Hey, Admins! Can we please make thread recommends public?

[Maddy McCall]

Pretty please?

I'd love to see who recommends some of the most obnoxious threads here. It'd be informative and entertaining.

(Can mods or admins see who recs threads?)

[NoBushSpokenHere]

1. Not a bad idea at all.........I agree, make them public nt

[BuyingThyme]

2. Recommended.

[JeffR]

3. I confess, Maddy

I just recommended this post.
:)

[liberalnurse]

13. Me too!

I want to do it again!..............

[Flabbergasted]

118. I rec'd this, but on second thought, what would it actually accomplish?

I think it's a bad idea.

[Forkboy]

4. I like that idea myself.

:thumbsup:

[More Than A Feeling]

5. That'd be really interesting.

I'm all for it.

k+r.

[EmilyAnne]

6. While it would be entertaining, I think it would cause even more vitriol. The best thing we can do

is push that alert button. I'm new, but I've started doing the alert. Sexism, racism, personal attacks...they all need to stop.

[Maddy McCall]

9. Well, I think a lot of people would be less likely to rec a thread...

if they knew that their name would be attached to it.

[EmilyAnne]

61. That's a great point. You've convinced me. People would be too ashamed to have their names

attached to those stupid posts that keep getting recommendations.

[dkf]

66. You don't think some people recommend awful threads because

it makes the candidates and their supporters look bad?

Could be reverse psychology.

[grace0418]

74. There could be some of that. I bet most of it is the same handful of people going

around recommending one another's stupid ass posts.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

100. How about Iris scans?

:puke:

[More Than A Feeling]

11. It would encourage people not to send the worst of all that to the greatest page

, where it does go, even with alerts.

[emilyg]

57. Welcome to DU - from Emily Frances

[LostinVA]

7. I second that -- excellent idea

[liberalnurse]

8. They already are actually.

I see many on Google search.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

10. Can a thread be hidden or removed from the greatest page?

I would like to remove one of mine...if I hide it will it disappear from the greatest page and all others?

[terrya]

12. I recommend this thread about recommended threads

:thumbsup:

[Maddy McCall]

15. I commend you for recommending this thread about recommending threads.

:*

[More Than A Feeling]

17. I'd like to recommend this comment

:silly:

[NJSecularist]

14. I actually think this would be a very big hit on bandwith

Which is why it isn't used.

[panader0]

16. Rec. I saw a post the other night where a guy tried to rec twice

and when he couldn't, he simply posted, "sorry, you have already recommended that post".

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

99. Introducing the "DU Patriot ACT"

Damn these internet tubes!!!!

[liberalhistorian]

18. You're kidding, right?

NO WAY! It is NOBODY'S business who recommends what threads, sheesh. I don't know WTF is happening to this place, but every day I seem to see more calls for such authoritarian bullshit.

[Maddy McCall]

24. Oh, well. We'll count you as against it then.

[cbayer]

50. I don't agree with you

I think that people need to take responsibility for their actions.

No one can post without being identified.

Recommending is a powerful tool and those that use it should be able to be identified and explain why, if asked.

I can't count the number of times I have said, "Who in the world recommended this piece of garbage?"

Why should I not have the right to know?

[liberalhistorian]

64. Because you DON'T. Because what's "garbage" to you

may be very important to someone else and they don't have to explain their reasons to you. Because it would just cause even more divisiveness and enmity and viciousness on here and we don't need any more of that. Because this is, in the end, just an anonymous discussion board and not the office meeting room.

Perhaps limiting the number of times a poster can recommend in one day would serve roughly the same purpose without causing all of the problems.

[Tesha]

68. Pay attention to which side is constantly recommending the "authoritarian bullshit" and...

> I don't know WTF is happening to this place, but every
> day I seem to see more calls for such authoritarian
> bullshit.

Pay attention to which side is constantly recommending
the "authoritarian bullshit" and you'll understand.

Tesha

[IsItJustMe]

73. It does seem authoritarian to me also. I think the over all effect would be that threads would get

less and less recomendations. I think its a horrible idea.

