Disable ranks and reputation

[Interferon]

Something I have seen occur in the past is that your daily forum hangout people acquire high reputation points based on a very high volume of posting and become the "experts" of your community. Sometimes they will say things and it sort of looks like they are the "senior voice" of the community, and it may not be really something you want to be taken as any kind of official message. Even worse is when you have crackpots that start making your community a negative experience. For that reason, I have disabled our reputation system, and the dynamics instantly feel better to me. Each profile is equal and no one has any kind of implied seniority.

Just something to think about.

Edited January 14, 2021 by Interferon

[PoC2]

I've never applied reputation, likes or their equivalent.

It was designed to be helpful, but I've only seen it become divisive. It's a forum. It's the content on the page that matters. That's why it's not "social" media.

[Zdeněk Tůma]

My opinion is that if this happens, rather, it speaks volumes about what the community really is.

[Allen Bradford]

I’ve never enabled any Reputation function. I agree that keeping everyone equal no matter how prolific or how big a wake they create is key to a harmonious Discussion Forum. The only thing I’ve kept is the “Like” function. Even that can be manipulative and disingenuous. (We will be celebrating 20 years next March for my Board.)