Malicious Voting?

[Jenny_Jackson]

Welcum to the AH. Don't mind the TARGET on your back that's for the Trolls.

 

[CorsetLvr]

B/CS?

I've stomped a lot of the same dirt. B/CS is Bryan/College Station. I was a "chemical man" for 12 years, mostly production and stimulation work.

 

[CorsetLvr]

Welcum to the AH. Don't mind the TARGET on your back that's for the Trolls.

I was wondering what that was for. Thanks Jenny.

 

[TxRad]

I've stomped a lot of the same dirt. B/CS is Bryan/College Station. I was a "chemical man" for 12 years, mostly production and stimulation work.

Ah, a mud engineer....

I work the drilling end... I do on site geology while they drill the wells..... Been at it for *damn* 36 years come Feb.....

 

[CorsetLvr]

Ah, a mud engineer.... .

No, I mainly wroked on production and stimulation. Very little drilling. I worked on demulsifiers, corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, microbicides, water clarifiers, frac fluid additives, etc.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Very little drilling.

I know the problem.

Welcome to the madhouse CorsetLvr.

You touched a very sore spot for all us fragile egos here. The so-called trolls must be analyzed a bit. In some categories there are readers that will vote a story down, not because it is badly written, but because the theme goes against their view of the world. Whilst this is not the purpose of voting, it does deserve some respect.

Trolling can really be split into two parts - the readers who resent your success and the individuals who have got a down on you. If you look at the toplists in any category, it is usually true that they are relatively recent.

Judge your skill/success by public comments - with names attached - and the e-mails.

 

[CorsetLvr]

TY elfin. I am familiar with your work. The notorious bra size lady... Do you find it somewhat ironic that you are sometimes most well known for a How To article?

 

[Lisa Summers]

I was trolled on my current entry, in both scoring and rude comments (anonymous, naturally), and it's darned annoying.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Unless you like punishment don't write any rape stories

I did that once. It was so wrong.

 

[Lisa Summers]

What sort of comments were you getting?

My story's about a lesbian family, really quite sweet, beats me what set them off...unless it's the abrupt conclusion???

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

The so-called trolls must be analyzed a bit. In some categories there are readers that will vote a story down, not because it is badly written, but because the theme goes against their view of the world. Whilst this is not the purpose of voting, it does deserve some respect.

Trolling can really be split into two parts - the readers who resent your success and the individuals who have got a down on you. If you look at the toplists in any category, it is usually true that they are relatively recent.

Judge your skill/success by public comments - with names attached - and the e-mails.

That is a pretty good analysis, but I've wondered about it a lot, and will always be puzzled by the motivations of trolls. I usually label it as envy and malice and hating the author for her virtue and ability, but those are labels that don't enable me to really understand it. This may sound a but over the top, but it may just be one of those "why is there evil in the world" questions that can never be satisfactorily answered. It's worth exploring more though, I think.

In a recent essay on contests here I wrote this: "Lit scores are "coarse" at the very best and highly skewed at the very worst. They give the appearance of precision with those two digits to the right of the decimal point, but in reality they should probably be rounded to the nearest whole number. They are very useful because they allow readers to separate the wheat from the chaff, but in reality are unsuited for making fine distinctions, as in contests."

 

[CorsetLvr]

What sort of comments were you getting?

My story's about a lesbian family, really quite sweet, beats me what set them off...unless it's the abrupt conclusion???

All of mine have been positive so far. I rarely get negative ones. Its sounds like homophobia and close mindedness are alive and well here, at least in your situation. Sometimes something that is so far out of the accepted norm just attracts kooks or it just pushes a button and sets some one off.

They come here expecting a nice simple stroke story and then the story challenges their belief system.

 

[RogueLurker]

I was trolled on my current entry, in both scoring and rude comments (anonymous, naturally), and it's darned annoying.

I haven't had a chance to read your newest one yet ... just realized it was posted. But I did notice that it had an E on it. That may be why you were getting trolled so maliciously ... the Editor's Pick tends to garner a fair bit of attention - postive and negative.

 

[Lisa Summers]

All of mine have been positive so far. I rarely get negative ones. Its sounds like homophobia and close mindedness are alive and well here, at least in your situation. Sometimes something that is so far out of the accepted norm just attracts kooks or it just pushes a button and sets some one off.

They come here expecting a nice simple stroke story and then the story challenges their belief system.