[Babel_17]

122. "I, for one, welcome our new Recommend Observing overlords"

:)

I can understand the feelings behind this proposal but I fear the potential for the "Group Think" syndrome. Those most prone to bashing will grind down those who don't want to get into anything remotely like a flame war.

If the issue is really a problem then restrict the daily number of rec's in the most divisive forum(s). That's my 2 cents.

[The Anti-Bush]

129. Well, look who posted this one; a Hillary supporter.

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. Terrible idea.

For a number of reasons, not least of which is that giving yet another excuse for viciousness and, name-calling, and calling people out to the hateful ideologues and personality cultists who infest this forum these days is just NOT a good thing at all.

[harun]

91. I agree, it works as an anonymous way to support a thread

where you may not want to add fuel to the fire by commenting.

[Fox Mulder]

20. I don't like that idea.

[MADem]

21. Admins would HAVE to be able to see who recommends a thread.

Because the software knows if you accidently push the button twice--it tells you "You've already recommended this!"

It certainly is a way to suss out trolls and disruptors....

[billyoc]

22. But how will I sow hate and discontent from my secret lair then?

No to public recs! :rofl:

[Blue-Jay]

23. I'd rather revisit the up/down vote for threads.

And I think that mods can't see the recs, but admins can if they care to look. I could be wrong about that.

[Catherine Vincent]

25. I can answer that for you.

It's the Obama supporters. :)

[Blue-Jay]

27. Evil bastards!

[Der Blaue Engel]

26. I may or may not have recommended this thread

}(

I'd also like to suggest the unrecommend feature once again. Maybe a better way of reflecting this would be a star or thumb system to rate a post. Rate it up if you like it, rate it down if you don't, and the balance gets you on the Greatest after it reaches a certain number of stars or thumbs up.

:thumbsup:

[Lost-in-FL]

28. Great idea but...

To make it fair for everyone we most choose in the profile preferences to have our name made public or not.

[Maddy McCall]

30. But that'd kill the purpose of it. If you like a thread so much that...

you think it needs to be recommended for the greatest page, then by god, sign your name.

[Lost-in-FL]

32. I wouldn't mind my name showing up...

but I know others would object to it.

[Maddy McCall]

33. Some thread are going on the greatest page that shouldn't be there...

simply because people who hate either candidate are recommending them to be there.

Even the Hillary-menopause thread made it to the greatest page. I'd think twice if I knew that my name would be attached to it, before I'd rec something ludicrous like that.

[Lost-in-FL]

38. That's why I like the idea... n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

49. Don't mind me... I'm slow. n/t

[IsItJustMe]

78. Bad idea. You don't use a chain saw to cut a birthday cake. I am sure there are better methods

that they could use here to handle that situation.

[hisownpetard]

80. I guess you've never had a birthday cake that I baked...

[Whisp]

85. "people should be careful what they recommend".

I think Ari Flescher said that a while ago.

thanks for the insight.

[Liberal Veteran]

29. I rather dislike the idea. It just sounds like something that would stir up hard feelings.

And we are pretty well stocked on those for the duration.

[goldcanyonaz]

31. I'd like that, but also would love an unrecommend option.

[Cameron27]

36. Me too.

[Adams Wulff]

83. How about a Reccommend button, and next to it, a Condemn Button?

I would like that.

[goldcanyonaz]

95. I could go for a condemn button.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. They can see how we vote in polls

So I'll bet they can see what threads we recommend as well.

Good idea. I like it.

[JuniperLea]

35. Good idea!

But next we'll be asking that anyone who shows up on more than 10 ignore lists should be banned... then we'd have troll hunters like what happened on dKos... ugly business, that.

If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll ask for a glass of milk... then a napkin... then...

[Maddy McCall]

39. I'd be against members being allowed to ban members that way.

I'd been loooong gone if that were an option for members.

:hi:

[JuniperLea]

42. LOL!! Me too!

Zippin my lip!

:hi:

[Maddy McCall]

48. You and I would have banned each other.

:rofl:

:pals:

[JuniperLea]

54. hahahaha! Now THAT is funny as all hell!

And probably true! Horribly, horribly true!

