13 votes

How would you feel about "levels" a user could gain with accompanying priviledges?

Lately, there's been talk about new priviledges users could gain, either by requesting them (and being judged as fit) or discussing if everyone should gain a new ability like editing titles

The problem with new priviledges is of course that they can be abused by malicious users. One of the overall goals of Tildes is to trust users, but punish abuse, however I don't see this working with a large userbase. Even if this site grows slowly and the community remains mostly small or perhaps invite only, eventually we will reach a tipping point where the mods, if you want to call them that, won't be able to effectively manage the userbase. I feel like if we locked certain abilities (like editing titles, even within a time limit) behind tiers or levels users could achieve with certain actions, we could manage to keep low-effort trolls out and use it a sort of tutorial, where after certain actions for a new user (like writing their first comment or receiving their first vote) a window could pop up, informing them that they now have gained a new ability like voting, simultaniously explaining what the goal with the actual votes is.

I understand that this would gamify the system, but it would stop new users from abusing the system and lock those more dangerous abilities behind things they needed to do, ideally things that require a time investment so they'd feel less inclined to abuse the tools they've been granted (because they'd value their account more due to said time investment). It would also automate some things for the masses, which would make moderating easier.

An example:

A new user joins the site, at first, he can only vote. After casting his first vote, a message pops up, telling him that he can now post comments. Maybe there's a link to the rules and code of conduct there, maybe just a little tidbit about how stuff works on Tildes. Things that require more trust in the user are locked behind more difficult milestones, maybe editing titles is locked behind writing a hundred comments or receiving a hundred votes, maybe both.

What are your thoughts on this?

6 comments

  1. [5]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [4]
      Grzmot
      Link Parent
      I was not aware that such a system is already planned. You're correct, the idea is the same, just differently named.

      I was not aware that such a system is already planned. You're correct, the idea is the same, just differently named.

      4 votes
      1. [3]
        Amarok
        Link Parent
        We haven't worked out any exact details for this system yet, but that is the general idea. While people use the site, systems will be watching and adding or removing rep from the users based on...

        We haven't worked out any exact details for this system yet, but that is the general idea. While people use the site, systems will be watching and adding or removing rep from the users based on any metrics we can all come up with. Rep will decay with inactivity, but is also likely to be earned back faster once the user becomes active again.

        The fun part of this is working out all of the ways a person can gain and lose reputation. We don't want to make it just about account age, or votes gained, or frequency of visits, or quality of submissions and comments. We want to reward lurkers too - passive reading and voting is still a form of participation.

        12 votes
        1. [2]
          Zeph
          Link Parent
          I'm not sure I agree that passive reading is participation, what are they participating in? Lurkers who upvote are at least contributing in some way.

          I'm not sure I agree that passive reading is participation, what are they participating in? Lurkers who upvote are at least contributing in some way.

          3 votes
          1. Amarok
            Link Parent
            At the least, they are around, deriving some value, and will be familiar with community norms. I think we can rely on them to understand how the place works, even if they choose not to participate...

            At the least, they are around, deriving some value, and will be familiar with community norms. I think we can rely on them to understand how the place works, even if they choose not to participate directly.

            14 votes
  2. mrbig
    Link
    The already linked documentation only refers to moderation powers. In that case, I agree. Besides that, I don't think it's a very good idea. As already mentioned, Stack Overflow does something...

    The already linked documentation only refers to moderation powers. In that case, I agree. Besides that, I don't think it's a very good idea. As already mentioned, Stack Overflow does something similar, but it comes at a price. People there make a conscious effort to get points in order to level up, and not necessarily produce good content. There's a steep hierarchy that leads to abuse. Why should a user be punished for being more of a lurker? And why should someone with controversial (but allowed) positions have less powers because of that? I think such a system does make sense for moderators because that's a public position that requires constant communication, making it inadequate for someone that don't engage often with the community. For everything else, it risks killing the easy-going spontaneity that characterizes Tildes right now.

    3 votes
  3. blanketNTea
    Link
    Stack Overflow seems to have been able to maintain good content through it's reputation system. This forum is very different but looking to a working system might help in designing one here.

    Stack Overflow seems to have been able to maintain good content through it's reputation system. This forum is very different but looking to a working system might help in designing one here.

    2 votes