Subscriber Comments for
Edhat Comment Ratings

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 328240	2012-10-05 03:39 PM
If this means you are leaving it up to paid members, instead of deciding yourself who gets deleted, I will resubscribe. Please confirm. Thanks.
COMMENT 328245	2012-10-05 03:51 PM
I agree with comment 240 above - this would be a BIG step in regaining me as a paid subscriber.
COMMENT 328248P	2012-10-05 03:55 PM
Thanks for this; will you be posting the ratings or what will happen with the ratings? Also: the pop-up doesn't always work.
EDHATBARBARA	2012-10-05 03:57 PM
I like this very, very well! Thanks for making this an interactive community!
YIN YANG	2012-10-05 03:57 PM
Will deleted comments still be visible? Will rankings be available to members? Not sure what else to ask; I'd like more detail. I too support phpBB.
YIN YANG	2012-10-05 04:03 PM
What is the criteria for deletion? Is there disciplining of posters? Sorry, I haven't found that on this site yet.
COMMENT 328259P	2012-10-05 04:07 PM
A & H need transparent backgrounds.
BULLSEYEB	2012-10-05 04:20 PM
240 and 245, I think the description says that members can click on a buttin and the Nan the Nanny has the final determination as to what gets deleted. I would like the deleted comments to still show at the bottom of the thread as they do now. Q: If we agree or click on helpful, how will that show up? I like the idea of these buttons. It will make things a lot easier to communicate with the Nanny when someone has posted something off topic etc. Thanks for trying out new things, Nan.
COMMENT 328265	2012-10-05 04:21 PM
May I ask what rankings/ratings people are referring to? Is that another paid membership thing?
D8VANILLA	2012-10-05 04:30 PM
Yesterday, I accidently clicked on one of those "bad" buttons. Not even sure which one I hit, but it thanked me...!!!! Is there a way to "unclick" something?
LIZTISH340	2012-10-05 04:39 PM
I just clicked on a button by mistake! Oops!
COMMENT 328271P	2012-10-05 04:39 PM
262- Edhat has never claimed to be journalists. Most of their content is sent from every day people in SB who aren't journalists. You're more than welcome to send in your own pieces that is up to par with your opinion of journalistic professionalism. I like the rating system Ed! Might I suggest keeping it simpler? Perhaps one button for positive comments and one button for negative? Thanks for all you do.
COMMENT 328273	2012-10-05 04:43 PM
I agree with 271P - make it simpler. "Mean," "snarky," and "whiney" are all pretty subjective and vague. Is it a deletable offense to be "whiney?" I think the following would be good: Offtopic Negative Helpful
COMMENT 328275	2012-10-05 04:45 PM
Sounds like a click - that can pick the cool kids - I'm done
COMMENT 328277	2012-10-05 04:51 PM
Unban El Smurfo and Axman.
NATURE BOY	2012-10-05 04:51 PM
Here's my take: Aesthetically, the buttons make the responses page look a bit cluttered. And i agree with 273 that at least "whiney" is too subjective, and it's not a crime to whine. And yes, how will the "agree" and "helpful" help if only Edhat admin can see them? And, i strongly disagree that users should determine which posts get deleted. There would be too much vindictive removals going on for personal / hurt feelings reasons. I think that should stay in the hands of the Nanny.
NATURE BOY	2012-10-05 04:55 PM
And how about a way to delete our own posts, like if we find that we gave wrong information?
COMMENT 328277	2012-10-05 05:03 PM
Here's a great example for the rating system. Is DAN39's post mean, snarky, or whiney? I think it's all three, but how can I indicate that?
REDTOP	2012-10-05 05:06 PM
I agree with 273. Simplicity is needed. Plus, I need to be more careful where I put my thumbs--smartphone user! Thanks for the improvement efforts, Ed.
COMMENT 328287	2012-10-05 05:11 PM
I think dan's post is helpful.
NATURE BOY	2012-10-05 05:13 PM
262: It's like 271P said. Edhat is a board consisting of mostly user-submitted items. Edhat is not, nor claims to be, a news reporting organization.