:rofl:


:hug:


Think of all we would have missed!

:toast:

[LeftCoast]

37. I like this idea

I can't really see any down side to it.

[Justice Is Comin]

40. I never write any OP for recommends nor

do I care about them. I would say what was on my mind no matter what.

Hopefully my sentiment or message sometimes gets through to somebody subliminally. Or eventually.

If I accomplish that, I couldn't ask for more.

[Raine]

41. Maybe some people recommend an obnoxious

thread not because they support it but they feel that other people should see some of the outrageous crap that is posted here sometimes...anyway just a thought.

I don't do that though, instead I wish they had an unrecommend a thread option.

[CaptJasHook]

43. I think people should only be given 1 or 2 recommends a day

somebodies out there are Rec Crazy

[DS1]

44. rec'd

hells yeah

[NastyRiffraff]

45. Recommended!

I'm sick of some of the overtly nasty, sexist, racist threads showing up proudly on the Greatest page.

If someone likes a thread enough to recommend it, I can't see why they should object to signing their name to the recommendation. Unless, of course, they're doing it out of pure nastiness.

[Straight Shooter]

46. I have recommended threads wherein some of the responses are blazingly on target in rebuttal.

It doesn't mean I agree with the IP. I usually recommend a thread if I think it's worthwhile to be seen by DU'ers. :)

[SaveOurDemocracy]

47. Excellent idea!!! k&r

:kick:

[tandot]

51. I like that idea.

There are some vile threads that make it to the greatest page. Anything seems to get recommended just to bash the other candidate.

[Beausoir]

52. If there is a way to do it, I would like to see it. Don't know if there is a way to implement it.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

53. That would be okey dokey with me. n/t

[Justice Is Comin]

55. The one thing I would recommend

is that it would take more than five recommends to get "on" the greatest page.

That would solve several problems at once.

As far as members having to be identified because they recommended a thread, what would that do? Nobody would care with an anonymous screen name. It's not like you're going to come to my house and smash my door in.

I've always liked you though Maddy. I can't remember why :rofl:

[Whisp]

86. I think that is the best idea. 5 recs is way too low.

as for a new number, I dunno, maybe 20?
that way a thread has to be either extremely good or extremely bad. ;) no centrist shit.

[populistdriven]

56. if they do this then we need the ability to un recc a thread

[emilyg]

58. A big K/R

[Midlodemocrat]

59. I would guess they can. Since they can see how people vote in polls.

Not sure though.

[donheld]

60. Maddy, I'd go for that too

I'd love to see it.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

62. I Say We Should See The Same For Polls.

[motocicleta]

63. Pretty please, indeed.

I second that emotion, Maddy. It could clear up a bunch of loose ends around here.

[intaglio]

65. Errr Not good

firstly I think a lot of recs are from people who do not post

and secondly it would give the supporters of any given candidate an excuse to flame people who recomend posts of the other candidate.

In favour it would reveal who the sock puppets are

[rodeodance]

69. The idea It does have its drawbacks-as you point out--but It does see

to me that something has to be done

[Bongo Prophet]

67. You know what would REALLY be interesting? Turning on the "show IP adress"

If you want to know how DU's magical software works, and what is easy to do, download the DCforums+ software. It is open source and easy peasy to set up.
Use MAMP on mac or XAMP on PC, (or configure apache + PHP + MySQL yourself) --- and give it a go. I think the mods have added some custom PHP scripts to it as well, not sure what, though.

http://www.dcscripts.com/dcforump.shtml

Here is a shot of how easy it would be to turn it on, or to set the time allowed to edit your posts (I would like to see that bumped up 30 minutes, because I get clumsy laptop fingers sometimes.

What would IP adresses show? Whether multiple posters were coming from the same router, like a home office (Ms Prophet and me) or a campaign office, or a dorm...then traceroute that to see where in the world they are. Interesting and entertaining indeed. Time stamp and cross reference, and you can see when the shift changes happen. I have said too much.;)




edited for crap spelling.

[mmonk]

70. To prove what?

[MagsDem]

71. Becuz Obama "dems - in name only" can't get enough

of a good witch hunt.

