There has been a decent amount of chatter over the increase in frequency of down votes. As a reminder of when to down vote, "if someone flames or wages a personal attack, then down vote. Do not down vote for disagreeing with someone's opinion. In general, vote up way more often than you vote down."
I spent my lunch reviewing the logs and there is almost no abuse of the system. In all, only 330 people have ever down voted a user. For a rapidly growing site with over 2,400 users, that's not bad at all. I quantified my statement of, "vote up way more often than you vote down", at 20%. Only 44 people down voted >= 20% of the time. 14 of those 44 folks had single < 10 total votes. I sent an email out to some of the folks >= 20% and >= 10 votes, and a few others who had curious habits. (Voting for things that were innocent.) There are also some "power voters", who have down voted over hundreds of things, but have up voted in the thousands. I thought that was rather interesting.
After the Duke loss, a few folks who had sparse commenting history hopped on the site to rant, then mildly flame replies that countered their opinion. I'm going to need to figure out how to deter that in the future. However, for what the Internet is, and compared to other Hokie websites, I'm pretty proud of how everyone conducted themselves after the loss. I'm not going to say from who, but a father of one of our current starters emailed me to let me know how much he thought of the site and discussions on it after the game. Thank you to everyone who posts, comments, and makes this a fun place to hang out and discuss Hokie football.
Comments
Hey Joe, thanks for all your hard work and effort.
Joe - thanks for posting this. I agree most people on the site are very respectful. I myself have downvoted a few times by accident...damn you Steve Jobs/iPhone!...seems like it's very easy to hit it when scrolling. Is there a way to change your vote? Once you downvote you can't upvote or remove your vote.
Also, would it make sense to take away from your turkey leg count for providing a vote? Maybe makes sense to "charge" more for downvotes since they are more severe.
Overall top-shelf, man! Best site on the ole internet!
That's awesome that a parent of a starter went out of their way to let you know they appreciated the content and attitude of TKP. Keep up the great work Joe!
Annnnnnnnd now I'm curious about my voting statistics...
yeah me too
I didn't realize there were that many users! I've only been a member for a couple months now but I LOVE this place and it feels like a much smaller community than that.
That kind of makes sense though, my whole time at Tech I knew it was a huge school but it never felt that big.
thanks for your input on voting habits. It doesn't appear to be as bad as we're all making it out to be.
Don't know if you could look into this (or would even be willing to) but I think I've downvoted maybe 3 comments but I'm certain I've given well over 1000 upvotes by now...any truth to that?
I'm sure there are plenty of people like me, I've been a member for a while but have only recently started contributing to the conversation.
I've been lurking around this site for a while now. I started my account when someone said something that I hardcore agreed with. I signed up and clicked up. Then I found out that I needed 20 legs to vote up. I then continued to comment on their post saying that I appreciated what they had said, and begun my quest to get enough turkey legs to vote him up. Nothing felt nearly so satisfying as getting those first twenty legs.
And then there are those of us that have transferred over from other blogs (ie FBS, TSL, NEZ).
I used to bounce back and forth between gobblercountry and thenorthendzone, ...then I found this glorious website and I just knew, "I'm home."
I had no idea Joe worked for the NSA...
Good stuff, Joe, and thanks for posting this. It's very interesting.
2400 USERS?!??!??
I love the whatever is exploding over his shoulder just moments after his "explosion."
Great work Joe. This is to be expected when we lose a game we aren't supposed to lose. Thing is, we are all Hokies. We will brush ourselves off, get ready for BC and move along. Just like the team, some came out of last week a little banged up, but they (and we) are still here for the long haul! Go Hokies and let's put a W on the board this week.
I cant stop watching him flick his own hair
Does Sam Rogers have a father?
Yes.
Midi-chlorians.
Up-vote for semi-obscure SW reference...and an EXCELLENT explanation of parentage!
Yes, Buck.
SAM ROGERS is SAM ROGERS' father.
-Book of Frank, Game 8
Can I get a 'Go Hokies'?!
Go Hokies!
it only took 1 hour and 52 min!
received 50 down votes for stating my opinion after the duke game crew reporting in
-edit: first post since then. Looks like well over 50
That soccer bashing, it'll get after ya. Mostly kidding, I just went to your latest posts, and yeah, you got annihilated in the heat of the post-game. Personally, I'm pretty sure I've only down voted once, that being whoever broke out "chokies" yesterday I think. Everyone can have an opinion, but don't bring Wahoo-talk to this board. If you have ever called these guys chokies, you're not a fan.
This is a good part of the reason why I held off on the boards for about a day and a half or so.
THANK YOU!!!
I hate the term chokies...
It causes a deep pain in my chest
I think they call that a heart attack. You should maybe go to a hospital. Stat.
I need to amend my Turkey Leg decision process to include this avatar.
I've down voted many a time, but I can't recall ever down voting unless reasons. I've down voted negativity, vulgarity, classlessness, politics, chokies...the list goes on!
