Whaddup with the "Level" assigned to commenters?

1. 77

   Sally's Troveposted 12 years ago

   I looked around the forums and HP Blog for info on this and found nothing...just went to answer comments on my Hubs, and I'm seeing commenters highlighted in yellow with a designation of a level (5, 7, what, 1 out of 10?) What's this about?

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2. 74

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   Sigh...
   
   more meaningless ranking and competitiveness.
   
   This may be the final push for me to remove comment capsules from all my hubs.

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   1. 77

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm inclined not to remove comment capsules...comments can add so much richness to a topic. However, I understand what you are saying.
      
      About this "ranking and competitiveness," I agree and I'd like to hear from HP what they think is the worth of this.
      
      This ranking pisses me off. There's already an accolade or two that shows how "super" a commenter is on HP. Why have this ranking?

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3. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   I'm only level 4 so i don't get to be yellow
   
   I agree, kind of useless if you ask me.

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   1. 77

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      As far as I'm concerned, you are a 10...every one of your words carries weight and value. You should be a red...forget yellow.

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4. 74

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   It might also put some people off from leaving comments with the implication being that comments by higher ranks are more valuable. Of course, the fact some of these higher ranks might be people who've spent hours leaving vacuous comments on hubs they've never read, so as to increase their hubber score, will probably be glossed over.

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   1. 77

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I couldn't agree with you more. This is asinine. Unless HP comes up with a good reason for it, my thumbs remain pointing down.
      
      Was there an announcement of this?

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5. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   I just got a comment from a yellow commenter that was totally clueless. Needless to say, that critter is now gone!

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6. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   I don't normally poke a stick at HP, but this looks like it's one of those times...

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   1. 77

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't either, paradigmsearch. So I'm with you on this. Two sticks poked (and more, I'm sure).

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7. 60

   Jason Menayanposted 12 years ago

   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/82167
   
   Sorry it got pushed out before I got the chance to prepare a post about it.

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   1. 77

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Jason, I'm glad you are on top of this forum post. I'm anxiously awaiting a justification for this. It makes no sense to me, and also, I found it offensive, as others have, too. There's already a ranking system (accolades) for those who leave valuable comments. When I see this stuff in yellow, I'm totally put off. I know other sites out there have a way of indicating members' value to their sites by showing how many comments members may have made, but here on HP, that data is already there in the accolades; maybe you should make it not optional to show those accolades.

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      1. 83

         Edweirdoposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I checked this while signed out of HP and I can see the Levels and the color coding.
         
         If we were voting on this feature, I'd give it a thumbs down

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         1. 77

            Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That's at least four thumbs down.

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            1. 67

               TinaAtHomeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Two more thumbs down from me. I don't want other people's writing highlighted in bright yellow on my hubs. If the feature stays I'm deleting all bright yellow comments.

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8. 77

   Sally's Troveposted 12 years ago

   And to whom are these levels visible? To members of HP only, or to the public at large? (Haven't done that testing...maybe you folks have...I'm tired.)

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9. 69

   Nellieannaposted 12 years ago

   What really puzzles me is that some of the commenters are designated "hub author"!!  When I saw someone on my hub comments so designated on which I was merely one of the levels of 'commenter", I just knew something was really amiss!  So I checked several more of my hubs and found similar designations of someone else as "hub author" on them.  When I came across one hub comment thread on one of my hubs having TWO people designated "hub author", it became curiouser and curiouser, but at least it took two to replace me as the author of my hub!  haha! 
   
   More determined to get to the bottom of it, I checked on some other people's hubs and their comments threads and noticed similar situations.  On some there was no one even designated "hub author" but in every case, my commentator level was consistent.  So that much is clarified, but not what makes some hubbers "hub author" designation!  Aren't we all hub authors if we post our work? 
   
   Many of those so designated "hub author" are active commenters too, so the possibility that they only write hubs but don't comment on others' doesn't resolve the mystery! 
   
   I have to say that the rather intense yellow color for some comment levels is distracting at best and also annoying.  Is any of this really of value?
   
   Thanks for any sensible explanation.

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   1. 77

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You summed it up beautifully.

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10. 78

    Mighty Momposted 12 years ago

    I hereby join the chorus of those who rarely have a beef with HP.
    But this is,in a word, moronic.
    The levels mean nothing to anyone reading them.
    The color "striping" effect in the comments on a hub is distracting, to say the least.
    This is one change that I honestly can't imagine growing on me.

