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Kudoz questions for Platinum members only
Thread poster: Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 06:13
Dutch to English
+ ...
Sep 26, 2005

I just came across a Kudoz question that was addressed to Platinum members only. I can understand the reasons for specifying the language combination and expertise in a particular field, but since when does being a Platinum member have anything to do with one's ability to answer Kudoz questions? I think this goes a little too far in the constant pressure to 'go Platinum'.

 
Monika Coulson
Monika Coulson  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:13
Member (2001)
English to Albanian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
It is the asker's choice Sep 27, 2005

Hi Tina,
I am glad you raised this concern here. However, AFAIK, a KudoZ question for Platinum members only is the asker's choice and not ProZ.com staff limit or pressure.

If you ask a question yourself, you will see several options, such as:
1. Private question - Only specified members may view or answer this question.
(Private questions are a Platinum only feature)
2. Restrict this question to members of my team:

3. Public question - Anyone may view this question.
Direct your question specifically to answerers who meet the following criteria:
(Directing questions to specific answerers is a Platinum only feature)

Native language:
Language pair described in profile as:
Field described in profile as:
Only platinum members may answer... etc.


I see it as just an option and IMHO, it is good to have choices. Personally, I would not use such an option, but there are members who have asked for it and like it.

Hope this helps,
Monika

Monika K. Coulson
http://www.albaniantranslators.com




[Edited at 2005-09-27 00:18]


 
Egmont
Egmont
Spain
Local time: 13:13
Afrikaans to Spanish
+ ...
KNOWLEGDE AND MONEY Sep 27, 2005

To have money is not to have knowledge...

 
NatalieD
NatalieD
French
+ ...
You are not the only one Sep 27, 2005

Tina Vonhof wrote:

I can understand the reasons for specifying the language combination and expertise in a particular field, but since when does being a Platinum member have anything to do with one's ability to answer Kudoz questions?


This topic was recently discussed at length here:

http://www.proz.com/topic/36642

Natalie


 
Andy Watkinson
Andy Watkinson
Spain
Local time: 13:13
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
Hi Tina,... Sep 27, 2005

You may be interested in this thread.

http://www.proz.com/post/261428#261428

Cheers,
Andy


 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 06:13
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Platinum membership not a relevant option Sep 27, 2005

Hi Monica,

Yes, I agree that it is good to have choices. I have seen these options and most are relevant options, having to do with who would be most appropriate to answer a particular question. I just don't think Platinum membership is a relevant option.

Tina


 
Vladimir Dubisskiy
Vladimir Dubisskiy
United States
Local time: 07:13
Member (2001)
English to Russian
+ ...
no pressure at all Sep 27, 2005

It was strange to read about "constant pressure". I am here from the last century and still do not feel that "constant pressure", - how come)

However i have not even noticed the option you mentioned... and do not see anything wrong with it - why not?

Tina Vonhof wrote:
I think this goes a little too far in the constant pressure to 'go Platinum'.


 
lenkl
lenkl
Local time: 13:13
French to English
Who are Platinum members? Sep 27, 2005

It seems to me – a regular, plain-metal member – that the some of the main benefits of Platinum membership are in the area of job-seeking and the ability to ask many Kudoz questions. I am personally a busy translator who seldom has a question to ask but I gladly contribute to Kudoz whenever I have the time. I’m not sure that, faced with a difficult translation, I would seek the specific advice of people looking for work and with frequent translating problems.

 
Charlie Bavington
Charlie Bavington  Identity Verified
Local time: 12:13
French to English
To be fair... Sep 27, 2005

a) ...the option to ask lots of Qs as a platinum member is relatively recent, and is almost certainly not a factor for older plats. Plus which, many people (me included) seem to be of the opinion that 15 Qs/day is still too high.
b)... some of us are still pretty new at this game and are still trying to build a decent client base.

That said, I still chuckled at lenkl's post

And yep, in my pair, ther
... See more
a) ...the option to ask lots of Qs as a platinum member is relatively recent, and is almost certainly not a factor for older plats. Plus which, many people (me included) seem to be of the opinion that 15 Qs/day is still too high.
b)... some of us are still pretty new at this game and are still trying to build a decent client base.

That said, I still chuckled at lenkl's post

And yep, in my pair, there are some outstanding non-plat answerers (including lenkl) & I wouldn't dream of restricting a Q to plat only. However, I wouldn't know about the whole site. It seems some people expressly asked for the feature - maybe some pairs are plagued by non-plat answerers cluttering up questions with nonsense answers, or something...?

