How do I "up vote" an AskMe response? September 19, 2007 5:05 AM Subscribe
Feature suggestion: some way to flag an AskMe response as "good" if you are not the OP.
Often I'm reading down the replies and I'll see one I agree with as being the "correct" answer or just something that I feel is important to the answer that I would like to "vote up" as useful or insightful, but I don't really feel like there is a suitable button to push at the moment.
Right now my only options are to favourite it (which often seems wrong because the comment doesn't make sense out of context, and I don't want to refer back to it later), to flag it (I don't want to see it on the front page, it's just an answer to the question that I agree with), or to post another reply saying "I agree with X" (which just adds noise).
How about something along the lines of what they use on (for example) wowbash.com. Comments can be rated up or down and the high rated ones become brighter/bolder, and the low rated ones are collapsed.
I realise the OP has something along these lines already by picking the "correct" answers, but going along with the community spirit of this site I thought it might be nice to let others vote answers up (or down I guess) too.
As a specific example, in this question there is a reply that I think is quite important, but short of posting another reply referencing this comment I can't see how else to draw attention to it or otherwise add my support?
Often I'm reading down the replies and I'll see one I agree with as being the "correct" answer or just something that I feel is important to the answer that I would like to "vote up" as useful or insightful, but I don't really feel like there is a suitable button to push at the moment.
Right now my only options are to favourite it (which often seems wrong because the comment doesn't make sense out of context, and I don't want to refer back to it later), to flag it (I don't want to see it on the front page, it's just an answer to the question that I agree with), or to post another reply saying "I agree with X" (which just adds noise).
How about something along the lines of what they use on (for example) wowbash.com. Comments can be rated up or down and the high rated ones become brighter/bolder, and the low rated ones are collapsed.
I realise the OP has something along these lines already by picking the "correct" answers, but going along with the community spirit of this site I thought it might be nice to let others vote answers up (or down I guess) too.
As a specific example, in this question there is a reply that I think is quite important, but short of posting another reply referencing this comment I can't see how else to draw attention to it or otherwise add my support?
I'm pretty sure we are not inteersted in introdcuing any more rating methods to AskMe, especially not up/down voting. We do not want MeFi to function like Digg or Slashdot in that regard. If you like an answer, your current options are:
- favorite it
- add a comment saying something to that effect like "I agree with thesweetpotatokid, this has been my experience as well when dealing with pesky ferret bites?
- ignore it and figure that other people will do one of those two things
Any of those options are totally decent ones. I guess my question for you is "what problem does this solve for the site?"
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:21 AM on September 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
- favorite it
- add a comment saying something to that effect like "I agree with thesweetpotatokid, this has been my experience as well when dealing with pesky ferret bites?
- ignore it and figure that other people will do one of those two things
Any of those options are totally decent ones. I guess my question for you is "what problem does this solve for the site?"
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:21 AM on September 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
Another option is to post a Metatalk thread linking to the comment.
posted by smackfu at 5:35 AM on September 19, 2007
posted by smackfu at 5:35 AM on September 19, 2007
What happens if you're stupid and give positive kudos to the breath of a philistine?
posted by peacay at 5:59 AM on September 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by peacay at 5:59 AM on September 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
post another reply saying "I agree with X" (which just adds noise).
I strongly disagree, it adds weight. It's perfectly fine to chime in and say why a previous answer was good or bad, as long as you back it up in a polite, helpful way. This is often done and adds a lot of value to answers.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:18 AM on September 19, 2007
to post another reply saying "I agree with X" (which just adds noise)
Why is this noise? If you say something like, "I second using Y to solve the problem," then you're offering your (presumably) experienced endorsement of what you think is the correct answer.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:21 AM on September 19, 2007
Why is this noise? If you say something like, "I second using Y to solve the problem," then you're offering your (presumably) experienced endorsement of what you think is the correct answer.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:21 AM on September 19, 2007
I agree with "I agree with X." If the first person to reply says "Don't ever use pineapple in that recipe" and the next 50 responses are "I agree with firstperson," I am much more inclined to go with that advice than if only firstperson had posted and the rest had remained silent.
posted by desjardins at 6:23 AM on September 19, 2007
posted by desjardins at 6:23 AM on September 19, 2007
It's perfectly fine to chime in and say why a previous answer was good or bad, as long as you back it up in a polite, helpful way.
Bingo. If you're doing it like that, you're probably adding information to the thread, not noise.