I'd be shocked if it was homophobia here, of all places. I think perhaps it was the "E", based on what RogueLurker wrote. I've never had that kind of attention before.

 

[Guest]

I'd be shocked if it was homophobia here, of all places. I think perhaps it was the "E", based on what RogueLurker wrote. I've never had that kind of attention before.

My "E" story is still my lowest score.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

My "E" story is still my lowest score.

In reality, the vote/score thing is crap. Some of my finest have terrible scores. My schlockies garbage has a 4.89 score. Frankly, I wish they'd just do away with the unwashed masses voting and save everyone a lot of time and B.S.


Great Halloween story, BTW, I_Love

 

[Guest]

In reality, the vote/score thing is crap. Some of my finest have terrible scores. My schlockies garbage has a 4.89 score. Frankly, I wish they'd just do away with the unwashed masses voting and save everyone a lot of time and B.S.


Great Halloween story, BTW, I_Love

Thanks, Jenny!

 

[CorsetLvr]

They are very useful because they allow readers to separate the wheat from the chaff, but in reality are unsuited for making fine distinctions, as in contests."

I'm coming to find that you are absolutely correct.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Welcome back. . . I can't add much, but in time the trolls' votes won't matter, it will be the anonymous comments that tick you off, the ones where they bash you for some grammatical error at the same time they are misspelling thier insult. . . or some other anonymous comment that makes no sense. *sigh*

 

[CorsetLvr]

Welcome back. . . I can't add much, but in time the trolls' votes won't matter, it will be the anonymous comments that tick you off, the ones where they bash you for some grammatical error at the same time they are misspelling thier insult. . . or some other anonymous comment that makes no sense. *sigh*

To say that I'm over it is probably an understatement. The score is slowly crawling back up. I may even make it to page 1 of the Top List. That is, until the next troll strikes.

I do however, see Roxanne's point about scores in relation to the contests. That is something that has bothered me. I won't say that its something that keeps me up at night, or even that I have ever seriously considered being in the running for the contests. I recognize it as pure ego, but then that is human nature and my type A personality at play.

My real point is that using the scores as the basis of the contests seems a little arbitrary. Potential winners are at the mercy of the trolls. It is they that determine who will be a winner or not. All it takes is a variance of a few hundreths of a point for them to decide who will be a winner or not. Should this select group of individuals, totally lacking in character, be allowed to decide who will, or will not be crowned? That seems to be the real question here.

In saying this, do I really think I have a shot at being the winner? Realistically, no. My stories are too much of a "niche." My comments aren't from a personal standpoint, but rather more in a way of looking at it from a "big picture" POV. What does bother me is that I see stories of obviously lesser quality being rated higher, simply because they haven't been trolled or because they have greater "stroke potential." Face it, a lot of readers are not basing their votes solely on the literary quality of the stories. This is in conflict with my sense of fair play. It reminds me to much of judging in ice skating. What I am suggesting is that perhaps some other criteria should be used for judging these stories. I'm going to stop whining and get back to writing something that is hopefully even better.

OK, that's my editorial for today. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

My "E" story is still my lowest score.

Yeah, but sweetie, it was in LOVING WIVES, too... double whammy...

What I am suggesting is that perhaps some other criteria should be used for judging these stories.

You're preaching to the choir, doll... we all have lamented the system at some point, and many have contacted management... but nothing changes... seems we're stuck with what is!

 

[CorsetLvr]

You're preaching to the choir, doll... we all have lamented the system at some point, and many have contacted management... but nothing changes... seems we're stuck with what is!

Selana, Thanks. I suppose my comment to that is, "misery loves company." I'm glad I am not the only one that feels that way. Perhaps I am not the only writer around here that has an ego when it comes to that sort of thing. I know that we are not talking about the NY Times Best Seller List here, but its nice to know that your work is appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, but sweetie, it was in LOVING WIVES, too... double whammy...

I know, I know...but, I'm still gonna whine about it every now and then.

 

[CorsetLvr]

I know, I know...but, I'm still gonna whine about it every now and then.

Feel free since I apparently started this thread as vehicle for my own whining.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Yeah, but sweetie, it was in LOVING WIVES, too... double whammy...

I know, I know...but, I'm still gonna whine about it every now and then.

I've SO stopped looking at my scores... I never thought that day would come, but it's true... (aside from contest entries during a contest... lol) I can't remember the last time I went to my submissions page to look at story scores when there wasn't a contest going on...