Hey mods, can you make everyone reveal their sexual orientation when they sign up to post so all of our good DU'er can scapegoat the right people? It was so darn inconvenient back after the 2004 election when the whole group decided it was all teh gays fault that the lame ass John Kerry didn't win.

DU, you have become what you claimed to hate.

[SIMPLYB1980]

72. Bingo. We have a winner!

[IsItJustMe]

75. And while you are posting the people who recommended the posts, could you also post everyones

IP addresses!!!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

I wonder if the OP has ever heard of the slippery slope.

On edit: If this place ever gets that bad, I would neither post or recomend here PERIOD.

[Whisp]

131. email addresses should also be included.

and a map to your house address.
just in case 'someone isn't careful enough about how they recommend or vote', you can't be too careful in these days, remember 911.

:sarcasm:

[IsItJustMe]

76. Just wondering Maddy, do you think the mods should also release the names, addresses and phone

numbers of the donors here at DU. I mean, just how far do you want the people here to go to fulfill your desires for entertainment and nosiness.

This idea, I would argue, would have a horrible effect on this board. You would no longer get peoples true feelings on an issue, but rather a group think result. You would also chase off a lot of good people who think that their privacy is more important than posting here.


I can't believe you got the number of recomendations that you did for this really bad bad idea. And no, I don't want to know who recomended your post.

The people who have recomended this either have not really thought about it or are the same people who always follow the herd and thus are always stepping in someone elses shit.

I am of the Hank Williams variety of Democrat, when he sings that old Country and Western song:

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, AND I'LL BE MINDING MINE.

[LostinVA]

82. Dramatic much? All they'll see is your public username

[IsItJustMe]

92. That is true now, but it seems like some would have it different.

[LostinVA]

94. No one in this thread -- who is this mysterious "some?"

[WilliamPitt]

87. It is just you.

;)

[IsItJustMe]

93. If that be the case, that is fine by me. I don't need someone else to confirm what I already know.

On edit: I do see there are some other people on this thread that are expressing concerns similar to mine. Your wrong, but in your vested interest to make a fellow DUer feel alienated, you had your joke. Good for you and god bless you. Have a nice day.

[WilliamPitt]

102. Such was not my intention at all.

I apologize for causing you to feel this way.

[IsItJustMe]

107. No apology needed, I do the best to own my own feelings. I feel passionate about this type of thing...

because of past life experience. People mean well with the type of suggestions that the OP makes, but life has taught me that these things usually snow ball into something quit different and have unattended consequences. I really like DU, but for me, if the above suggestion was implemented, it would change my experience to an undesirable one. Just like the voter booth, I like a certain degree of anonymity and I think lots of other folks do also.

[WilliamPitt]

109. Well put.

:toast:

[MethuenProgressive]

77. recommended!!

[kentuck]

79. Most people already make it public

when they kick and recommend? I don't see your point?

[Occam Bandage]

81. I recall them saying that they would be in the coming overhaul.

[mtnsnake]

89. I think they were talking about polls and making it public who votes which way in them

I suggested to Skinner in one of those past threads of his that it would be nice if people were only allowed something like 5 times per day that each poster could make recommendations for GP, and he said they were actually thinking about doing something like that. The way it stands now, anyone can just vote for any thread that passes by, as long as it suits the candidate of their choice. If people only had a limited number of posts they could recommend, they'd be more liable to save their votes for the posts that were actually worthy of them. The way it is now, the Greatest Page doesn't mean greatest posts anymore.

[whatchamacallit]

84. I'm neutral on this idea, but I'm intrigued by your motivation

Once you knew who recommended what, what then? What's the practical use for that information? How does it help you?

[Perry Logan]

88. It would be an intrusion on privacy which would change people's behavior. Not good.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

90. Agree. What fun!

[PurgedVoter]

96. K&R better late than never.

Most of us like to take credit for an R. I agree with this one entirely.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

97. I bet we'd see that some of the same posters are rec'ing asinine hate threads for both sides

I like this idea. Recommended!