If instead you just like an answer but can't actually provide direct supporting commentary on why it's a good answer, then an explicit "me too" probably isn't necessary anyway.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:23 AM on September 19, 2007
Bingo. If you're doing it like that, you're probably adding information to the thread, not noise.
If instead you just like an answer but can't actually provide direct supporting commentary on why it's a good answer, then an explicit "me too" probably isn't necessary anyway.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:23 AM on September 19, 2007
The other thing about that is that I can see WHO agreed with firstperson, and some posters are consistently intelligent and/or apparently experts in their field, so I give higher weight to their answers.
posted by desjardins at 6:24 AM on September 19, 2007
posted by desjardins at 6:24 AM on September 19, 2007
short of posting another reply referencing this comment I can't see how else to draw attention to it or otherwise add my support?
"Short of opening my mouth and pushing air through my vocal cords, I can't see how else to talk!"
Also, terrible idea. We don't need more bells and whistles, we need intellignt comments. The problem isn't that there isn't a way (other than actually saying something) of pointing out good answers, the problem is that there are so many idiots who feel they have to contribute something even though they don't know anything.
posted by languagehat at 6:37 AM on September 19, 2007
"Short of opening my mouth and pushing air through my vocal cords, I can't see how else to talk!"
Also, terrible idea. We don't need more bells and whistles, we need intellignt comments. The problem isn't that there isn't a way (other than actually saying something) of pointing out good answers, the problem is that there are so many idiots who feel they have to contribute something even though they don't know anything.
posted by languagehat at 6:37 AM on September 19, 2007
This is a really bad idea. Every knucklehead on the site will go around besting all the shitty answers and before you know it there will just be a pile of crap. Go with what Jessamyn said to do.
posted by sneakin at 6:52 AM on September 19, 2007
posted by sneakin at 6:52 AM on September 19, 2007
If only there was some way to label something you like. If only. You know, a way to say, "I like this; it may very well be my favourite comment in this thread."
posted by chunking express at 6:54 AM on September 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by chunking express at 6:54 AM on September 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
If you really need a button to push for every occasion, perhaps you could try getting vicarious satisfaction from taking pills of some kind. Every time you agree with someone, pop a blue one. Every time you find something offensive, pop a yellow one. And so forth.
posted by hermitosis at 6:57 AM on September 19, 2007
posted by hermitosis at 6:57 AM on September 19, 2007
If only there was some way to label something you like. If only. You know, a way to say, "I like this; it may very well be my favourite comment in this thread."
Yeah, cuz he didn't explain at all why that's not really a very good option.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:36 AM on September 19, 2007
Yeah, cuz he didn't explain at all why that's not really a very good option.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:36 AM on September 19, 2007
Well, if you want to indicate its a good answer to the op, you can favourite it, and then remove the favourite once the op has picked his best answers.
I am a freaking genius.
posted by chunking express at 7:54 AM on September 19, 2007
I am a freaking genius.
posted by chunking express at 7:54 AM on September 19, 2007
I have a PhD in Websiteology and I agree with the various posters in this thread, both for and against the idea presented. If you'ld like to know more, send a SASE and $50.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:06 AM on September 19, 2007
posted by blue_beetle at 8:06 AM on September 19, 2007
Well, like I said, I don't like to favourite things that I wouldn't want to come back and look at again later. For example, if I find a particularly insightful news article, I'm not going to add it to my bookmarks, but I might email it to my friends.
Any of those options are totally decent ones. I guess my question for you is "what problem does this solve for the site?"
In the example I gave, I just felt that the small one-liner comment could easily be missed amongst the other comments, that was all. I'm happy to continue doing the "I agree with X" way, but I just thought there was perhaps a neater way to achieve the same thing.
posted by jon4009 at 8:24 AM on September 19, 2007
Any of those options are totally decent ones. I guess my question for you is "what problem does this solve for the site?"
In the example I gave, I just felt that the small one-liner comment could easily be missed amongst the other comments, that was all. I'm happy to continue doing the "I agree with X" way, but I just thought there was perhaps a neater way to achieve the same thing.
posted by jon4009 at 8:24 AM on September 19, 2007
Those small one-liner comments do add up, and I guarantee anyone who reads the thread looking for answers will note them. They're like the Tetris blocks that land on the wrong side right in the middle of the screen; it only takes a few of them to make you wind up playing the whole rest of the level around them.
posted by hermitosis at 8:28 AM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by hermitosis at 8:28 AM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'll take a blue one and a yellow one. They all look just the same.
posted by cgc373 at 8:33 AM on September 19, 2007
posted by cgc373 at 8:33 AM on September 19, 2007
add a comment saying something to that effect like "I agree with thesweetpotatokid, this has been my experience as well when dealing with pesky ferret bites?
