Should We Add a Reputation System?

[Pat Puffer]

Great stuff, ideas, and attitudes being represented here.

 

[Icemud]

There used to be one here( I think) .. and honestly I never really paid it any attention at all.

I don't think a rating/kudos/props/rep meter would signify much other than whos popular.

... And just because someone is popular, or has been a member for a long time, or "thinks" they know what their talking about isn't always true. I've seen times when very popular members give out horrible advice, and i've seen times when someone very new to the forum has a world of real world experience to offer.

I say leave the forum as is, less work for staff, less false trust in a rep meter which could be easily pumped by popularity but giving false sense a popular person = guru. Not always the case.

 

[Jonny5]

Ice mud just hit the nail on the head...

 

[Pat Puffer]

Someone made mention of the post itself receiving the rating and not so much the member themselves. That's sounding keen. Then again any member who has given those recognized answers aren't represented as such a member when they chime into answer a new growers question, but that new grower would be able to see on their own post what answers collectively have been judged to be the best.

This is why we're hashing it out.

 

[Icemud]

Someone made mention of the post itself receiving the rating and not so much the member themselves. That's sounding keen. Then again any member who has given those recognized answers aren't represented as such a member when they chime into answer a new growers question, but that new grower would be able to see on their own post what answers collectively have been judged to be the best.

This is why we're hashing it out.

I think still this would be misleading... I've seen posts get tons of likes that are flat out wrong or bad advice, but got a lot of likes because the person who made the post was popular.

Especially in the cannabis world when hearsay is many times translated as gospel, it could be horribly wrong advice but if you get enough people to repeat the bad advice it becomes "truth" to those. I believe this is called the Illusory Truth Effect.

I mean one example... how many people have heard "50w per sq foot for plant lighting"... this advice has been echo'd for decades and although "could be" used as guidance.... and probably could get a ton of "rep" points if proposed on a noobs lighting question...but, It couldn't be further from the right way of looking at plant lighting... especially in today's LED lighting world. A post like that could be completely misleading however due to the "echochamber" of decades of hearing this, a post like that could be rated very highly and is completely the wrong way to judge plant lighting.

Or look at OG kush origin story as it was "ocean grown" for decades this was the legend and come to find out years later it was a plant under some stairs in florida that hermied and was brought to california. All those that heard OG Kush meant Ocean grown would far outrank (with a rating system) the truth because so many more heard the ocean grown story over the years vs the actual truth with Josh D and Bubba.

I think the simple bring it back to the basics of "use your god given noodle" and take online advice as what it is... and use your noodle to research it, understand it and come to your own conclusion on what is the correct "advice" is the best method.

 

[Papa OG]

I think still this would be misleading... I've seen posts get tons of likes that are flat out wrong or bad advice, but got a lot of likes because the person who made the post was popular.

Especially in the cannabis world when hearsay is many times translated as gospel, it could be horribly wrong advice but if you get enough people to repeat the bad advice it becomes "truth" to those. I believe this is called the Illusory Truth Effect.

I mean one example... how many people have heard "50w per sq foot for plant lighting"... this advice has been echo'd for decades and although "could be" used as guidance.... and probably could get a ton of "rep" points if proposed on a noobs lighting question...but, It couldn't be further from the right way of looking at plant lighting... especially in today's LED lighting world. A post like that could be completely misleading however due to the "echochamber" of decades of hearing this, a post like that could be rated very highly and is completely the wrong way to judge plant lighting.

I think the simple bring it back to the basics of "use your god given noodle" and take online advice as what it is... and use your noodle to research it, understand it and come to your own conclusion on what is the correct "advice" is the best method.

Exactly use your noodle. Log into @420 get your edumacation on. Make some adult decisions, learn, move forward, new day ..... Repeat

 

[CaptainLucky]

At the end of the day, which do you think is more important, feeding someone's ego or giving someone proper advice?

Imho due diligence is up to the individual, buyer beware . CL

 

[CaptainLucky]

I think still this would be misleading... I've seen posts get tons of likes that are flat out wrong or bad advice, but got a lot of likes because the person who made the post was popular.

Especially in the cannabis world when hearsay is many times translated as gospel, it could be horribly wrong advice but if you get enough people to repeat the bad advice it becomes "truth" to those. I believe this is called the Illusory Truth Effect.