IMABOO	2012-10-05 05:31 PM
This is a good start. It will be interesting to see how it progresses.
COMMENT 328277	2012-10-05 06:06 PM
Dan, if SBView really wanted to be mean they'd point people to the New Haven, Sonoma, and Mountain View EdHat pages ...
ROGER DODGER	2012-10-05 06:07 PM
I thought I was hallucating.
TISHERSELF	2012-10-05 06:07 PM
Great Job!!! I like it.
COMMENT 328301	2012-10-05 06:13 PM
I would like to see a "get over yourself" button too.
COMMENT 328303P	2012-10-05 06:16 PM
I read both Edhat and the Santa Barbara View, a rival online magazine whose editor likes to periodically attack Edhat's practices and policies. View readers were rather offended by his latest attempt.
COMMENT 328307	2012-10-05 06:26 PM
Ratings of everyone would be cool! Imagine the person who has the worst rating! It would be cool to see and understand who you are dealing with. The best rating well would that be someone who is smart? or someone who just states the positive things! Just a plain old Like or Unlike button would increase or decrease ratings.
COMMENT 328309P	2012-10-05 06:31 PM
A smart person came up with this..give them chocolate! Subscribe so you may speak!
COMMENT 328310	2012-10-05 06:40 PM
You can delete my comments, but you know I'm right. xoxo
COMMENT 328311	2012-10-05 06:40 PM
I've had one citizen submission and have commented on over 800 threads since 2009. The buttons have made me realize what a "time sink" this has been, and therefore I'll be withdrawing now. Thank you for your readership, and best of luck to y'all. Keep the Santa Barbara community spirit alive, wherever you may roam.
COMMENT 328313	2012-10-05 06:45 PM
Will this mean the end of arbitrary comment deletion? I'm sick of seeing a dozen people posting nearly identical comments and one or two get deleted while the rest are left alone despite having the same content. It's one of the reasons I'm no longer a paid subscriber.
COMMENT 328315	2012-10-05 06:50 PM
Seems like fingers in the dike. If you're allowing 700 users to dictate the opinions of 12000, why not just put up a pay wall? Edhat is the ultimate expression of Santa Barbara elitism gone awry... Thx 277...see ya in the censor box.
COMMENT 328317P	2012-10-05 07:00 PM
This system is very touchy! I have dragged my cursor over the tiny letters to see what they say and it almost instantly chooses one that I don't want. The first time I saw them I scrolled over one & it immediately registered my vote as "Mean." Boo The next wasn't much better. Can the sensitivity be turned down so you have to perform an actual click to choose? Just my 2¢ worth here.
COMMENT 328313	2012-10-05 07:12 PM
What the heck is wrong with 264's comment? The suggestion is completely relevant. The question seems sincere and valid. Of course, I'm sure my comment will get deleted because I'm questioning editorial policy.
COMMENT 328322	2012-10-05 07:14 PM
I like it. I also like the idea of restricting it to subscribers, not necessarily because their opinions are more informed or "better" but because the ability to rate others is a benefit to those willing to pay for better commentary. Also, I agree that you have too many negative buttons now. Commenter 273 said it best. Limit it to three: Off-topic / Negative / Helpful. Thanks, Peter, for this new addition. There will always be criticism of any steps you take but I appreciate your willingness to try this out.
COMMENT 328315	2012-10-05 07:15 PM
@321...don't dare to question 1990s technology. It knows more about what you should see than you do.
COMMENT 328331	2012-10-05 07:48 PM
To the Edhat community. I respect Peter and I believe this is his site. I had two comments deleted just tonight. My comments were in support of Edhat. Are some of you really offended by what I said?
COMMENT 328333P	2012-10-05 07:57 PM
I like the idea of a wider community having the ability to mark items, not just paid subscribers. I think if you look at your data its a subset of the paid subscribers who actually comment frequently should they be given that much power over the site. I mention this due to the fact I feel it may drive more people away thank it keeps and further hamper your ability to monetize it to a sustainable threshold.