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11. 60

    princess gposted 12 years ago

    This is offensive and idiotic. Get rid of this feature.

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12. 60

    Jason Menayanposted 12 years ago

    You can check the official thread for an update on this. The yellow/blue background treatment has been replaced.

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13. 61

    paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

    The colors are already gone!
    
    HP loves us!!!
    
    Edit: Damn! Beat me by 50 seconds.

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    1. 78

       Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Yay! Yippee!
       Best news I've had all day.
       (Yes, I really SHOULD get a life, I know).
       Thanks, Jason and HP!!!

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14. 67

    2uesdayposted 12 years ago

    If this remains - commentator levels will surely cause as much confusion and upset as Hub scores and profile scores do now; with some Hubbers being upset by the 'perceived' unfairness of them.

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    1. 60

       Jason Menayanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Commenting levels are quite a bit more straightforward in terms of how they're calculated. If you want a higher level, you should read and comment on more Hubs.

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       1. 67

          2uesdayposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you -
          
          Thank goodness for that (easier to understand) it is always a pity to see people getting concerned about numbers on profiles etc.
          
          I think the green author box looks much better than the first colorful layout - I thought I might need to get my sun glasses to read the comments

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          1. 60

             Jason Menayanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Thanks, 2uesday.

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          2. 85

             rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             +
             
             I see no problem with it, they're simply numbers. It does look better without the shaded posts.

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15. 0

    EmpressFelicityposted 12 years ago

    I keep all my accolades private, so I thought I'd check out the comment I posted to someone else's hub a few weeks ago to see whether my "commmenter level" (urgh) was visible. I'm glad to say it wasn't.
    
    So there you have it folks. If you don't want your commenter level plastered all over the place for everyone to see, keep your accolades private like I do.
    
    To WriteAngled: I can't stand all these ranks and badges and levels either. It's like being in the sodding Brownies.

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    1. 74

       WriteAngledposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I've got something in my pocket, it belongs across my face.
       I keep it very close at hand, in a most convienient place.
       I'm sure you couldn't guess it if you guessed a long, long while.
       So I'll take it out and put it on, it's a Great Big Brownie Smile!
       
       I've got something on my picture, plastered on my face
       It doesn't motivate me, 'cos I don't want to win no race!
       I'm sure you'll easily guess it, this object I ignore:
       it's the fickle and capricious, pointless Hubber score.
       
       [first verse courtesy of Brownies everywhere]
       
       (My accolades are hidden too, btw)

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       1. 61

          paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          The way mine keep wandering off, maybe I should do the same...

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       2. 0

          EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Love it
          
          I was never a Brownie - my mum tried to get me to join but I was too mulish and wanted to stay at home with my dolls/books/Lego.

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       3. 0

          Brenda Durhamposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Good verse.   Cool, well-rhymed poetry always awes me. 

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       4. 77

          Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I keep mine hidden, too. It seemed like a good idea at the start, and it's a good idea now. LOVE the verse.

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16. 81

    Danette Wattposted 12 years ago

    I agree with many of the comments earlier - these little boxes indicating hub author and commenter level are annoying. As WriteAngled and others have pointed out, it encourages a sense of ranking and competitiveness that I don't think is necessary on HP.

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17. 81

    Mark Ewbieposted 12 years ago

    To be fair to HP they are just continuing a great literary tradition, begun by Shakespeare I believe.  His original transcripts for the sitcoms Hamlet and Macbeth were passed round for review by other great authors of the time, and those authors have left comments in the margins.
    
    Wordsworth uses a yellow pen, Blake used red I believe and he was also a level six commenter - which gives you an idea of the calibre of the writer without the tedium of reading any of their poetry crap.

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    1. 77

       Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       So, some things never change. If there's a way to poke holes in others' contributions for the sake of getting a leg up on another, I guess we learned that a long time ago (with those hand-noted comments, constructive or otherwise). HP is just the electronic version, perhaps masking itself as benefiting the greater (online social) good.
       
       Ranking never replaces constructive criticism.

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    2. 61

       recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Blake - tedious poetry crap !!!!!!!!!!!!   you are going straight to literary hell young man !!
       
       How can you call a guy who hammered his condemnation of society into steel plates and sold them to the very people he was criticising tedious !

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18. 61

    logic,commonsenseposted 12 years ago

    Sounds racist to me.

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