I mean one example... how many people have heard "50w per sq foot for plant lighting"... this advice has been echo'd for decades and although "could be" used as guidance.... and probably could get a ton of "rep" points if proposed on a noobs lighting question...but, It couldn't be further from the right way of looking at plant lighting... especially in today's LED lighting world. A post like that could be completely misleading however due to the "echochamber" of decades of hearing this, a post like that could be rated very highly and is completely the wrong way to judge plant lighting.

Or look at OG kush origin story as it was "ocean grown" for decades this was the legend and come to find out years later it was a plant under some stairs in florida that hermied and was brought to california. All those that heard OG Kush meant Ocean grown would far outrank (with a rating system) the truth because so many more heard the ocean grown story over the years vs the actual truth with Josh D and Bubba.

I think the simple bring it back to the basics of "use your god given noodle" and take online advice as what it is... and use your noodle to research it, understand it and come to your own conclusion on what is the correct "advice" is the best method.

Oops I just can’t seem to stop hitting quote. Smh. CL

 

[HappyHazmat88]

I personally like how things are and a firm believer in not changing something that isn't broken.

But as far as "getting good advice", each green enthusiast grows differently and to say they gave bad advice is subject to debate.... Something's work for some and do not work for others... As I've experienced this personally.

I think the reputation system would just end up discrediting an other wise talented grower due to someone not having luck with the advice given or them failing to perform the advice properly and making the advice giver look bad.

So I'm not sure this would work personally. But I and we appreciate any upgrades to the systems and all improvements to the site for the community.

 

[Savvage61]

I voted yes but the more I think about it Im starting to wonder. I been here about a yr I started out clueless I grow pretty decent pot I have a lot of hard earned knowledge Please Dont think I am bragging although I have learned a lot I still have a lot to learn the way I learned is to first try to find a answer already in the forum, if I dont find it or it is out dated I ask in the forum But most of the time I go to the grower who took me under their wing and taught me a lot of what I know. there are a lot of growers I trust Bill284, stone otter,tokin roll. Melvil Buds, happy Haz and many more the way I knew I could trust thier knowledge is by running straight to their journals and looked at their grows. what if we figured out a way to give someone a star or a gold pot leave as a quality and trusted grow. Even me as a newer grow have knowledge to help people to a point.as most of us here can I do know if you are willing to make the effort the people are here and you go from rag weed to top shelf. I woulder if having a designated "helper" would I have made the effort to find my answers and learn more in the process ? just my thoughts
* I would recommend only people interested in taking the time to teach

 

[bluter]

really does it matter ? give it a shot if you think it's gonna solve something, keep it if it works, toss it if it causes trouble. you won't know unless you give it a try.

you may lose a few people if it turns in to a dumpster fire, but the core will stick around while it gets fixed.

At the end of the day, which do you think is more important, feeding someone's ego or giving someone proper advice?

the danger is in conflating the two. you wind up with one or two folk dominating the board if it gets out of control, and the majority fall away. seen it loads of times. the whole place folds up in to a couple egos.

That's all fine and dandy, until someone gets bad advice and ruins a $3000 grow and now their sick and dying mother doesn't get the meds she needs and she dies.

extreme example and i can't see it getting that far. in most threads i see a lot of good growers and decent advice being given. if something is incorrect, it pretty much always gets called out and fixed.

You've got to think outside of your bubble with your own limited experiences, we are trying to help everyone here. Please help me come up with a solution.

i'm not sure this is the solution you are looking for on the back end. i'm not convinced it actually reduces the work load. you could point to the rep rating as a disclaimer and walk away from a potential problem, but is that what works at the end of the day ?

Good point, however if a hundred growers all voted on the best answer, we stand a much better chance of highlighting the proper advice for the person who needs it. It's all about helping the member, not about giving accolades to people who reply to every question there is.

i doubt you'll get that kind of response. likely you'll get a consensus among 3 or 4 replying to a given problem but that's exactly what happens now.