COMMENT 328335P	2012-10-05 08:01 PM
I agree with Amara. Too many buttons. Just those three flags are really all that is needed. Not even sure that Offtopic is needed. I have found out some interesting things on offtopic comments. I just looked at the deleted comments and it seems that comments are not allowed to answer other comments. I really can't figure out why that is such a bad thing that Nanny deletes them. As long as they are not nasty, maybe Nanny could lighten up a bit.
COMMENT 328333P	2012-10-05 08:08 PM
Can I also vote items out of the trashbin?
COMMENT 328315	2012-10-05 08:11 PM
@Amara... Enjoy talking to the echo chamber or your 700 best buddies... This is the final straw we've all been watching for that turns edhat into the condo HOA newsletter it has always aspired to
COMMENT 328348	2012-10-05 08:27 PM
Wow, I was 264. I'm shocked my comment got deleted. I don't think I've ever had anything deleted before because I don't post unless I have something constructive to say. I was just noting what already exists in other well-known forums because I really do want edhat to improve.
COMMENT 328307	2012-10-05 08:29 PM
The people who pay get extra nanny feel good options. So let me get this straight.....YOU pay and have to waste your time with grading peoples comments. Do these options really help edhat, or do they just give people who pay a feel good sense of power?
PJG	2012-10-05 08:32 PM
I think we should have a button for judgmental. Oh wait, never mind.
COMMENT 328352	2012-10-05 08:35 PM
349, I don't want the power and I don't want to grade anyone. That's what I thought the Edhat staff did.
SHOREBIRD	2012-10-05 08:49 PM
I am sure that there will be some unintended dings from me as accidents while reading Edhat on my cell phone, just due to how tiny the buttons already are.
COMMENT 328363P	2012-10-05 09:06 PM
I hate the rating graphics, I hate the rating idea - but thanks for the try... you gotta try.
ZENYATTA19	2012-10-05 09:47 PM
Not so sure about this. If edhat chooses to have a comment rating system everyone should be able to use it. But only paid subscribers should be able to see deleted comments.
COMMENT 328370P	2012-10-05 10:04 PM
KISS----Keep It Simple, Stupid. It is one of the primary rules of good writing/journalism. (Unless you're writing for your nuclear physicist buddies.) I feel comfortable applying that to this "buttons gone wild" idea. Too many buttons. Too much going on. Personally, I don't see how "whiney" and "snarky" come into it. We are all adults here. Take the good with the bad. Like, unlike, off-topic. Period. Keep the deleted comments, please. That is one of life's small pleasures, to sift through those.
COMMENT 328370P	2012-10-05 10:07 PM
P.S. (I will add that I think all readers should be allowed to like and unlike. Otherwise the whole thing is too inbred.)
NATURE BOY	2012-10-05 10:18 PM
This is difficult. We love Edhat (most of us, anyway), and it's hard to decide whether tweaking it will be good or bad, and to what extent tweaking it should even be considered. On one hand, i'm inclined to think that making it more complicated will be detrimental, but on the other hand i think it will help make it more user-friendly. Maybe we should try the new changes as a beta, and see how it goes? But in any case, i hope that the Admin will at least listen to the suggestions we've been offering, so we can agree on changes that will HELP this site become a better local resource. Yet it's difficult to resist the urge to say leave well enough alone. Let's go with it and see how it feels, i say.
COMMENT 328376P	2012-10-05 10:46 PM
I think the button idea is great, but I think you went overboard on the number of them. Why not just have two - a vote up/good/like and down/bad button/dislike? Keep it simple sounds much better to me. Too many down/bad votes(you decide how many), comment goes to the deleted section.
RLMCDON	2012-10-05 10:48 PM
ACK! Comments section is getting crazy! IMHO: Limit it to three: Off-topic / Negative / Helpful. Allow subscribers to vote, but allow everyone to see everything. Nothing needs to get deleted if stats are shown. I appreciate Edhat and the attempt to make things "better" but I think this new concept needs some serious tweaking.
