Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

I have an idea

15:08 / 08.03.04

I think all posts on Barbelith should have a set of check-boxes down one side which allow you to rate the poster, based on that post alone, in categories like "punchability," "Britishness," "fuckability," "originality," "respectability," and so on. I haven't given too much thought to the actual categories, because I'm an idea man, not some scurrying pencil-pusher who...

Uh, whoops! Heh heh. Just kidding.

Anyway, Barbelons would in this way develop a sort of synthetic, relational "reputation" based on the aggregate ratings of all the other Barbelons evaluating each others' output in real time. We would each know exactly where we stand in relation to the rest of the community along a variety of axises. The leaders in each category would assume new powers and dignity and possibly shiny cloaks or something. Like, if I clawed my way to the top of, say, the Volatility axis, I would have ultimate authority in all matters relating to Volatility.

Poster ratings would also provide convenient handles for data management, thread promotion or suppression, troll maintenance, etc. Obviously, we'd have a Chief Troll as well, and I think this could come in handy, personally.

Now leave me alone, I have work to do, you fucking scroungers.

Goodness Gracious Meme

15:17 / 08.03.04

But that's so unfaaaiiiiiir, you'd be, like, The Punchability Archon for all time.

15:19 / 08.03.04

Well, his Huggability rating will counteract his punchableness.

15:19 / 08.03.04

What are you talking about? I'm not punchable, I'm super fun!

See, this is the kind of argument that could be handily resolved. BiP, tell them your thoughts about screening newbies! You're going to be the maven of Hoity-Toity, I bet!

15:22 / 08.03.04

You talk of axes reminds me of the joycore/borecore, sleazy/uptight graph. we could theoretically plot each barbelither at unique coordinates in an n-dimensional space with this tool. That'd be SO useful.

15:25 / 08.03.04

Exactly, except that I'm going to have to ask you to use my Barbespecific coinage "axises".

Goodness Gracious Meme

15:26 / 08.03.04

Ah, you see, i've never met Q, so i have no idea about his Huggability rating. It's the punchability that radiates all the way over here.

What thoughts might those be, darling? I merely playfully suggested that if you were to run such a system via a LJ set-up, it would be amusing to tie the points system to the filters on the lj, so as to 'reward' the deperate scrabblers up the greasy poles of punchability, Britishness, hypocrisy, selfawaria etc...

Otherwise, what's the point? Like, where's the payoff?

Dooood?

15:26 / 08.03.04

We had poster ratings, once. Nothing fancy, just stars.

15:27 / 08.03.04

... but then you'd have to factor things in like, drunkness, at workness, irritability owing to argument with housemateness. - all sorts of different things!! Just how committed are you?

15:28 / 08.03.04

See, that was a serious misstep. Barbelith deserves something fancy.

Doodz! It would be almost like a MUD.

15:29 / 08.03.04

Me? I'm not committed at all. Someone else is going to do all the work.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

16:52 / 08.03.04

We'd need a Welshness tag as well. For people we believe to be from Swansea.

16:57 / 08.03.04

Plankability?

17:16 / 08.03.04

I'm not punchable, I'm super fun!

dude, its being so punchable that makes you so fun!

ONLY NICE THINGS

17:37 / 08.03.04

Actually, we've already done this. It was kinda funny, especially when people started doing their own and giving themselves oddly high scores for handiness in a rumble, physical attractiveness, sexual prowess and intelligence. And then also giving themselves a high score for self-awareness.

Thus did I become convinced that Barbelith was populated entirely by people who resembled combinations of the entire Fantastic Four. Except, you know, not like the Super Skrull.

17:44 / 08.03.04

"punchability," "Britishness," "fuckability," "originality," "respectability,"

There's some redundancy in there, somewhere.

17:46 / 08.03.04

toksik said:

blah blah blah, somethingorother

Zing! I've been zung to the quick!

Haus, that sounds like an okay start, but we need to back this up with a hardcoded system. Seriously, we need it yesterday. Barbelith may well die without it.

Obviously you can't rate your own qualities. The community decides how much it or how little it regards you, just like in real life, and of course pranking, like this whole ridiculous notion that I'm somehow "punchable", should be allowed for in the system.

I was thinking just now that the most interesting rating would be "Underappreciated".

17:49 / 08.03.04

but no, most underappreciated sounds like a high school superlative and I may be wrong but I don't think that's what you're after, perhaps one would have a high level of underappreciability?

18:38 / 08.03.04

You people are very literal, aren't you? You have to be more of an imagineer!

It would be just one checkbox in a column of checkboxes, say under the name of the poster, with tags like "Welsh" ("Welch"? Don't they call them "Welch" in the army?) or "punchable" or "underappreciated". Most posters would just have a rating under each category, but each category would have one "chief".

Probably, you'd want each "chief" to have a special title, because titles make people feel good. So the "chief troll" might be called "Trollord" or "Monster of Ceremonies", and the "most underappreciated" might be "The Least Great" or "The Forgotten One".

C'mon, this will be fun! And useful! Defensible, even. What categories do you want?

Ex

18:55 / 08.03.04

It would be just one checkbox in a column of checkboxes, say under the name of the poster

Could they not eventually be translated into tiny icons, like you get on Bed and Breakfasts?
So: high-scoring pirate, fairly punchable=

Morlock - groupie for hire

19:49 / 08.03.04

Only if the top and bottom 3 get sacrificed each solstice. Or, like, whenever the barbeque is running low.

"Most underappreciated." So, what, everybody on the board thinks this person is not sufficiently appreciated by everybody else on the board?..