for it. But it's not to say if either outcome is clear - that we will go for it.

It's up for discussion.

Please be professional with your replies. That said we wont be warning anybody for speaking out. This is my own thread and my chin can take it.

 

[Dan]

Wow, I didn't know that.

Just out of interest, what % of original posters click that button?

Not sure: Newest Questions - https://stackoverflow.com/questions
There's one example.

You need to dig around to find a busy thread. There's a lot of duplicate stuff.

I was on this thread earlier today: The storage engine for the table doesn't support repair. InnoDB or MyISAM? - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10377334/the-storage-engine-for-the-table-doesnt-support-repair-innodb-or-myisam

The answer had 22 up votes. The OP selected it also.

They don't advertise that as a forum though. It's a "public Q and A". So there's no atmosphere at all. But it's not cliquey that's for sure.

Edit: actually the OP selected the post below the one with 22 up votes. Quite confusing the first time you see it maybe. That seems to have up and down votes. It's not easy to follow but when you're looking for an answer and you end up there, the posts have awesome content - linking to other threads of the same, quoting authors of books, doing calculations etc.

But I can't remember a single persons name who's content I've used.

And I guess that's the difference. I look for the content, not the poster and then go around looking for their posts. That's unnatural.

 

[Deleted account]

My tuppence worth is it should remain. It helps anyone coming onto the site make an informed decision as to whether the replyer knows there stuff and can they trust there replies to be accurate and knowledgable.

I can assume respected members are those that have shown knowledge by giving good advice over the years.

I think it may be a bit of a kick in the teeth to those members who have achieved this status.

There are many very knowledgable peeps on this forum. A lot more knowledgable than me which keeps me interested and I am able to trust any advise they give.

I know who they are, but new members or visitors to site don’t. I don’t see it as a status symbol. It’s a guide to visitors to site.

I would say there are a few on this forum who should be given the respected member status that don’t have it now.

The only reason I can think you would want to remove it is maybe it is believed that a few of those respected members have fallen from grace by giving bad advice or acted in a manor not becoming the ethos of the forum. i Don’t know.

 

[Andy78]

I personally could not care less what titles are thrust upon me. I had about 4 or 5 at one point when the forum changed over recently, and had none when I joined. It doesn't matter to me one bit to wear a badge, but it is nice to know that my involvement in the forum over the years is noted in some way, and I'm sure all respected members would agree.

Some titles have uses. It's obviously important for everyone to know who admin and mods are, and knowing who mentors and trainees helps with responses.

Does respected member or arms member have any relevance ? Not for me to say as I don't know the mechanics of the forum behind the scenes.

Could it matter to new members to know that the info they are being given is coming from a person who has been given official respect for the quality of their advice ? Possibly, but you'd have to ask them.

Does it sound cliquey to new members ? As above, you'd have to ask them.

Does the badge exempt that member from following rules ? Clearly the rules are enforced by staff equally across members as recent events have proved.

And a newbie coming on for the first time will respect those who help them out and treat them with respect.

This is so often not the case, badge or no badge.

 

[Dan]

...those members who have achieved this status.

....and I'm sure all respected members would agree.

Just sounds so cliquey when you read it.

 

[James]

I think it might be useful to have some form of indication for new members as to who is giving regular good advice.
I have not been here for that long and it has taken some time for me to get my head around who is who and how good there advice is.

most new members will have to spend quite some time understanding who gives good advice, often by reading other threads that they may not understand themselves.
but I think it should be fluid, i.e. you don't get awarded a title for life, if over the last ……..period your peers have voted your post as good then a badge for that would be a good indication that the advice lately given is both good and current.

 

[Andy78]

Just sounds so cliquey when you read it.

Is that your personal opinion or the opinion of new members that have reported that to you ? Surely if these improvements are catering for new members and their perception of the site then it's their opinion that counts ?

 

[Dan]

So perhaps a tag name change moreso than removal....?

 

[Dan]

Is that your personal opinion or the opinion of new members that have reported that to you ? Surely if these improvements are catering for new members and their perception of the site then it's their opinion that counts ?

I'm only asking.

My opinion is it's cliquey. And assumes some sort of lack of respect for those who don't have it. Which it does really, that's not just my opinion. It's the name of it that does that.

Newer members haven't had the chance to learn who is who. Those who reported threads to me simply say things like 'your forum dosn't work it's too abusive remove my threads' and feel stupid. I don't reply. I just remove their accounts and delete their intro's.

 

[westward10]

I don't think the tags should be removed personally, you could argue a new member will have the biggest problem understanding what the Electricians Arms is.

 

[Dan]

You're right there mate.

Hence my earlier comment. "I'd have no tags at all if I started again".

Though at least everybody can earn that one, and it's equally fair. And you're not rated in by your peers. It's just a case of contributing X posts and showing you're a business. (Assuming that's still the case on this forum).

I'm just wondering what we're valuing over here. And whether it's fair for all. As it doesn't seem it to me being an outsider.

 

[James]

there are 5 options I can see.

1. rated by your customers (Original Poster)
2. rated by your peers
3. rated by the moderators/staff
4. a combination of above
5. not rated at all

I wonder if this may be a poll worth posting?
I understand this is not a democracy, but it might help the staff to get an idea of what people are looking for.

 

[Silly Sausage]

I always thought that 'respected' and 'scouser' were rather contradictory

 

[Dan]

there are 5 options I can see.

1. rated by your customers (Original Poster)
2. rated by your peers
3. rated by the moderators/staff
4. a combination of above
5. not rated at all

I wonder if this may be a poll worth posting?
I understand this is not a democracy, but it might help the staff to get an idea of what people are looking for.

Nice. Post it see what happens?

 

[Deleted account]

What is the electricians arms?

 

[Baddegg]

I’ve been on loads of different sites for all sorts of trades over the years and have settled on this one in its previous format as my favourite, not saying I don’t like the present format, it has a great mix of knowledge and banter which only improves the more you get involved, I like the badges titles etc and think the site works just fine, I’ll agree there are some people who are a little aggressive in some posts but that’s life......maybe new posters should only be exposed to members proven to help in a positive manner?