Thank you for your opinion, but that's not going to cut it for me. People come here for advice on anything from a plant in a closet to a 5000 plant warehouse or field. With all due respect, I disagree with you completely.

anyone who comes here for a 5000 plant warehouse is gonna need a lot more resources and help than they will find here.

there are professional guys here with grows approaching this size and they don't really dole out advice to others doing a large grow. the assumption is that you've got backing and decent advice if undertaking anything this size.

commercial growers don't really hang out here. the few commercial growers i know aren't even allowed to participate in forums. they'd get fired in an heartbeat if caught out.

Kind of, we're exhausted from getting reports in the back about people giving wrong advice. Sometimes we get long winded people that send us page long dramatic situations and demand us to investigate, or else. After half a dozen of us spend a collective 12 hours working on investigating and discussing what to do, then the member has a temper tantrum and leaves the site and we not only lost the member, but that 12 hours that 6 of us will never get back. There are a thousand examples I could give, this is just one. The list is endless.

i kinda feel that's on the grower, not you, the board, or the person who gave 'wrong' advice. there's always more than one piece of advice or person chiming in on any given issue. as a general rule the members will usually agree on what they feel is the correct course of action. the grower may or may not follow the advice, and they may or may not do it correctly.

So I figured if we put that responsibility on the community itself, and remove us from the picture, you all could police yourself in that regard, saving us a thousand hours a year from stuff we never should have been forced to deal with to begin with.

i don't think it'll stop bad advice or folk following bad advice. what are you gonna do if a bunch of high rep folk decide it's time to take a break or get poached to go elsewhere ?

the rep thing is a great way for other start up boards to identify and poach well-known posters to populate their sites. that happens an amazing amount on other boards.

In my mind I see this helping the person looking for help, and the community as a whole, and my staff from wasting valuable time energy and money on somebody's drama from a misunderstanding on how to water a plant or if you should balance your pH or flush or not.

that's not why you're here. unsure why you are wading in to it anyway. there are well established threads covering all the basics in every grow style. that's what posters should be directed to if they start tossing a hairball over stuff.

We spend almost all of our time dealing with drama from trolls, tattletales, crybabies and trouble makers. If we could limit some of that, weed have time to create content and take us to the next level. Otherwise, we just keep spinning wheels while the rest of the industry takes off without us. We are not social workers or psychologists, we are activists, entrepreneurs and volunteers on a mission to change international laws.

the forum is a side show. with all the circus that comes with it. i'd leave it as such unless you want to make it central.

Gets back to what I just said to GratefulBud. I think it's a cop out to do that, we want to be the definitive source for cannabis advice.

you've achieved that in the present format. you can tinker with it but you've already got the formula.

I think it's a beyond terrible idea to send our people searching for help, to other sites to confirm what we said was good. Makes zero sense in my mind logically.

99% of the questions have been posed and answered correctly hundreds of times right here. it's always the exact same stuff over and over. there's only so many ways to make the wheel. a lot of times it's just folk too lazy to use a search function. that's not your issue. that's the grower.

you can run with a rep system. it won't bother me. but i figure you'll just get the same folk you have now, only more solidly entrenched in the echo chamber.

i don't even follow the current reaction score and trophy points. i noticed the trophy points max at 113 which i got a kick out of. no idea what it means.

 

[GratefulBud]

OK so where do you suggest them to go to research the help they got from here then?

I mean, didn't they search everywhere to come to the best place to get advice already?

We're growing plants, not doing brain surgery.

Nobody should have to goto another site to cross check if the advice they got here is correct.

Search this site. Don't just take some yahoo's advice.
Take the advice from several yahoos. LOL!

 

[cbdhemp808]

Somebody wake me up when it's all over.

 

[Savvage61]

is the problem people aren't getting help? if I ask a question on the forum I always get 3-4 different points of view or clarification .if you start rating who gives the better advice as said earlier said it will be all about ego I voted yes in a haste without thinking I learned so much from many different users. I have friends who have grown for years askking me how to and that's because i spent the last year 420U. I anwser questions on the forum for new growers all the time but keep them with in my skill level. I feel it is only right to help others the way I have been helped.

