Forums about proz.com » ProZ.com suggestions »
Allow anonymous reactions to KudoZ question.
Thread poster: TService (X)
TService (X)
TService (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:35
English to German
Aug 7, 2002

Hi there, Henry !



The issue is as simple as it is human: After a short time at proz.com sympathy or antipathy to other members evolve. This leads to the fact that many people agree or disagree with suggestions to KudoZ questions based upon the personal relation to the answerer – and not upon the translation\'s accuracy.

I myself experienced that several times: There are people who always agree with my suggestions, w... See more
Hi there, Henry !



The issue is as simple as it is human: After a short time at proz.com sympathy or antipathy to other members evolve. This leads to the fact that many people agree or disagree with suggestions to KudoZ questions based upon the personal relation to the answerer – and not upon the translation\'s accuracy.

I myself experienced that several times: There are people who always agree with my suggestions, whether they\'re correct or not – and there are people who always disagree for the same reason.

And I found it fairly difficult to disagree with the suggestions of persons I like – I tend to give a \"neutral\" comment instead of replying to a wrong translation with a harsh \"disagree\".

Most people take disagrees as a kind of personal attack – we all know that this shouldn\'t be the intention; but we all do not like to be criticized.

I even got some emails with people apologizing for disagrees with my suggestions – and I wrote this kind of emails, too. Just to make sure that others won\'t feel offended.



This is why I suggest to hide the answerer\'s name when answering KudoZ questions.

The outcome would probably be a more unprejudiced rating of the suggestions – and could significantly improve reliability of ratings.





Regards;



Joern... ▲ Collapse
 
Ralf Lemster
Ralf Lemster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 23:35
English to German
+ ...
Keep the source visible Aug 7, 2002

I recognise the issue you\'re raising, but I believe making the whole process anonymous is not the answer. The background of the person providing the answer can be just as important for the asker as any explanation or reference.



I suggest to contact the moderator(s) if you notice consistent (but unjustified) \"nay-sayers\", or hunters of BrowniZ.
 
Henry Dotterer
Henry Dotterer
Local time: 17:35
SITE FOUNDER
I would have agreed, but we tried it Aug 7, 2002

Joern,



I felt exactly the same way as you, and the fact is we started the system without names. Making things anonymous would allow us to focus on the linguistic issues, without regard to feelings, I reasoned.



Maybe you and I are too logical. Because the anonymous thing didn\'t work out at all. Maybe people wanted to know the qualifications of commenters. Maybe they just wanted to know who was criticizing them. Anyway, the biggest problem was that the ve... See more
Joern,



I felt exactly the same way as you, and the fact is we started the system without names. Making things anonymous would allow us to focus on the linguistic issues, without regard to feelings, I reasoned.



Maybe you and I are too logical. Because the anonymous thing didn\'t work out at all. Maybe people wanted to know the qualifications of commenters. Maybe they just wanted to know who was criticizing them. Anyway, the biggest problem was that the veil of anonymity brought out an ugly side in a few people. They went around taking \"pot shots\", and getting lots of good members angry. Some even got upset with themselves for what they said to others. It was a mess of flame wars, hurt feelings, resignations, customer support requests (\"I demand to know who is saying this about me!\"), and suggestions that we not allow anonymous postings.



As soon as we attached names, everything calmed down. There are periodic spats, but they are relatively minor. It isn\'t perfect...but it works better, perhaps because it is more like real-world society. ▲ Collapse
 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:35
French to English
Agree Aug 7, 2002

As contributor, I have been on the receiving end of some rather strangely aggressive comments in the past. OK, so that happens.

As a moderator, I am sometimes \"called in\" to moderate when a bit of mud-slinging goes on. It\'s much easier to moderate when one is not involved in the particular issue at hand.



A couple of days back I had an unnecessarily albeit minor aggressive reaction to a \"disagree\" I had posted. I looked back over it and my comment could not be... See more
As contributor, I have been on the receiving end of some rather strangely aggressive comments in the past. OK, so that happens.

As a moderator, I am sometimes \"called in\" to moderate when a bit of mud-slinging goes on. It\'s much easier to moderate when one is not involved in the particular issue at hand.



A couple of days back I had an unnecessarily albeit minor aggressive reaction to a \"disagree\" I had posted. I looked back over it and my comment could not be interpreted any way other than neutral and grammar related.

After chewing it over a bit, I wrote to the person concerned in the following terms :



\"...I appear to have offended you in disagreeing with your suggestion .... However, the \"disagree\" function is there to enable other contributors to explain why they do not believe the suggestion in question is appropriate, the aim being to help the asker. With that in mind, I still

maintain that...although fuller context from the asker here would help.\"



I was wary of confusing roles as contributor and moderator but kept my message short and simple.



The reply I received was very pleasant indeed :



\"You are being very kind, thanks. Truth is, unfortunately, I have experienced

lately some rude behaviour from other colleagues and I grew sort of annoyed

about it, so I am being ruder, too, even when - clearly - it is not the

case.

When this happens the people who are normally polite react the way you have

(!) but the others just do not mind. So it is my turn to apologize if I

sounded rude to you. Obviously there is such a thing as a \"disagree\" option

and it is useful, too.



Thanks for taking your time to write a personal mail and explain.\"



An example of how bad feeling can be generated, but also of how the heat can be taken out of a situation. A simple misunderstanding, but I thought it important to set this person straight. Most of the people are reasonable and intelligent, most of the time. To tie this up with this thread, anonymity here would have prevented our exchange from having taken place and a fruitful one it was at that!

 ▲ Collapse
 
TService (X)
TService (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:35
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
Henry: Point taken. ;) Aug 8, 2002

Hi Henry,



I fear you\'re right.

I just didn\'t think about the fact that anonymity often causes people to behave the way you described.



So things should remain the way they are.





Regards;



Joern.
 


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Allow anonymous reactions to KudoZ question.






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