I'm actually kind of interested in seeing what my up/down vote ratio it.
Yea, along the downvote for Wahoo-talk lines, I usually only downvote for horribly negative posts or when people are going back and forth at each other. I feel as if having an objective, slightly positive viewpoint on things in this forum just makes the forums a friendlier place, and that led to getting one of the emails....so in that case, I just won't vote on anything anymore.
Don't take it to heart. If the reminder didn't apply to you, ignore it. I didn't have the time to look at every single comment that was voted on, so my numbers didn't have context of the comments themselves. After sending the email, I thought about another way to analyze, looking at the ratio of the comments' up:down, but honestly I don't have the time to keep investing in this.
At the end of the day, a down vote doesn't mean much, unless they come in volume, in which case they are probably deserved. There have only been 3 accounts banned (they dropped under the -25 turkey legs) necessary to do anything in the website. In all 3 cases it was deserved.
My ratio probably isn't that good as far as upvoting and downvoting. I don't know what the numbers would look like, though. I wouldn't doubt that I have 100 downvotes and 1000 upvotes
The identity of the player is now the only piece of information I've ever wanted.
I'm going to upvote every comment on this forum. Just because.
To Joe and all of my fellow TKP-ers, a golf clap for being civil and generally awesome. I love you all. Let's keep up the good work.
To my pleasure after lurking for a while I've shifted over to TKP instead of Reddit... I think I'm gonna like it here.
I've been seeking a way to get away from that UVa grad run site for years.
But no. In all seriousness, trying to find a good place to talk about Hokie football is hard, and this is just a good place for it.
I wish I could upvote you 100 times for using anything from Men at Work.
...Which would be 75 more VCR tapes than they sold for it (yet, I watch it EVERY time it's on).
...and 99 more fans that at the UVA spring game.
?
It should be noted trying to maintain a sports blog with a civil atmosphere, is almost revolutionary in concept! Sometimes, our emotions get the best of us.
Thank you for maintaining this site, joe, it's all first-rate work! This community of Hokies is truly something special.
Really? Zima in a flute? (joke, don't flame me.)
Shoulda offered him a piece of pie.
Turkey leg to you.
nice...I am an upvote whore...i throw out turkey legs like a two dollar hooker.
I've never met a two-dollar hooker. But if she had actual turkey legs, like the ones you can buy at football games...I'd give it a go.
The image in my head from this comment is hilarious.
I'm no programmer but here is my thought process:
- Does the comment make fun of UVA?
-- Yes = Turkey Legs!
-- If no, does the comment make me laugh?
--- Yes = Turkey Legs!
--- If no, does the comment involve food?
---- Yes = Turkey Legs!
---- If no, does the comment contribute to the conversation?
----- Yes = Turkey Legs!
----- If no, then is the comment bashing, flaming, trolling, being unnecessarily argumentative?
------ Yes = Downvote
------ else, do nothing.
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
A TKP downvoter.
A TKP downvoter who?
A TKP downvoter who just smashed a pie in the face of an LOLUVa fan.
That'll be 4 turkey legs please.
But you're going to get down voted by #teamcake!
Random side note, this is the first time I have ever used a hashtag in any way, and I just feel dirty.
I think I used a # for the first time about 24 hours after the loss when referencing LOLUVA. The stench still won't come off completely.
There really is just something that feels...not quite right about using the hashtag. It's even worse saying it.
You already have 5 turkey legs, though, so does that mean I have to down vote you to get you to where you wanted to be? If a user targets a turkey leg count for a post, then exceeds it, it is against community guidelines to down vote them? TIC
Sometimes I just randomly up vote comments hoping to better someone's day.
You sir, are a good man. But a greater American.
TKP: so awesome that our stats have stats.
STATS ON STATS ON STATS ON STATS
STATS CITY
STAT CITY BITCH STAT STAT CITY BITCH. 10 10 10 AND 20 MEAN IS 12.5 BITCH.
This comment should've gotten way more love than it did.
I appreciate you
Great site, great stats. I know that I for one was not pleased after a few rum and cokes and saturdays loss. I don't believe I downvoted anyone, and happy to be posting to by far the best Hokie site out there.
i have a feeling i might be a power voter. i'm pretty liberal with my upvotes, but i aint afraid to downvote either. sometimes i might challenge something someone said, but mostly i just go with the flow. i absolutely hate to see people arguing on here, but sometimes you get sucked in.
the way i see this community is like an extended group of friends. if you think about everyone in your various social circles there's gonna be different backgrounds, lifestyles, beliefs, interests, etc, but there's always some common thread that make you connect with one another. we have the hokies but there's something more going on here. intelligent, insightful, respectful conversations are certainly not the norm on most websites, much less a sports blog. sometimes i worry the more people find tkp and join in, the more it'll devolve into some tsl/andy bitter's comment section orgy of trolling and stupidity but i know those fears are unfounded.
i started lurking during the 2011 season, signed up in the aftermath of the sugar bowl, and havent looked back. the balance that is struck between the serious and not so serious coverage is remarkable. i learn about the game i love, and get a steady dose of lulz.
go hokies. tkp forever.
