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How's your reputation?

by Alicia MacLeay
May 16, 2012

Anyone who's ever read comments online knows that the numbers of posts, comments, or reviews an individual shares doesn't necessarily correlate with his or her value to the community.

Some prolific posters and reviewers routinely offer sage, civil, well-measured advice to fellow members. They're trustworthy, reliable, helpful, and we're likely to value their experienced input more highly than others.

Other members are mixed bags. And a few others you may take with a grain of salt.

On the flip side, some members have low post counts, but when they do speak up it's with insightful reviews and posts chock full of helpful advice, images, and references. We wish we heard even more from them.

Is one member's two-sentence forum post really equal to another's in-depth, image- and video-laden Killer Review? Of course not.

Currently, Trailspace community members get titles (New, Junior, Full, Senior Member) based on the number of posts and reviews you've written, and how long you've been a part of the community. But those titles don't necessarily reflect the esteem of the community.

Enter reputation systems. In addition to considering post counts and longevity, a reputation system attempts to measure the value of each member's contributions as determined by community feedback. We've been collecting this type of feedback for some time — mainly through the "was this helpful? yes/no" buttons at the bottom of each review and forum post — but so far have not factored it into users' overall standings on the site.

As we consider the best ways to introduce this sort of reputation system in the Trailspace community, we want to hear from you:

  • What makes you value certain members? Their content? Their experience? Their tone?
  • Is there community content you value above others? Types of posts? Reviews? Images?
  • Are you familiar with other web reputation systems? And if so, what do you like or dislike about how they work?

We want to recognize our members for their valuable contributions to the community and site. Share your thoughts below on how best we can do that.