So, we all agree that a reasonably constructed "yeah, what he said" response:
* IS answering the question
* IS within the guidelines
* IS NOT noise
amirite?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:20 AM on September 19, 2007
So, we all agree that a reasonably constructed "yeah, what he said" response:
* IS answering the question
* IS within the guidelines
* IS NOT noise
amirite?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:20 AM on September 19, 2007
Generally speaking. Of course, it's possible that other things might inform such a comment being not so great an addition. For example, a "yeah what he said" followup to a response that was itself kind of off-topic or out of line might be problematic—fruit of the poison tree, if you will.
And the biggest problem is bullet point number two there. It's probably better to construct it like so:
A "yeah, what he said" response that is within the guidelines, not noisy, and answers the question or some reasonable and apparent side-aspect of the question is generally cool.
The question of whether an individual comment ("me too" or otherwise) is reasonably constructed, or does or does not violate the guidelines, or is or is not answering the question, etc, will pretty much always have to come down to case-by-case analysis, because it's pretty damned hard to nail any of that down in a context-free sense.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:28 AM on September 19, 2007
And the biggest problem is bullet point number two there. It's probably better to construct it like so:
A "yeah, what he said" response that is within the guidelines, not noisy, and answers the question or some reasonable and apparent side-aspect of the question is generally cool.
The question of whether an individual comment ("me too" or otherwise) is reasonably constructed, or does or does not violate the guidelines, or is or is not answering the question, etc, will pretty much always have to come down to case-by-case analysis, because it's pretty damned hard to nail any of that down in a context-free sense.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:28 AM on September 19, 2007
If the first person to reply says "Don't ever use pineapple in that recipe" and the next 50 responses are "I agree with firstperson,"
...well, then, you can ALL kiss my ass.
posted by pineapple at 12:24 PM on September 19, 2007 [4 favorites]
...well, then, you can ALL kiss my ass.
posted by pineapple at 12:24 PM on September 19, 2007 [4 favorites]
Why don't you all want to live in the push-button world of the future? Why? It's got big fins AND it's shiny!
And blimps. Don't forget the blimps.
posted by bonehead at 1:37 PM on September 19, 2007
And blimps. Don't forget the blimps.
posted by bonehead at 1:37 PM on September 19, 2007
Dr. Samuel Johnson's right about Olson Johnson being right.
posted by ALongDecember at 1:41 PM on September 19, 2007
posted by ALongDecember at 1:41 PM on September 19, 2007
This is what you would use a favorite for. I mean, if people were able to stop pissing favorites all around the way the kids are these days.
posted by SassHat at 2:30 PM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by SassHat at 2:30 PM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
languagehat: "... we need intellignt comments ..."
... and we'll get them when we get our flying cars.
posted by dg at 3:46 PM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
... and we'll get them when we get our flying cars.
posted by dg at 3:46 PM on September 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
I usually just favorite it.
but tehloki, that's your answer to everything!
SHUT UP!
posted by tehloki at 4:04 PM on September 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
but tehloki, that's your answer to everything!
SHUT UP!
posted by tehloki at 4:04 PM on September 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
I agree with those that agree with the original agreement that agreeing is not noise.
posted by 31d1 at 5:19 PM on September 19, 2007
posted by 31d1 at 5:19 PM on September 19, 2007
Is Jessamyn trying to tweak her word cloud? If enough people are inteersted in introdcuing intentional misspellings, the word cloud will be worhtless.
posted by Dr. Curare at 5:27 PM on September 19, 2007
posted by Dr. Curare at 5:27 PM on September 19, 2007
Some people already think the word cloud is worthless. Just read the responses in-thread.
posted by philomathoholic at 9:10 PM on September 19, 2007
posted by philomathoholic at 9:10 PM on September 19, 2007
I agree with:
Brandon Blatcher
Blazecock Pileon
desjardins
cortex
ottereroticist
Brandon Blatcher
cortex
juv3nal
31d1
posted by philomathoholic at 9:14 PM on September 19, 2007
Brandon Blatcher
Blazecock Pileon
desjardins
cortex
ottereroticist
Brandon Blatcher
cortex
juv3nal
31d1
posted by philomathoholic at 9:14 PM on September 19, 2007
Please don't turn MeFi into Slashdot.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:21 PM on September 20, 2007
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:21 PM on September 20, 2007
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
*grumble*
posted by jon4009 at 5:07 AM on September 19, 2007