2015.07.16 Daily Dose: Don't Forget the Snapzu Blog!
The Daily Dose is a user-created discussion series where Snapzu members can check in with each other in a relaxed environment.
We are experimenting with different formats and ideas, so feedback is very welcome!
Hi Snapzu! I am sushmonster and /u/moderator has kindly given me the honor of hosting the Daily Dose discussions on Thursdays. While we are still looking for ideas to focus thursday's posts on -- quite like how wonderfully /u/glassdotter hosts the Tribe Talk Tuesdays -- in the meanwhile I will be highlighting one blog post from the Snapzu blog every week.
This week we are going to look at the blog post [Optimization] We have released an update that optimizes a number of pages. Snapzu's community has been growing at a rapid speed, and as much as we are delighted for the growth, it also means that the admins need to constantly work towards ensuring the site runs smoothly while handling so much traffic. The blog allows us to see that we're in good hands, as admins keep us on the loop about even small updates.
So be sure to follow /t/blog if you haven't done so already!
Also be sure to follow /t/ideasforsnapzu and if you think you have ideas that will enhance the experience of this community, posts your ideas for the admins!
Discussion
The above blog raised two discussion points that I wanted to raise again here. The first is regarding downvotes. The Snapzu policies on downvotes are an important factor of this community: as you have probably already heard before, the downvote doesn't serve as an "I disagree/I dislike" button. If you do disagree with a post, please take a few moments to tell us why. This is far more productive and promotes a healthier community. Now is an opportunity to share your thoughts on downvotes below.
Secondly, there was also a discussion about the level of communication, or how detailed the admins should be in providing updates. I personally appreciate the transparency and merely the fact that we get updated about any changes at all, what do you think is the optimal level of communication for a site like Snapzu?
Join the Discussion
I'll focus on talking about communication since the downvote system has already plenty of suggestions both in and out of this discussion thread and in /t/ideasforsnapzu: Mandatory Reason for Downvote.
I think the optimal level of communication should be weekly as it stands. It's great to see the admins comment and post throughout the week on various snaps and discussion posts. I also like having weekly updates on the site (at least I think it has been?) because even if it's only minor improvements, etc. it's nice to see that there has been some improvement / changes. Obviously, it isn't necessary to change stuff every week, so other weeks could be just updates on the community and where the site is going, how much it's growing, and things like that.
I know I can take it for granted because I'm on every day so a week seems really long, but I think that is the perfect amount of communication.
EDIT: Also, thanks for all the great work :)
It's great to see these "Daily Dose" posts being created, the level of creativity happening here is inspiring!
In regards to the discussion, I have posted a blog update on the voting system that I feel everyone should read before continuing discussions here. It would actually be great if some of the ideas gathered here can be cross posted into the update so that we can keep track of all the great ideas in one easy to locate thread.
And done. Thanks!
I was under the impression that you had to give a reason for a downvote, but I just tried it on this post (don't worry I removed it again), but I didn't see anything appear for the explanation. Do I have to wait a while for that pop-over to appear? Perhaps that should load quicker, if that's the case.
It doesn't work for comments and text posts yet. I'm given to understand that that this is being considered for future updates to the site.
However, even downvotes for snaps don't require a reason given they just invite one. The majority of the downvotes my snaps have received have no reason listed, which suggests strongly to me that someone was simply butthurt and used the downvote to register their disagreement.
They really should require it.
I agree, but there's some disagreement about that. My compromise is to make the downvote not count toward rep without a reason listed, but some people don't like that either.
Well, to be fair, Whatever decision the admins will take concerning the downvote system, there will be unhappy people with it. Best to take the system that the majority of people agrees with, unless we can find a miraculous system that everyone likes...but I'm not seeing it.
Clearly there's no way to make everyone happy at once, we can only promote those ideas we feel would minimize the promotion of a hostile environment. I'm okay with disagreement on how to approach this, I merely wanted to point out where the conversation has gone so far.
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Hello!
Well first of all, for the downvote system, I had an idea yesterday, which I will repost here : The upvote system already servers the purpose of weeding out the best content and sending it to the top. A downvote currently acts much the same way, but with added force, which really isn't all that useful.
Why not make the downvote give a reason for the downvote, which could be transparent to the owner of the comment.
Example:
This comment has 5 downvotes:
3x Harassing
1x non-constructive (does not contribute)
1x Bad Language
Reasons I see would be a downvote:
Harassment (covers hate speech and racism and others), Does not contribute to the discussion, Violent language, spam, Troll, Over self-promoting, Does not belong to the tribe.
The downvote system should work like a soft report system, instead of a disagree button. And since there is no disagree choice in there, you limit the times the system will be abused.
As for communication, I really like the transparency displayed by the admins here. The more involved admins will be in actually explaining things to their community, the less the risk of a backlash in case of a misunderstood move, but much more than that, I really like to see involved admins. It makes it seem much more important and personal, to me.
I was under the impression that a system very similar to what you are describing was already in place. When you down vote you are asked for a reason why you down voted that is displayed to the poster so they knew why they were being down voted.
I thought I read that somewhere. I could be mistaken though.
I test downvoted you, and the upvoted you after to balance, but the only thing that happens is your get -1, and nothing popped up.
As mentioned above categorization of downvotes only applies to snaps, not text posts or comments.
Yeah, I saw it just after replying. Thanks for the update!
You're welcome!