Hello everyone, On FChat we have group of people that share with us precious informations about pre-production cars that we cant find in any magazine/website/car portal. Problem is that FChat have a lot of members & large threads so sometimes we cant notice member that have "right info", also we sometimes are not aware who is right guy, because we dont follow all peoples post on forum. So I thought FChat admins could select members that proved their reputation with great inside infos straight from factory in past time (in that selection old members could be very helpful because I saw that they recognize guys with right info). They could get under their usernames title like "Trusted source provider". In that way FChat members could easily recognize "guys with right info" and members with right info can be sure that their posts will be noticed & discussed in right way. Thanx for reading, I hope you got my point
Well, today's 'trusted source' may just be someone who had a lucky guess, and end's up tomorrow's 'not-so-trusted source.' Mike
Very true. Is there a way to allow "thumbs up" type responses ("Like"?) *without* actually posting 'em and cluttering up the thread? I know Rob (justifiably) hates the "like" thing Once the poster has 'x' "likes" (in technical?) and a minimal # of dislikes they become "trusted"? Just a thought, Cheers, Ian
We have two categories of titles that are somewhat related to what you're describing. "Honorary" and "Consultant". Honorary users are those who have made significant contributions to the board, usually through their knowledge of the Ferrari marque, cars or models. The first post on this thread lists the current Honorary users. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394673 Consultants are more general, but soon to be phased out. A Consultant is knowledgeable about a subject area of interest to the board, but this includes non-car activities as well as car activities. So just because someone has that title doesn't mean they would be knowledgeable about the Ferrari marque, specific cars or models. In fact, that's one of the reasons they're to be phased out, the title got handed out for a lot of unrelated subject areas and it was later determined that wasn't as useful as first thought. However, generally Consultants are pretty reliable folk and are less likely to assert knowledge they don't have. We've discussed enabling the "reputation" points system in the past, but a major objection is that on some sites it ends up being a popularity meter rather than a knowledge meter.
I vote "NO." Here is why. "Likes" always become a popularity contest. Our pros here don't give a damn about being popular. Not one of them. Although fustrating at first, it forces the FNG to thoroughly READ the board; the posts that interest him/her (YES, we have a couple of accomplished girl mechanichs here). It is very soon appearant who the folks are here who REALLY know. Patience. The truth will be revieled. First hint: Most that KNOW, do not post that often. One of the best, can be one of the most abrasive here. The others who really know pretty much come across "dead-pan." READ. Enjoy and get to know the community. The "Cream" will rise. I am not part of the "Cream." But I am learning all the time and I try to post very, very little of which I do NOT know from direct, hands-on experience. And when I do, I try to caveat it always.
Consultants should have háve their area of expertise listed after the word "Consultant" Would greatly help other members direct thier question toward the right SMEs.
+1 RD *really* cares about being popular after all! +1 I certainly hear you. Longevity, subscription status and # of posts are other stuff that I've learnt lends "credibility". But, OTOH, *if* the "votes" were only available to the mods there wouldn't be a public "competition" to see who's most popular. Kind of a background thing - You post enough good stuff that folks appreciate and you eventually get "trusted dude" status? Cheers, Ian
People with trusted sources dont have lucky guess. They speak with people involved in process. They dont "guess". Regular members like to guess & speculate about things that they would like to see on car, because they dont have access to people that are directly involved. Also I am not fan of "Like" buttons & reputation points. From your explanation of "Honorary" and "Consultant" members, they are not members that I am talking about. This kind of member selection is not meant to make some people popular. It should make them easily recognizable in this big community. Also that will give good animation for them to try even harder to get reliable info because they will be aware that their word will be noticed. I admit that this kind of member selection requires time & effort from admins - and for them this is questionable process. Why? Well members will benefit, but FChat would spent time & effort for nothing from their point of view. If you take a look on longer distance, FChat could build reliable members base that will later provide hottest info in Forum sections that are restricted to subscribed members. But like I said that will not happen for few days. Building that base of members would take time & effort, but could be very good for future. Cheers, Milanno.
If you want reliable information don't look to the internet. All it takes to be an expert is a keyboard and an internet connection. The information you get here is worth every penny you spent for it. If you want good information go out and find a real live human being with a name, a reputation, and bona fides. You won't find it here.
Since you're posting on the internet, how do we know that your assessment of people who post on the internet vs. real live human beings is reliable & trustworthy?
Kind of a catch 22 isn't it? After all, I am just one of the self professed experts with a key board. If you ignored my advice and everyone else's here I'd be happy.
I never really liked titles. I don't mind if others like to attach one to their name but never really my thing. But thanks for thinking of me.
I sincerely hope you thought about adding a "smiley" above...... I stand by my assertion, and I'm pretty sure you've said it yourself, that you're not here to win any popularity contests. [How's that for getting back on track ] You're here to offer up; http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=142040012&postcount=11 Those that know, know. As mentioned above; READ and learn. I think the ball remains in my court unfortunately. Cheers, Ian
I don't think titles are that useful under current conditions. Regardless of a user's title, a user's posts add up over time and people get to know who to trust and who not to trust. You've earned a lot of trust for your contributions and have many fans on here. I wouldn't want to be in the position of anointing experts myself as I couldn't discriminate except by hearsay. So I don't agree with putting it on the mods. If we were to go down the road of some kind of "expert" recognition at all, it might be best to do it with a peer group of founding experts that accepted new members into the ranks as a matter of mutual professional recognition.
As a source of technical information it sucks, just like all other chat sites. Signal to noise ratio off the meter.
Most of the 'trusted sources' on this site are known quantities and do not need that title. There are some fantastic experts here, and the only thing I want is for them to post more.
+1 What it seems the OP was after was a way to "short circuit" the time needed to weed the trusted from the noise. An admiral objective IMO. Fair comment. I stand corrected. Interesting thought........ Cheers, Ian
There's plenty of noise as well, and I used to be guilty of adding to it. As I learned from ownership of 360 and then F430, I would interject very often in the forum when I saw something similar to what I'd been through. I bet I was wrong pretty often and learned in time to STFU. Maybe two titles, your board title, F1 Champ, Karting, what have you. And then your ownership or experience title. After just two years of ownership, I'd still be a rookie in the experience title, I would hope. But since I'm a post a lot, newbies might look at my post count and actually thing I have something valuable to offer...heh heh heh Though my situation on Corvetteforum is even worse. I owned a C5 for a couple of years starting in '99, joined corvetteforum, posted a few times and didn't go back for over a decade. Bought a new vette last year, and the lifetime thing over there and now is says 10 year veteran lifetime member with a bunch of gold stars. ****, like getting a merit badge for watching television.