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MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

Anonymous Author (January 2007)

It was brought to my attention today that a small minority of members of the Minti Community appear to have been deliberately going out of their way to drop the rankings of other members.  It seems that some people just don't get the idea of what Minti is about.  It seems they have missed all the other advice pertaining to this, or didn't understand it, so I'll put it in my own words and see if it helps anyone else understand.  If just one more person gets the right idea from reading this, spending a night up late and suffering sleep deprovation tomorrow will be worth it for me.

It is not about rankings.

It is not about who gets the highest votes.

It is not about who writes the most articles or comments.

It is not about who writes the best articles or comments.

It is not about voting, medals and patches, the number of friends in your friends list, or any of that stuff.

If you think any of these things are even remotely important, you are seriously disillusioned.  You need to re-think your reasons for being a member of Minti, take a good look at why you think these things are so important to you, and I personally would advise you to either seek professional help from a psychologist or get a life!

YOUR  RANKING  ON  MINTI  IS  NOT  AN  INDICATION  OF  HOW  GOOD  A  PARENT  YOU  ARE!

It's just a number system that calculates your activity levels and the popularity of the things you write, on a web site where you can never know for sure exactly who you are communicating with - unless of course you know some of the members in real life - so what does it really matter?  Wow!  My writing is popular with a heap of people that I don't know and am not likely to meet anytime soon.  How exciting!  Duh!  I'm not popular, just the things I have written are, and if what I have written is the summation of me, please put me out of my misery.

Minti is about being able to access parenting advice and the opinions of other parents.

Minti is about doing what you can to be helpful to other parents, and keeping the site active and maintained at the same time.

If this is your reason for being here, good on you, you have the right idea.  So, if it's not about ranking and voting and all that superficial stuff, why have that on the site?  I don't know the exact reasons why the people that set up this site would give.  Sure, it's there to help encourage member participation, but here's how I see it:

  • If you are new to Minti and are genuinely looking for advice on a subject, you don't know anything about the members, and you don't have a world of time to browse through thousands of pages of advice, you want a way to determine what advice is the best to read.  The easiest way to do that is to have the members read the advice and vote on it.  Those with higher votes are obviously more popular and better advice, so people looking for something in a hurry will be looking at those ones first - and rightly so.
  • Ranking - which is determined by the number of high votes received for advice, comments, etc - creates a sense of credibility to the author.  Someone who has consistantly written well accepted advice, comments, etc; will be ranked higher, and thus someone looking at the site for the first time will be able to see that this person's opinions and advice is popular and worth looking at.
  • Ranking also gives new members a good idea of who is more experienced with the use of the site, so that when they want to ask someone to help them find their way around, or if they might find good advice on a particular subject that isn't necessarily coming up in a search, they have a few people they can message that can likely answer their questions.  This can save them from having to search for hours or turn to the already busy Administrators, for every little thing.  It can also save some people a lot of embarassment if they are wanting to ask something they aren't comfortable asking on a public Q&A, but would rather just ask one person that has been active around the site for a while, and has read a lot of the advice - or at least can quickly find the info needed.
  • Rankings give the members an indication as to whether they should try to improve the quality of their advice and comments, increase the amount of participation they are putting into the site, and it encourages members to do the things that are important to the general maintenance of the site - that is, read and rank the value of the articles and contribute quality comments to answer questions and fill in the gaps.

There have been incidents recently where people have posted advice that is not advice at all, has been plagiarized, or has been posted incomplete where the person is actually using it to fish for information provided by other members in order to have their "advice" on-line.  Of course, the more advice that is posted by a member, the more advice they have that can gain votes, and thus put them up ranks.  This is not what Minti is about.  So what if someone has more advice posted?  That does not automatically mean it is of good quality and worth reading.  If these people aren't careful, it could easily back fire on them, as any ranking they have gained could easily be lost, as their articles get severely voted down, or even reported.

There have also been incidents where people have flashed through a heap of advice pages and made votes, often targetting those belonging to certain people.  Sorry folks, I don't care how good someone is at reading or how fast their computer operates, no one can read through 20 different advice articles of varying lengths and absorb the information well enough to make an informed decision about whether or not the article is worth voting on at all, let alone worth the mark given, all within 20 minutes.  It is especially obvious when every one of those votes are anonymous and voted as Poor.  This is nothing short of a cheap method to raise their ranking by bringing down the rankings of others, rather than doing the mature and civilised thing of trying to just improve their own writing quality and their site participation.

Another voting issue is in regards to comments.  If the comment is good quality, provides some more substance to the article (and this can include a valid and well constructed disagreement to the view point of the author of the subject they are commenting on), adds a little extra information, or generally improves the quality of the topic concerned, then by all means get to it and vote on it.  But if the comment is exactly that, a mere comment, such as a simple, "good onya mate", "I agree, couldn't have said it better myself", "well written, good advice" etc; don't destroy someone's ranking by voting on it poorly.  It's obviously just that person's way of expressing themselves, they don't want any vote for it, so just leave it alone.

