What is "vote"?

[buldog5151bass]

I just saw that one of my posts got a "vote". How does that differ from a "like"?

 

[Sparkl]

Alternately, it's a simple recognition that a person like Bromberg - who was playing with Stan Getz at age 19 and who has gone on to become one of the most technically gifted and prolific bassists alive today on both double bass and bass guitar - might have an opinion on certain topics that has more experience and wisdom to offer than some kid who just bought a Squier, or any number of other folks on this site who apparently spend far more time and energy buying and selling basses than actually playing them.



Well, sure. Selecting examples that don't support the point of view being put forth would be a pretty poorly constructed argument.



I've been here almost 25 years, and in all this time have never had an opinion "forced" on me. If I encounter a discussion involving people who don't seem to be open minded about a topic, I just avoid that discussion.

A pretty good example of forced opinion is discussion regarding cables affecting sound and guitar wood effect on tone. The vast majority will say it won't make a difference - yet it objectively does, it's just that people in general aren't able to hear the difference or bring that difference out when playing. Doesn't mean its a correct popular opinion. And what will upvoting do? It will suggest the OP that there is no difference and yet there is. That's straight up false information.

Your (not YOUR but people in general defending this system) arguments are built upon cases where there is an entity with great objective experience and those field are generally respected also by me. If I'm arguing about amp design and an engineer drops in and explains the objectivity around the laws of electricity and physics in general, we will support that. Any sane person should. But when it comes to sharing opinions, that's where I draw the line. USA is not the world either though and there are many many musicians out there with skills and experience surpassing even these guys but are hidden on this forum. So then what we're dealing with here is the arbitrary call of authority on the matter which seems to be heavily supported on this forum. Interestingly in my country or forums owned by residents of the country I live in, calling on someones authority when objective facts aren't in question is frowned upon. And of you think hard about it, it should be frowned upon. Because opinion is no longer objective talk and fact checking but rather a subjective discussion.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Nobody forces you to sort by votes.

If you keep the default sorting by date, the new system doesn't ruin your user experience.

As others have explained, you like a content because you agree, or you find it amusing.

And you may up-vote for a content if you find it useful for others. Think "if I come back later on this thread and it has grown to 200 pages in the meantime, I will sort it by votes to read the most useful comments first - would I want to see this comment on top of the list?"

Like = I like it
Vote+ = this content is useful = in the future, I want to read it first on top of the list (if I sort by votes)

Sometimes, a content can be enjoyable AND useful, sometimes it can be fun but not so useful.
If it's too sophisticated for you, just ignore the voting system, it really doesn't take up much space

I both liked and upvoted this post.

 

[callofcthulhu]

If I encounter a discussion involving people who don't seem to be open minded about a topic, I just avoid that discussion.

And the forum culture is weaker for it.

Hence the conern in codifying opinions into facts via votes.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

And the forum culture is weaker for it.

Hence the conern in codifying opinions into facts via votes.

That's an opinion that I do not share, but you are certainly welcome to it.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Looks like the vote function has been removed now.

It was one of the few things I actually thought was a benefit of migrating to the new software.

Oh well.

 

[gtirard]

Looks like the vote function has been removed now.

It was one of the few things I actually thought was a benefit of migrating to the new software.

Oh well.

Yeah, sadly.

I'd be interested to know why they removed the best new feature.

I hope it's not because of a minority of super vocal haters, I still don't understand what harm they see in a feature that no-one is obliged to use?

 

[gtirard]

Yeah, sadly.

I'd be interested to know why they removed the best new feature.

I hope it's not because of a minority of super vocal haters, I still don't understand what harm they see in a feature that no-one is obliged to use?

Or maybe they removed it because it was taking too much resources from the server (lots of SQL queries I suppose), for a feature that a majority of potential user don't even see, and a handful of haters criticize in advance.

 

[gln1955]

Pretty sure they are just answering the call to make the new TB as much like the old TB as possible.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Yeah, sadly.

I'd be interested to know why they removed the best new feature.

I hope it's not because of a minority of super vocal haters, I still don't understand what harm they see in a feature that no-one is obliged to use?

and presumably, when you sort by likes, you have the option to sort them in both descending, and ascending order (if you want to see those least popular / most suppressed contributions first - or if you're a contrarian maverick).

Whilst a votes feature isn't going to do much for some of the historic threads that are so huge, they exceed the old forums total page limit, getting split into several volumes of threads, totalling thousands of pages ; moving forward, it's a given that there will continue to be threads debating various aftermarket Precision pickups, running into the hundreds of pages.

In those kind of threads, where you require info to a deadline, the ability to sort not just by the most votes, but also by the least votes has real value.

If it's a topic I have interest in, I'll work my way through it at leisure - but some of those threads equate to months of reading (which is rewarding - at leisure - but insurmountable in a time critical situation).

Many of the objections to the "votes" feature, apply equally to "likes".

The problem with the previous likes system (even if you were to sort posts that way) is that they gave no hint of detail as to whether somebody agreed, believed the info, found the post amusing, or were simply acknowledging the respones, or the effort.

