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The up/down vote system on HD seems to generate a surprising amount of heat for something that’s essentially just two triangles. But I’m less interested in the usual back-and-forth from the vocal few, wouldn’t it be cool to know what the silent majority actually thinks?
So here’s a little experiment in wonderful irony: use the arrows to vote about the arrows. No comment needed, no essay required.
⬆️ if you’re pro-arrows. ⬇️ if you’d happily see the back of them.
Yes, I’m aware that voting against the arrows requires using an arrow. That’s either a design flaw in my experiment or a design flaw in the system — which is rather the point.
As for what it’ll actually tell us: a heavily positive score suggests people broadly like the arrows, or at least don’t hate them enough to do anything about it. A heavily negative score would mean remarkably strong feeling against, given the effort required. And hovering around zero probably means either a genuine split, or widespread apathy which is its own kind of answer.
Completely unscientific, probably inconclusive — but at least it would be interesting.
I would have liked to see Mark’s simple experiment play out and happy to live with the results.
I personally think there is a place for up and down votes. On the down votes side, I have observed on many occasions where enough has been written and I do not wish to enter the fray. By adding a downvote I believe I helped to express the collective opinion of the HD community.
I understand it is imperfect system, such is life. I visit other websites and blogs associated with my other interests. It is alarming how quickly the comments section can dissolve into personal attacks and insults. At Humble Dollar I find the discourse to be courteous and educational. I believe the down votes have been a positive force which helped the HD community police itself. Imperfect, but what we have, or should I say used to have, and I respectfully suggest part of the reason Jonathan kept them in place.
I was a professor and taught writing. I also did scholarly research on the topic of feedback to writers. There were times I wished I could just use a down arrow on a student’s point or even their whole paper, but that wouldn’t have helped the student know what the issue was, and I wouldn’t have been doing my job. That’s why I disagree with the claim that a down arrow is “feedback” to the writer.
To offer a different perspective.
I think it admirable you took your responsibilities as a professor seriously, conducted yourself professionally as an educator and you did not take the easy way out.
I am in the final chapter of a 40 year career as an architect. In the architecture and engineering world we have a “Standard of Care” we are expected to meet. I like to think I have conducted myself professionally and exceeded that “standard of care” over my entire career. I suspect much like you in your profession.
Here at Humble Dollar we have people from all walks of life, that is the beauty of it. We are here voluntarily and not as part of our job. As such, I have no expectation that others will meet my personal “Standard of Care” for how they write or they how they vote. I do of course hope the contributions will be courteous and informative.
I have commented above why I support keeping the up and down arrows.
In addition to my academic career, I’ve been on the boards of several non-profits. I’ve thought a lot about organizations that rely on volunteer labor and goodwill. A pastor friend of mine wrote a good book about this. The main thesis is that the social contract with volunteers is different from that of paid employees. You have to treat them well or they will take their time and energy elsewhere. If it’s your job, you might have to put up with stuff. When you’re volunteering, you don’t have to.
As Kathy and Elaine noted on the “Ladies” post, HD is like a community garden that everyone needs to work in to make it successful. Most of us are volunteers when it comes to our contributions here. Having an environment where people feel respected and welcome is key to a healthy balance of participants and perspectives. Certainly some are more “sensitive” than others to negative undertones, but it takes all kinds of people to make a community, and perhaps those people see what others might miss sometimes.
I appreciate your thoughts!