Also, some people are voting down articles just because it doesn't apply specifically to them.  For example, parents with teenage children may vote down articles about breastfeeding because they don't need that information anymore.  That is not why the voting system is exists, is not how it is supposed to be used, and if an advice is not relevant to you, ignore it, don't vote or comment at all, and go find something that is relevant to you.

The people that are deliberately going around and damaging the rankings of others are making a big mistake.  Not only are they making themselves look bad to everyone else but, it is possible to look at the Recent Activity pages, which go back a very long way, to see who has done what.  With a bit of searching, I - and anyone else on the site - can find out what anyone was doing on Minti 2 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 7 hours and 36 minutes ago, or at any other time - if I so desired.  Although a lot of stuff comes up as anonymous and the majority of the members can't see past that, the Administrators can still access that information and see what people have really been up to.

When people start behaving in such a pathetic manner as to put themselves up by putting others down, the members that are doing the right thing will get annoyed at it.  They will report those sad members to the Administrators, who will investigate, and they do have the power to drop members' rankings, or in worst case scenarios, abolish and ban these people from the site altogether.

Lastly, if anyone wants to drop my ranking by voting this down, go ahead!  I don't give a <<insert expletive here>> because I'm not writing any advice for the purpose of votes, rankings, or popularity.  I'm significantly important enough to those I love in the real world, and that's all that matters to me.  I don't need a high rank, medal or patch to prove I'm good.

"Ego?  I don't need an ego!  I'm good enough without one."  

L. Pascoe, 1997. (No, he's not famous, he's just an old mate of mine, but he said it and I'm stealing it, so I have to give the credit where it is due.)

Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.

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bronxmom25
5.00 (Excellent) | March 4th | bronxmom25
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

right on!!!!!!!!!



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vlooi
5.00 (Excellent) | February 20th | vlooi
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

Asyou so rightly said, people need to think what is important here and giving and getting advice is what this is all about, not about saying things that are popular (sometimes advice isn't popular!) or getting plenty of high votes. Well done.



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whome
February 20th | whome
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

i can agree with this,,, its something iv noticed as well,, i do like to vote and look at pics,, but not for my gain,, great article well donexxxshar



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dorypanda
February 20th | dorypanda
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

It's good that you've put this here, it's just a shame there are people about who think it's all about the ranking etc. I'm here to help, which is why I've not done much here as I only tend to ask and answer if I know what I'm talking about. Well written, very concise, I hope people read this and understand what Minti's all about.



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bughug1983
5.00 (Excellent) | January 27th | bughug1983
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

hi

I have useing miti since jan and cant seem to get more award and cant seem to fine the voting since jan i am still crawling but my other halp it up to pranteing i dont under stand it

 



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whome
5.00 (Excellent) | January 24th | whome
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

I agree this site is not about ranking, but if people like getting votes thats fine by me, some people are different to others and getting votes makes them feel better, so why not? up to them, but  see what your getting at. the people on here are good parents, thats why they give advice and ask for advice, because they care.



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veejay
5.00 (Excellent) | January 7th | veejay
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
very good article I to have only been on here a short while and found this site fantastic


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littleangels
January 7th | littleangels
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
thank you, great advice and we are all here to help each other not for rankings


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emmie
January 6th | emmie
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

great article

cheers



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pavementcracks70
5.00 (Excellent) | December 2007 | pavementcracks70
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

geez  isnt this really about giving kids a great start in life by becoming wiser parents? isnt that why were here?

interesting article hopefully the game players here make up a tiny percent

the spottlight should be on the kids not people seeking fame......

rue



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Anonymous Member
 
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boredmum
5.00 (Excellent) | October 2007 | boredmum
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

Great advice.



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etcircus
5.00 (Excellent) | October 2007 | etcircus
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

Do people really rate other people badly for those reasons? I hope they are the minority. Im new to Minti, but most people on here have really good advice and it's fantastic to have a place to share ideas. The guidance and support provided through articles such as this one have made me feel welcome to the site as well as taught me (well Im still learning) the correct way to use the site. So BIG THANKS for writing it :)

I have to admit I have gone on a bit of a reading frenzy, but that is because I have never seen a site with so much information that is relevant to my work (and study). I have already found a couple of authors that I really connect with an so have read and ranked all of their articles as I genuinely agree with what they have written. I am also on a bit of a 'have my two cents' frenzy haha because I love discussion :) I am a speed reader, so I do read advice very quickly.  I have also submitted a lot of work that I had lying around that hadn't been published. I have really been valuing the comments and feedback.