JAZZEE	2012-10-06 12:42 AM
Like the concept, but it seems overly complicated.
COMMENT 328259P	2012-10-06 02:25 AM
It should be just up and down (like/dislike) and there should be feedback of what the tally is.
COMMENT 328417	2012-10-06 06:29 AM
Good idea I guess a "V' for vulgar is the same as comments deleted. Thanks, Ed!
SHOREBIRD	2012-10-06 07:30 AM
Everyone who says the buttons are going to cause them to not join or not re-up gets a non-helpful/snarky/whiney vote from me. Can you change the whiney button to a pacifier? Just kidding. Carry on. (*shorebird signs off wondering if this post will get any not-helpful votes*)
COMMENT 328462P	2012-10-06 07:42 AM
3 buttons: Like (green), dislike (yellow), flag as abusive (red). Show the running count. Eds. judge whether to delete abusives or not based on existing standards.
ZIPPER101	2012-10-06 08:37 AM
I too appreciate the efforts to improve, but, as others have suggested, I'd vote to simplify things a bit. All ratings like this are inherently subjective, but where are the lines between "mean," snarky" etc. Personally, I have no problem with "intelligent" snark, but that too is based on my subjective take on a given comment. Reducing the buttons to two or three at most may make for a less cluttered look as well. Would be interesting to see some sort of tabulation of the results somewhere. Re SB View: I've always seen it as somewhat of a joke, trolling CL "Rants & Raves" for views, yeah, that says something about desperation for a readership. The content seems to be largely an odd collection of opinion pieces with regular contributions from several unsuccessful local politicians with various axes to grind. Not sure who the target audience for that might be or why its editor would think anyone would want to steal such material. There is, of course, a "sameness" to many local issues and most local media/blogs etc. are going to be covering those in some fashion.
COMMENT 328259P	2012-10-06 09:20 AM
Checked out SBView for the first time - EdHat's format is far better and faster for finding what one wants to read. Some of the posters there seem like troublemakers with too much time on their hands - a dozen accounts here?
COMMENT 328507	2012-10-06 09:26 AM
There's room along the gray bar for at least 20 more buttons. Grin, laugh, knee slapper, cry, sad, a liar button, etc.....
COMMENT 328514	2012-10-06 09:36 AM
I think it is too complicated. I vote for something more simple. I actually have no problem with the current nanny system.
COMMENT 328536	2012-10-06 10:28 AM
You are on the right path. Coupla things..... 1. Though accepted as a spelling, a person who whines a lot is WHINY and not WHINEY. 2. Your rating buttons should not be JPGs. They look horrible. They should be GIFs with blank backgrounds so that you don't have a white box around the button when it appears on a subscriber line with a dark background. Very amateurish graphics on an otherwise graphically tight website. 3. You should really take to heart the complaints from the people fat-fingering your links via their mobile device. You want to make a major step improving Edhat. MAKE A MOBILE VERSION!!!!! Count this as the 977th reminder....of which 976 have been summarily ignored.
COMMENT 328541	2012-10-06 10:34 AM
And another thing, why have buttons if you are not going to immediately publish the counts? So a paid subscriber presses a buttons, then gets absolutely no feedback. What is going to happen eventually is no one is going to press these buttons anymore. You need some sort of feedback to encourage the use of the ratings buttons.
COMMENT 328554	2012-10-06 11:13 AM
The Edhat Opinion is what this site may become. Someone will break down the demographics and view the whole site as one average voice. That sounds dull.
COMMENT 328277	2012-10-06 12:34 PM
501P, the biggest difference between Edhat and SBView is censorship of comments. You could make your same comment on SBView and it wouldn't get deleted, but if you make a comment like that about EdHat on EdHat it would disappear without a trace.
MTNDRIVER	2012-10-06 12:37 PM
Wow, plenty feedback. I like the idea of clicking on these, as long as the nanny makes the final decision about deletions. My only concern is that it might end up making the nanny work harder, instead of lightening the load. I'd also like us to be able to delete our own posts if we discover we've said something inaccurate. I agree at present the buttons are a little hard to see, need better graphics.