[FlyingSquirrel]

98. I'm just not sure this is a really good idea.

:shrug:

We can already keep GDP from showing up on our Latest and Greatest pages... and the flame fests are already bad enough in GDP without giving people another tool for attacking each other (I can't believe ___ recommended ___ AND ___ thread!)

I think overall I'd have to say no, there's plenty of negativity already and besides, sometimes you recommend a thread as a joke or for any number of reasons (perhaps you just want to see more people's response to it even though you don't agree with it).

Then you'd have to spend time and energy defending or explaining or apologizing for Recs... just seems like it would detract from your overall DU experience.

[bigbrother05]

101. What a stupid post

glad you only get 3 in GDP.

[mzmolly]

106. Why is this post stupid? I just gave this the 48th recommendation.

:hi:

[bigbrother05]

108. Lets make public who is alerting

that would be entertaining. The notion that we chance Du for the Mrs Kravitz' of the DU world, is getting pretty damn old.
I have had enough of the thought/ grammar/ morals police to last at least until the next election. and they can kiss my seniority backside.
Sorry this is not directed at you, but you asked the question

[mzmolly]

113. I don't understand why someone would feel the need to recommend in

private? Recommending a thread is a positive, supportive statement.

[bigbrother05]

115. What is the point

most people already do by K and R, so again what is the point

[mzmolly]

123. Well, I think it would help to determine who is disrupting personally.

Trolls would be easily spotted for example.

[bigbrother05]

124. I come here for my own enjoyment

we have Mods and Admin to monitor the board, we don't need the UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE to act as judge jury and executioner to pass judgment as to who is worthy to be on DU.

[mzmolly]

125. It think your 'executioner' comparison is

a bit dramatic?

[Forkboy]

132. The Upright Citizens Brigade would be a welcome change.

[all.of.me]

103. Sounds catty to me. nt

[mzmolly]

104. I've always wondered if when we hit "recommend" DU could automatically register

a reply indicating as such? I do think that tracking who recs what would be a good idea.

:hi:

[mudesi]

105. Aren't they doing that in DU version 2?

[Maddy McCall]

THIS is DU version 2.

[PurgedVoter]

110. And post the time recommended!

Then if we see a group of names that always click to support each other instantly, we will know who the trolls are.

[tabasco]

111. The Clintonites must know who DEFIES THE QUEEN!

It's a matter of royal security, Skinner!

[Creideiki]

112. I'm not even looking for "entertainment".

If I know someone's been annoying the crap out of me and then I find out they're the one recommending a thread, then I can rest comfortable in filtering it out.

[noac7]

114. I support this.

Barack I support transparency in government DU Forums.

[Sadie5]

116. Thanks maddy

It's about time this is suggested. Make them sign their name to recs.

[DissentIsPatriotic]

117. I think everyone that posts at DU should be branded.

j/k

[Not Sure]

119. Why not? After all, if you don't do anything wrong....

...you don't have anything to hide, right?

:sarcasm:

[mirrera]

120. Are we in High School? Read it or don't... who cares!...n/t

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

121. I kick most of the threads I recommend. I have no problem with it. If you're endorsing something

shouldn't you be proud to do so? :shrug:

[SaveOurDemocracy]

126. Strongly agree ... kicking

[Political Heretic]

127. I agree it would be a great idea.

I stand by my recommends.

[Orsino]

128. How can Skinner get good advice if it isn't kept confidential?

Do you want the terrorists to win?

[southern_dem]

130. Not really needed

I think just limiting recs to 5 per 24 hours is enough. And no, I don't recommend stupid threads or even use it more than a couple of times a week. :)

[Whisp]

133. Informing, entertaining, and an easy Hit List...

for ostracizing and ridiculing people you don't agree with!

cool!

:sarcasm:

[ZinZen]

134. DKos does so. Good idea.

[NorthernSpy]

135. fine with me...

:shrug:


As far as I'm concerned, poll votes can be made public, too.

[shadowknows69]

136. Yeah because what this board needs is more opportunity for negative energy

[SaveOurDemocracy]

137. Kick

I think it's reasonable to stand behind your thread recs. It's done on other sites and doesn't seem to create any problems ... and will possibly make people think twice before recommending flamebait threads.