 

[Jonny5]

When you get a complainer and there saying.. oh I got bad advice and it cost me $ 3000 or I lost 5000 plants,, how are you confirming that? Or are you taking their word for gospel ,, I can see where you are trying to go with this, to be the best of the best, but in most situation unless you are actually in the same room, hands on , some things just can’t be fixed by looking at a picture, and if the person that is doing the grow had things so screwed up before coming to 420 it was already a failure,? how is that on you or any info that was given? I just can’t believe a person with 5000 plants could put that on you,, if you’re gonna grow 5000 plants you better know what is what BEFORE you plant your first seed,,you can’t plant in a swamp or a dessert and expect 420 to fix it,, and if it is a group of want to be gorilla grower that have very limited knowledge.. we’ll its a learning curve.. most people tend to exaggerate when there pistoff,, And Just using 420 as a release for their failure... and again I ask how do you confirm what they have lost???

 

[GreenFingaz]

Exactly use your noodle. Log into @420 get your edumacation on. Make some adult decisions, learn, move forward, new day ..... Repeat

I think any1 who wants to start out can choose whatever they fancy and then ask the questions on that certain style of grow. 420mag is for everybody to enjoy as there aint another spot on the internet like it. with so many positive minds everybody can bring something for someone

 

[Lerugged]

What about suggesting to new members to only take advice that has been agreed is correct by 2 other well known members? As a few people have mentioned already, bad advice is usually picked up and corrected very quickly.
I have a lot of experience growing and breeding landrace sativa. (Not a brag, I don't know a lot of stuff)
Just yesterday I gave advice to someone asking about flowering a landrace sativa outdoors and it was horrible advice. Like super kak. However it wasn't meant with malice, I simply didn't read or missed a very important sentence about only one month left until summer. Another member replied and I reread his question and immediately corrected myself.
Point is, mistakes happen (often when rhe herb is involved *lol*.
Maybe it's easier for you Rob and crew if you make a note that advice is best taken when confirmed by other growers. .takes the pressure off you and you achieve what you want, a self managing system .
You guys do a great job, I mean that sincerely
Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this essay

Some sunny summer skies to light the day for all going through winter.
Peace

 

[Lerugged]

Ps. I learn tons of new stuff on this forum and specifically in the journals.
It is especially interesting to me when people disagree about stuff and hash it out and throw down some hard facts. I don't read journals where people are nasty. Often there is some to and fro and in between there are some factual gems to be picked up.
People could also just ask who is the best to ask about xxx
Ie. Problem with LOS outdoors: growers with experience drop your knowledge here. No hydro. Please and thank you.
Ok done

 

[Mudballs]

nice work everyone involved, we stopped the spread of wokeness....maybe. He can still implement it but we've done our part and i'm proud of those of you that saw it for what it really is. (hat tip)

 

[Keffka]

Man it pumps me up so much seeing so many people share such well thought out opinions. This is why the rep system makes me nervous. Most of us will just ignore it, we either don’t have time or don’t care for it. However that’s because we’re not new and quite a few of us are hostile toward authority.

When people are given “titles” or even the illusion of authority others tend to just fall in line. They stop questioning, they stop disagreeing, and they just follow. Obviously many of us are ambivalent at best toward authority but let’s not pretend we don’t see the real world and how easily people can be convinced authority knows best.

A lot of humans have been brought up to be naturally kowtowed by authority. When folks with “rep” step in, a lot of those cog in the machine traits instantly activate and now you’ve got followers when you want thinkers. This will most certainly lead to a clash between anti authorities and authorities if for no other reason than pure contempt. Now you’ve got innocent growers stuck in between rep stars and OGs, making us all look bad.

The anti rep group will constantly look for ways to undermine the rep group, and this will detract from the overall mission of a strong community looking to spread knowledge and awareness. A community should police itself, when individuals are given influence over any community it breeds resentment.

We see it happen in science a lot.. A select few are raised on high as geniuses and definitive resources, never to be questioned, which leads to a stranglehold on experimentation, alternative thoughts and methods. Then next thing you know, 20 years later it turns out those geniuses were dead wrong and the entire field needs to be rewritten.

I personally believe knowledge and learning works best in a lightly moderated forum where all are on equal footing. Allowing some to ascend higher than others is asking for a problem, especially when that ascension happens because one person has more free time than another.

I see what your goal is Rob, I just don’t think the rep system is the answer to that. You’re gonna get people who are solely here just for the titles and reps. I will personally spend more time thinking about different ways for you to accomplish what you’re attempting without having to give people trophies and stars. I know this doesn’t mean much but if I’m gonna Buck your solution I should have one of my own.