First, let me briefly state the case FOR the ratings system:

  1. Due to the alarming number of families who have failed to make the best choice with respect to the important question of unsupervised computer time for teens, the ratings system is intended to be a valuable tool in reducing the trollage level.

  2. Some individuals receive a psychologial benefit from getting “high scores” and this encourages more participation.

Now for some full disclosure. I never read the hidden comments, and I never “troll rate” anybody, so I have no dog in this fight. I could care less what number people rate my posts, to me the only utility of this feature is an indication that somebody read it, so there’s another check in the “pro ratings” column for you.

I have read lots of opinions on the ratings system, usually having to do with people giving low scores to people whose opinions they disagree with, which apparently is not supposed to be done, but people do it. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone give a low score to a post and then reply agreeing with it, having given the low score because they thought it did not add enough to the thread or something.

And I have read posts from people who are disgruntled because they say everybody gives only high scores and that defeats the purpose. They, too, have a point, but in both cases, you run up against human nature. If someone posts something that is neither well written, nor original, but reflects your own point of view, you are unlikely to give that person a low score, no matter how enamored of the point system you may be.

My objection to the point system also has to do with human nature, but I think it also has a more significant effect on content.

People do not want to get low scores, so they will not always say what they think. Or they will try to disguise it, wrap it in a phrase maze and try to express it as understatedly and euphemistically as possible. I know, I have done it myself. Not because I give a cheneyfart about points, but because plain speaking has become such an anathema that if one engages in it, one runs the risk of diverting the focus from the content itself to the extraordinary scandal that someone has called a spade a spade, as opposed to “an object that might, depending on cultural context, be considered by some to veer a little too closely to lend itself to being perceived as something almost spade-like.”

Now this is just my opinion. I recognize that for a lot of folks, that’s a good thing. Keep those opinions nice and centrist. Right down the middle. Make the site look good.

But it is also deceptive. A spade is a spade, and people who don’t have a problem with saying so should not be deterred by the spectre of low game points on a message board, and neither should those who do not recognize the existence of spades.

I will close with a word of encouragement to those who mince words to avoid low scores, or feel bad when they get them.  Unless you were blatantly “trolling,” that low score just might be a badge of honor. It might mean that you forced someone to face an ugly truth, about their country, or themselves.

Like a wounded animal, they gave you a low score. But you made them think, and that has the potential, in the current circumstances, to save a life.