COMMENT 328303P	2012-10-06 12:37 PM
Yep, too many choices. I just voted off-topic on a remark, but it was snarky and mean, as well.
AQUAHOLIC	2012-10-06 12:46 PM
Icons are too cluttered for my taste, and did not work, hopefully fixed by now... plus, too subjective and too many options. I like the suggestion from above: • negative • helpful • off-topic
SBITIZEN	2012-10-06 02:26 PM
Some thoughts for your consideration. The bar seems cluttered with too many choices, have you considered a simpler like/dislike as some others have pointed out (example could be the sfgate.com website with its thumbs up/down and counter) If you used a simpler layout and combine it with a threshold of say 10 or so dislikes would then send a notification to staff and the nanny could then decide whether or not it was moved to deleted section. That should save you some time as well in regulating the comments section, which has gotten to be more time consuming than you wish judging from the appeal letter. Rather than looking for comments that don't fit your guidelines the community could notify you making it more self regulating. I would urge you not to limit it to paying members, have it open to all during your normal hours as it seems it would be to self insulating otherwise. Have you considered making the deleted comments a section that only paid members can see? Curiosity might be a motivator for subscriptions.
COMMENT 328674	2012-10-06 04:07 PM
I believe that Roger's domestic problems should be excluded from the publics' view and/or comment. To maintain a constant thread as to what was happening at his "domicile" was neither news worthy nor informative.
QUAD-LIX	2012-10-06 04:58 PM
I like the buttons. I'll probably never use "snarky" or even "whiney" but I'll definitely use "agree" and "helpful." I would like to be able to delete my own post later, though. Sometimes I accidentally say something stupid. off topic, anyone? Does anyone else have "uuuu" at the top of every story? I don't mean on the main page, but after you click on a story to read the whole item, all of them have "uuuu" on the top. I thought it was because I was unsubscribed but now I know it's not that.
YIN YANG	2012-10-06 06:07 PM
Quad, you're not crazy. ;-) I see the "uuuu"'s also. I support fewer buttons. I feel that M, S & W are too subjective. And wow, imagine how these buttons could be misused! I haven't clicked a single one yet. Off topic? It happens. To me it's a sign of liveliness. I've had this discussion on another board, which is more focused in topic, but the members take joy in and laugh at where threads end up. And yes, a thread can go good places. People need to "police" _themselves_, by how and what they read. Don't like it? Don't read it. Change the channel. Turn off the machine. I found myself thinking how Roger, for just one instance, would "rate." He's loved and disliked. He often overreacts to input (I will censor myself making staements like that as this process proceeds. I already believed in self-censorship, but now it's more important. Guess that is the point.) He's strange & feisty. I'm all for what he does; I read it all. If you don't want to read him, just skip it! (Roger, don't flame me, I've always been supportive.) But I ain't clicking no buttons. I emailed "Ed" about a homophobic post. It was deleted. And remember the plagiarized rainbow cloud photo? Anyone notice that was deleted, after they/you had a say about it? I emailed Ed about that too; I'm certain I was not the only one. But these buttons scare me a little, in their potential for misuse. The post above about 'clicking in the cool kids' or conversely, going after someone, makes sense. What is Edhat going to do about that? I'm clicking the "Ramble" button now, I'll shut up.
NATURE BOY	2012-10-06 07:56 PM
I'd hate to see this great site micro-managed to death. And i'm afraid that's what all these buttons will do. Maybe just "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" buttons? And if any comment gets enough thumbs down, it's examined by the nanny for possible deletion? To pick apart each reply for what each user doesn't like about it could end up being counter-productive.
RAINE5360	2012-10-07 06:35 AM
I clicked on a MEAN icon the other day to see what it was. Apologies to poster.
COMMENT 328766P	2012-10-07 06:55 AM
No new buttons, even though sometimes the threads seem taken over by gangs of fraternity brats who've had a little too much beer.