Altho' one does wonder whether it's just a way for plats to keep at least some kudoz points to themselves...
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lenkl
lenkl
Local time: 13:13
French to English
Nothing personal Sep 27, 2005

Well, let me just say that some of my best acquaintances are Platinum members and I appreciate the fact that ProZ can help people find work and develop their skills as well as provide us with a forum in which to share ideas and information.
As to KudoZ points, as I’ve said before, the points are not the point (and vice-versa).


 
PRen (X)
PRen (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:13
French to English
+ ...
Well put Sep 27, 2005

lenkl wrote:

It seems to me – a regular, plain-metal member – that the some of the main benefits of Platinum membership are in the area of job-seeking and the ability to ask many Kudoz questions. I am personally a busy translator who seldom has a question to ask but I gladly contribute to Kudoz whenever I have the time. I’m not sure that, faced with a difficult translation, I would seek the specific advice of people looking for work and with frequent translating problems.


Absolutely agree. Why people think platinum equals quality is beyond me. I too will contribute to Kudoz when time allows but am increasingly dismayed by the level of questions and the fact that the askers do not seem interested in doing some basic research (many of them platinum).


 
Melina Kajander
Melina Kajander
Finland
English to Finnish
+ ...
There is pressure... Sep 30, 2005

Vladimir Dubisskiy wrote:

It was strange to read about "constant pressure". I am here from the last century and still do not feel that "constant pressure", - how come)


There sure is pressure, although maybe not in Kudoz - more noticeably in job notifications, where nowadays almost always the job offer is only available to Platinum members to see, until some time in some distant future, and one can be almost certain than if you check the job offer after this time, it will be closed... But I'm sure this has been discussed before, so sorry for any repetition. But as some people said above, money is not necessarily the same as skill...


 
Aleksandr Okunev (X)
Aleksandr Okunev (X)
Local time: 15:13
English to Russian
I hope it will pass soon Sep 30, 2005

Tina Vonhof wrote: I think this goes a little too far...

While I do not think there's any pressure I hope that this experiment, together with the limitation of the number of questions will be over soon.
Best of luck everyone
Alex


 
Eva T
Eva T
English to Albanian
+ ...
I do not feel any pressure Sep 30, 2005

I am not platinum, but I am a regular member. I always enjoy logging in here, and never felt any pressure. Naturally, those who pay, have the right to ask for more and they are offered more, where is the pressure here? I feel grateful that even though I do not pay (yet) I am still welcomed in this site.

Eva


Melina Kajander wrote:

Vladimir Dubisskiy wrote:

It was strange to read about "constant pressure". I am here from the last century and still do not feel that "constant pressure", - how come)


There sure is pressure, although maybe not in Kudoz - more noticeably in job notifications, where nowadays almost always the job offer is only available to Platinum members to see, until some time in some distant future, and one can be almost certain than if you check the job offer after this time, it will be closed... But I'm sure this has been discussed before, so sorry for any repetition. But as some people said above, money is not necessarily the same as skill...


 
Aleksandr Okunev (X)
Aleksandr Okunev (X)
Local time: 15:13
English to Russian
There are more important issues to address. Oct 1, 2005

I do not understand these new limitations in Kudoz system.

The limitation on the number of questions asked looks entirely counterproductive to me. Kudoz is an assistance system and nobody knows when and how many questions a Proz member may need to ask. Moreover, if used wisely, this system has a good chance of becoming a unique, valuable and popular terminology resource. In view of this, the more questions are asked - the better. Proz staff keeps referring to the demands by Proz (pl
... See more
I do not understand these new limitations in Kudoz system.

The limitation on the number of questions asked looks entirely counterproductive to me. Kudoz is an assistance system and nobody knows when and how many questions a Proz member may need to ask. Moreover, if used wisely, this system has a good chance of becoming a unique, valuable and popular terminology resource. In view of this, the more questions are asked - the better. Proz staff keeps referring to the demands by Proz (platinum) members to limit the number of questions because some users abuse the system. Once again, if the questions are asked in a positive manner, enough context is provided, the answers are correct, what is the problem? If one sees any signs of abuse he or she is free not to answer, that's it. The real problem here is how to make it impossible to asker to bypass search and fail to provide all the data required to answer. The search has its glitches too, by the way.
The new filter making it possible to direct your question to platinum members only is strange, to put it mildly. Platinum membership has little correlation to translator's skills and the ability to provide an answer. A far better filter would be to send out the questions by the specialty field, language pair or even the country of residence, there is at least some logic behind these.