Great site. I hope everyone uses it the powers of good instead of evil :)



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injenuity
5.00 (Excellent) | August 2007 | injenuity
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
Thank you for posting this.  As a new member, it was quite helpful for me to read this post right away.  I agree with your opinion.  I appreciate that I was able to quickly locate authentic members based on the ranking system.  Hopefully it isn't skewed do to false voting.  Thanks!
Jen


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giftid3
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | giftid3
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
Cheers to you. You are so right. I guess we all need to be mindful of the fact that everyone does not think or see things the way we may do.  Therefore, others opinions and views are theirs and should be treated as such.  If we are meant to be upright, good standing citizens, then we shouldn't be judging or condemning another because their view is not agreeable to us.  For me Minti is a site for parents who just want to share their experiences with others and well as receive from others any guidance or direction in certain matters.  Overall, for me it is a site of encouragement, support, and uplfiting, where one's views are read and commented on if one desires or not.  If of course, we take offense of someone's views, then maybe we need to search within ourselves to see why.  Maybe it has nothing to do with the person but to do more with our own upbringing and view of life and the world.  Who knows?  Not me anyway.  I just know I enjoy reading the articles and the encouraging comments received.  I also enjoy the group sessions and the chance to express or share my views and experiences with others, not because I know better but because it may help someone else.  At the end of the day, that is what matters.  Helping others to remain strong and steadfast on their journey as parents giving guidance and direction to our future leaders.


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llmunchkin
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | llmunchkin
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
I read this piece of advice quite often - some of it is good - however some of it is really quite negative, and you need to take into account that the author is now anonymous - and what connotations that holds.  That being said, the explanation in regard to rankings, and why there are rankings is spot on.

Please don't think that if you are voted down that people are victimising you... Sometimes people just don't like your advice - or the comment you have to say, or the way you have said it.  Think, 'what can I change to improve it?'  Not that you are being picked on, it really doesn't happen very often, and remember people are entitled to their own opinion - you don't get a gold star for just rocking up. 

Also, on the rare occasion that you may be subject to bad behaviour by the odd member - it is the group that decides in the end, and if your advice or comments are worthy - they will eventually be voted up.  The idea is to post information and comments that will help others, and that in itself is the main reward.


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      mumof2b
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | mumof2b
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
The author is now anonymous because they are no longer on Minti. 


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           llmunchkin
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | llmunchkin
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
I know... I just wanted people to be aware of that by working it out for themselves without me saying it...


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bubble
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | bubble
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.

I think this is fabulous advice...  Up until yesterday when I got my first badge for making a comment I didn't even know the award existed

My award is my son, NOT how many badges I have on a web site......



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      llmunchkin
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | llmunchkin
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
Now if you hadn't written that - it is exactly what I would have written!  We already have the ultimate reward, and we can see the reflection of our parenting in their little smiles...


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Tanya-Kyana
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | Tanya-Kyana
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
Amen to that! Thank you for this post!


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Mystique
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | Mystique
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
I agree QuietlyConnected. I'm still only new here but have seen whats mentioned above happening around me. Good luck to those who do that but I agree also....seriously disillusioned!

Get over it!!


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QuietlyConnected
5.00 (Excellent) | June 2007 | QuietlyConnected
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
Excellent, well written article... Shame it wasn't compulsory reading BEFORE being allowed to sign up to Minti!


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thehardyards
5.00 (Excellent) | June 2007 | thehardyards
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
The best article I have seen on here!

I believe that I have been a victim of this just today, and now understand why.

Thanks.


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ZenNerd
5.00 (Excellent) | June 2007 | ZenNerd
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
I've been a member all of 5 minutes and this is the first thing I've read.  I really liked it and am glad to be on this site as I'm just looking for parenting ideas.  Thanks for sharing!


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sluxton
5.00 (Excellent) | June 2007 | sluxton
Re: MINTI MEMBER RANKINGS, VOTING, and what to avoid doing.
great article and how do we politely ask those that are getting upset about what votes they receive to chill out and not worry about what votes they get? 


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Deborahsc2203
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | Deborahsc2203
minti

this is simple and straight forward in plain english for anyone to understand ,

, Im not great at putting all my info together to write articles so i dont ,,, .its totally unfair to judge people on some of the articles and comments just cause they have a chip on their shoulder , what may not work for one person dosent mean it wont work for another its a little catty.....im not into voteing anyone down i think thats a little immiture

most advice and commments are from personal experience and that is what makes it important .and real ,and also helpful ,,lots  of things in life is all about trial and error ,its great to read things from all ages from male and female as we all go through things differntly and have tried many ways to get through it ,,, thats what i like about minti also all walks of life are on here and i love it ....

we have all got a story and we have all been though something in our lifes dosent matter if its big or small its all personal experience that  may  help another ..



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mrs-connell