Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying your weekend!
Since i joined this forum, i have literally lost count of the amount of times i have seen asking about how to rank up and how to get merit. It seems fairly straightforward to a lot of us here as its not exactly Quantum Physics. Put the effort in consistently and get rewarded (hopefully).
Where i see a lot of people going wrong here, is the belief that it is impossible to get Merit and rank up in the forum. When you start out here you are a little fish in a big pond so it can be a little intimidating and hard to get recognised initially. Or, what i have seen a good few times now when i have trawled the site looking to give out S-merit and some posts are decent but not quite meritable. I wish there was a way i could signal to the person who's posts i have seen that they are nearly there and definitely on the right track.
So i came up with an idea- a system to recognize posting behaviour.
The Traffic light systemSpam/Crap/poor: If you seen anyone posting crap, this would signal to the member that their posts are not really what we are looking for, and depending on the person (i.e. if they have a good attitude) it gives them a chance to change their posting habits to get on track.
Somewhat agree/ok/on topic: This is to highlight that that the profile user is posting correctly, is relevant and on topic, and there post is of a reasonable standard.
Great post/merit worthy/good standard:To show the profile user that they are definitely on the right track, their post history is decent, and someone to watch.
Rules/Requirements (to be debated obviously)- In order for a member to use the system, they must have attained a required level of Merit or rank (this is to ensure fairness and proof the member who is awarding is indeed trustworthy)
- There would be set amount of these per day/week/month that a user can send
- The 'traffic light' would be displayed on a users profile beside their name, if it were green it would indicate to a merit source (or someone who has S-merit) that this person should be looked at to potentially receive merit (at givers discretion obviously)
- Leaderboard, whereby a member who has been voted throughout the course of a day/week/month could see what they have achieved and to show transparency
Why am i suggesting this?Firstly, let me just say this is just theoretical. I don't know if this could even be put in place as i dont know what the forum is capable of doing with regards to changes or what is possible.
The reason i'm suggesting this, is a LOT of people who i have came across when i have been looking to send S-Merit were very nearly there but not quite Merit worthy. Some are posting good content and getting no recognition. This system would encourage the user to continually post good content as they are officially on the radar if they are in the 'green'. It would encourage the people in the 'red' to post better or be forever ignored, and would show the 'amber' that their input is noted and they actually exist.
With the amount of people here, it is very tough to stand out from the crowd. Some are no doubt discouraged that they are not able to rank up as they are not receiving Merit, this gives support and hope to those who are making an effort. It discourages those who spam, who will then
NEVER have the right to moan again as you could point them immediately to the fact they are posting crap via the in-house traffic light system.
As i said, this is just an idea- one i think could solve a few problems here, and will certainly improve the quality forum wide!
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Oh, and sorry for the long post!