Now, please, allow me to point out a few properties of Kudoz system that, I humbly, think require much attention, unlike the newly installed filters.

1) Kudoz point hunting. There are more than enough Proz members who would go and answer *any* question, in any field in the first minute, providing a dozen of Google links, sometimes irrelevant. Some of their answers are correct, but more often they are not, however, their absolute score grows. Now the general assumption advertised by Proz is that Kudoz score is a direct reflection of one's professionalism. Which it is not IMVHO. I do not think that there is a way to stop Kudoz hunting. Client education would help a but, and, as old people say "stupidity is a punishment in itself".

2) Which takes us to the following point. Proz members are ranked in the search lists according to their membership and, within the category, ***only*** by Kudoz score. This is aimed to provide the first-time client with an idea of their level of professionalism. OK, but what shall we think about those who contribute(d) to the article base, give advice on the forums, keep their profiles coherent, do many other useful things to the translation community and, by this, maintain the image of Proz at the present, seemingly high, level? *** Why do their contributions not count? *** I would suggest to remove member grading by Kudoz score and install new, more logical and client friendly search filters enabling the clients to find a translator or a team quickly and 'correctly', if you like.

It should be noted here that I have nothing to complain about the situation I am in. Being a plat gives me an abundance of questions (I barely ask any). My Kudoz score makes me appear in the middle of the first page of freelancers in my specialty fields. However, I am strongly against this system. There are better ways to allow the clients and freelancers meet.

By the way, recently my friend, a local businessman, needed an urgent translation of a certificate of origin from Chinese into Russian by someone living in Minsk. He asked me to find someone, I went to Proz and ... could not start looking for the translator. Just didn't see the right button. Of course, this was my first attempt ever to find a translator on Proz, but the fact that a minute later I went to Google and found a few translators speaks for itself. This is the issue to be attended, and not another limitation oà the number of Kudoz asked, by membership, country or perhaps, race and creed. Another point. My list of keywords contains a dummy string I use to see how often Google robots visit my page, now it's "nemadekazambonni". I change it once in a while. Well, Google does show it in its search results, while Proz search does not. I cannot understand the idea behind it but I think Proz search must show hits of my profile data and this is another serious issue to be attended.

More points.

3) Why is the asker given the right to grade the answers? By the mere nature of the system, the asker is the least competent person in this particular field, subject and context. He or she should not be given this right. I am not speaking about the cases of grading answers on the basis of personal likes and dislikes, these things do happen but they are not inherent in the system, while grading by the asker is. If you say that the asker has the most of the context to judge, well, it is the asker's duty (and it's a must in the other terminology assistance systems I take part in) to provide all the context required to provide an answer. Robot grading IMHO is much more fair.

While Kudoz score is still an indicator of one's professionalism...

4) Why is only one answerer given the points? We all have once seen a Kudoz page where another answerer, seeing a slightly imprecise answer, instead of making a note and clicking on "Agree" hijacked the idea and scored. Another point is that when I ASK questions very often the most correct answer is not the most useful one, or there is a spectrum of professional opinions almost equally useful, but I have to choose just one. Since I do not hope that this point scoring system is going to be abandoned, I think the points should be given to all or most answerers.

5) I want to have a "Not for grading" confidence level. Actually I do not care about it at all, but again I am being forced into asking for it because somebody has invented this concept that my Kudoz efficiency is a reflection of my professionalism. Very often, when I see that there is no good answer yet, sometimes among many, and I do not know the answer either, and I want to make a note which, I know, is not an answer at all, just some food for thought which might help to arrive to a solution of the problem. Of course, I can use 'ask the asker' but then for other Proz member it is more difficult to provide feedback on my particular comment and for the asker to clearly see the opinions laid out. At present I do not make such comments at Proz, which I do in other terminology assistance systems, because I do not wish to have too many declined answers in my profile and look like a stupid Kudoz point hunter.

Lastly. I am posting this on the forum because firstly I would like to hear your opinion about this and secondly I am tired of the situation when all my messages to Proz staff generate a robot response (at best) or sink into a black hole with no follow-up.

Happy translating!
Aleksandr
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