With the combination of likes, votes, and expanded emoji's (all of which are separate tools, with different contextual use) we have a much clearer picture of somebody's intent, and more useful search results.

For example, "likes" always seem truly inappropriate in R.I.P. threads.

If you just want to acknowledge the news, or express an emotional shorthand, rather than composing a eulogy, the expanded emoji's are perfect.

In both that situation, and many others that we encounter on this forum, I can be upset by a demonstrable truth, or even strongly disagree a result, but I can begrudgingly acknowledge its importance by hitting "vote", but I'm certainly not going to hit "like".

 

[Wood and Wire]

Pretty sure they are just answering the call to make the new TB as much like the old TB as possible.

Then for the love of god, sort out the notification / alerts menu.

It used to be immediately obvious at a glance, which new alerts were unread thanks to the little icon next to them (so long ago now, I can't remember if it was a green tick, or a blue flag )

Now everything says either "unread" or "Mark unread" (regardless of preferences) with the definition often split across a couple of lines, depending on the length of the notification / alert - so you cannot tell at a glance, and it's easy to get the wrong impression.

Furthermore : please! please! please! Allow us to clear the list.

 

[gtirard]

and presumably, when you sort by likes, you have the option to sort them in both descending, and ascending order (if you want to see those least popular / most suppressed contributions first - or if you're a contrarian maverick).

Whilst a votes feature isn't going to do much for some of the historic threads that are so huge, they exceed the old forums total page limit, getting split into several volumes of threads, totalling thousands of pages ; moving forward, it's a given that there will continue to be threads debating various aftermarket Precision pickups, running into the hundreds of pages.

In those kind of threads, where you require info to a deadline, the ability to sort not just by the most votes, but also by the least votes has real value.

If it's a topic I have interest in, I'll work my way through it at leisure - but some of those threads equate to months of reading (which is rewarding - at leisure - but insurmountable in a time critical situation).

Many of the objections to the "votes" feature, apply equally to "likes".

The problem with the previous likes system (even if you were to sort posts that way) is that they gave no hint of detail as to whether somebody agreed, believed the info, found the post amusing, or were simply acknowledging the respones, or the effort.

With the combination of likes, votes, and expanded emoji's (all of which are separate tools, with different contextual use) we have a much clearer picture of somebody's intent, and more useful search results.

For example, "likes" always seem truly inappropriate in R.I.P. threads.

If you just want to acknowledge the news, or express an emotional shorthand, rather than composing a eulogy, the expanded emoji's are perfect.

In both that situation, and many others that we encounter on this forum, I can be upset by a demonstrable truth, or even strongly disagree a result, but I can begrudgingly acknowledge its importance by hitting "vote", but I'm certainly not going to hit "like".

Do you mean there's a way to sort a long thread by the number of likes? How do you do that?

 

[Wood and Wire]

Do you mean there's a way to sort a long thread by the number of likes? How do you do that?

Not that I'm aware of (but it wouldn't surprise me).

I never had the need to sort by votes, before that feature was removed (or anybody had a chance to vote across topics, over a long period of time - to actually make it useful), but I could see use for it in the future, and liked that I had the option.




edit :


just noticed "votes" are back.

 

[gtirard]

It's the best new feature: in the middle of a long thread, when somebody suddenly brings the light, you vote for his comment on the right side.
Then when reader want to avoid reading 200 pages of comments, they can sort by votes instead of date, and the best comment will show up first.

It's not so much intended to let people express if the agree or not about a personal opinion, but more to help isolating the most useful and relevant answer in the middle of a long thread.

Imagine a technical question, people reply, and after 3 pages, Agedhorse of Wasnex comes in and give the good answer. You should vote for such comments, so that others will be able to find them easily.

I just noticed that this comment has been marked as a "solution", I don't know it happened? Is it automatic when a comment has reached 30 votes, or did an Admin decide to give this status?

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I didn’t do it. Must be a part of the software.

 

[Wood and Wire]

I just noticed that this comment has been marked as a "solution", I don't know it happened? Is it automatic when a comment has reached 30 votes, or did an Admin decide to give this status?

I would assume automatic : it reinforces the point of this feature, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[gln1955]

I just noticed that this comment has been marked as a "solution", I don't know it happened? Is it automatic when a comment has reached 30 votes, or did an Admin decide to give this status?

What is it a solution to? This sounds like an automated or AI thing done with no understanding of the discussion at hand. Kinda shows how useless this feature is , IMO.

 

[Wood and Wire]

What is it a solution to? This sounds like an automated or AI thing done with no understanding of the discussion at hand. Kinda shows how useless this feature is , IMO.

It answers the question "what is vote?" and gives a valid argument for it's possible uses, and potential benefits.

As such, the peer group has deemed it worth of approval, and collectively voted it to the top of the pile.


Yeah, it's automatic, and certainly in now way "smart" AI - just a dumb running total, but it performs the basic function adequately.