If TKP gets to big, we create another, smaller site that links to TKP.
I don't enough turkey legs to either up or down vote anyone. (sniffles and whining follows)
If I did have a vote, I would up vote all those who make me smile, laugh or help me forget about the pain I feel when my beloved "Hokies" lose.
A down vote wil follow for anyone who decides to attack the players who honor us with wearing any VT helmet or uniform (even all orange).
A one month tkp ban should follow for anyone who uses the word Chokie, unless to say please do not use this word, ever! Go Hokies, Beat BC! PLEASE.
My poor family cannot take another Sunday like the last one......
Sounds like you'll be an outstanding TKP voter. Have a leg on me to get you one closer.
Not bustin',
but when I read this, Burt Bacharach started singing 'What the world needs now, is Love, sweet Love' in my head.
+1 for the moment of Zen
Don't forget the unicorns and rainbows!
Austin Danger Powers
Can we please stop with the "well golly here's a turkey leg for giving me a turkey leg!" posts? It makes those involved look like such dweebs as well as making it more difficult to find comments actually worth reading. Also, a close second is "turkey leg for you good sir". Again, contributes nothing to the conversation.
This a great forum, but when comments like these start diluting the discussions, it just makes TKP look like a big circle jerk.
And a turkey leg for you good sir!
(sorry....couldn't resist.)
Turkey leg for giving him a turkey leg...good sir.
I'm such a lemming. Here's a leg for your leg of a leg.
Oh what the hell, turkey legs all around good sirs!
I didn't receive an email, wahoo! I don't have to go to the principal's office!
Good stuff Joe. I know the boards get heated after a game. Even more so last week. The drinking didn't help. But for the most part on mid week posts everything is quite civil and if someone steps out of line the community takes care of it. I get 98% of my Hokie news from TKP. Keep it up man!
I have to say I have followed this site religiously since the beginning-ish of the 2011 season and did not start a username until fairly recently, and only very recently have I really commented more than two or three times a month, but I have to say this is by far the best site on the Internets. I know last weekend I saw both the good and bad in this site that comes with a larger following. Overall, you cannot beat it.
Joe, this entire post and the comments that followed were great. This is only my second comment since the debacle last weekend, but I think all this was just what I needed to finally buck up. TKP really is the shangri la of the interwebs
Whenever I'm debating whether to downvote or upvote a comment now I will ask myself the question, WWSRD? (What would Sam Rogers do?) It makes the situation so much easier, trust me.
But in all seriousness, I couldn't agree more with you Joe. I'm on board.
Turkey legs are a little too easy to get IMO. People like me who insert lame one liners or just post GIFs hog all the glory.
Just get one person to downvote all of your comments, then you'll get at least 4 people coming to your rescue.
...
profit
I almost downvoted as a thought experiment.
But if you had, then it wouldn't have been a thought experiment.....I think.
But the children love the GIFs!
Seriously though, I still have no idea how to find gifs online other than coming here. Every day I hope I see something comical or sarcastic that I can email to a coworker. As a result, GIFs receive all of the turkey legs from me.
Hey now, sometimes you have a make a meme to grab some extra legs!
I think the game threads skew turkey legs. If I post during it's away from my computer sporadically and on my smartphone.
3.5 seasons' worth of missed legs and my count would be worthy of my TKP greybeard birthday status...maybe only include upvotes from the game threads in the count :)
So many upvotes in this thread, and zero downvotes. Nice.
Let me change that.
wow really?
Yes.
My experiment confirmed a previous assertion stating that giving you a down vote it will automatically result in 4 up votes for you.
You're welcome!
touche...lets try that out on you, shall we?
Had to do it.
The only type of posts I'll consistently downvote are comments that contain the terms uvagay or uvgay. It's pretty offensive to compare the homosexual community to UVA. But in all seriousness, using gay as an insult needs to go.
I really hope someone fat fingered your comment, because it's so true... now if only to reduce the misogyny levels a bit :(
I think I downvoted one time. (At least in recent memory.) It was posted by someone trying to provoke the TKP community with a few posts, and then they posted a pic of Cav man. I downvoted him, but then posted a comment that he needed to bring something better than that weaksauce to this site if he wanted to really play. All TKP'rs don't fall for silly little jabs. But we will go toe to toe with a witty, well informed fan, no matter for whom they root.
I think that I have only down voted twice, but each time I commented and told that person I down voted them. If I'm going to down vote, it will not be anonymously.
Thanks for not being a tool, Joe!
Love this site and this thread! Been here a long time but only comment on rare occasions. One day I will have enough legs to vote to show my appreciation for all the great info and laughs. PLEASE no free legs to get me over the top. I need to earn them.