COMMENT 328783	2012-10-07 08:24 AM
The voting buttons are a step in the right direction but I think the proposed system is too detailed. It would be a huge improvement just to eliminate the off topic posts including those that just make jokes about the topic. The lame jokes have really gotten out of hand.
MTNDRIVER	2012-10-07 09:27 AM
I like the thumbs up, thumbs down idea, along with the nanny only stepping in after some baseline number of thumbs downs have been clicked. Ten seems like too many--something more than 5 and less than ten maybe. Nanny can then evaluate and delete if s/he thinks that's necessary, and cite the reason just like has been the case. And of course people could still write the nanny directly about any post that they consider adequately offensive. Also like the idea of only paid subscribers being able to see deleted posts--as someone said, curiosity might motivate people to ante up. Thanks for asking for input on this!
PRAIRIEFEMME	2012-10-07 01:00 PM
Finally, an explanation for the tiny buttons that just starting showing up in comments! I agree there are too many options. Also, I don't even know what "snarky" means. Maybe someone can enlighten this "lady of a certain age". It would be nice to have an "are you sure you mean this?" option before the system accepts the button click. Just in case of the oops of the errant mouse click. Thanks for asking our opinion. I love Edhat.
COMMENT 328911	2012-10-07 01:38 PM
If there's an AGREE button, it's logical that there should be a DISAGREE button.
GOBBLEDYGOOK	2012-10-07 05:28 PM
911, I agree.
COMMENT 328995P	2012-10-07 05:44 PM
I don't like the snarky and whiny buttons at all. Snark is just a tone, sometimes amusing, sometimes not, but certainly tolerable in a forum like edhat. If snark is mean, well then that's the problem and there's a button for that. "Whiny" is all too often used by people who simply disagree with someone's complaint and seek to dismiss it as idiosyncratic and irrelevant. To me, calling another poster "whiny" is itself snarky, mean and intellectually dishonest. I also don't understand several people's suggestion of "negative." Is a negative comment a bad thing? It sounds like psychobabble and attempts to make all conversation "positive." If a poster views a certain question or event negatively, should they be banned from posting? I prefer like and dislike or agree and disagree, and "totally offensive" or something emphatic like that for extreme cases.
NATURE BOY	2012-10-07 06:47 PM
And how about having subscribers' initial posts (as the OP) showing up under their name? If our responses appear under our name, why not our Original Posts?
YIN YANG	2012-10-07 06:59 PM
995P put it very well; I agree. Also, this post should be stickied/linked to the top. I look forward to some response. Is a way to view how one's posts have been rated in the works? I haven't found it yet. Rules for discipline of posters should have been decided and posted at the same time the buttons came on line. In closing, Please keep this discussion posted at the top of the Edhat page. Good luck working out the bugs, and thanks a lot!
NATURE BOY	2012-10-07 07:11 PM
Agree this should be stickied at the top until it's been worked out. User input is an important part of this process. Any update from Ed on what's been decided or what's being considered?
YIN YANG	2012-10-07 10:54 PM
Anyone else think anonymous but subscribed postings have increased? I'm still trying to post by name because I believe in that. I think I'll go back to hiding -- Edhat knows who everyone is and who clicks buttons. I've seen many posts lately that might be nannied: super-snarky, even nasty, posts. I avoided them. But no, just a grammar post has been deleted. :-) Yes, to make a point, I self-buttoned when I thanked that poster, and I asked to be deleted along with them. Really hard to choose which button to spank myself with! I think I went with "whiny." I post so much that I'm afraid I'll get voted off the island. I'm not using the buttons; I've clicked once, on "helpful." And I think Edhat is smart enough to write off any button voting for the first week or two. I hope so, to account for the accidents and the curiosity. I'm still in favor of thumbs up, thumbs down and "offensive," as some smart member suggested. I might start using the buttons in what I think are "extreme" or "egregious" posts.... But lightly, very lightly.
COMMENT 329276	2012-10-08 11:56 AM
Just logged into Edhat again after absence mostly caused by annoying comments. I love this change, and it very well may bring me back to being a paid subscriber. Nice work.

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