rating answers

[paulz]

Is it my imagination or are there only a few of us who bother to rate answers? Why is that? Is it the can't be ar*ed factor? Or am I just a saddo? The number of stars should be five I reckon, comments, anyone? ;+)

[whiskygalore]

I think it's partly idleness, but it also depends how the person's accessed the answers - if you click the 'you have got an answer' link in your email, Answerbank logs you in and lets you star answers, but I sometimes go straight to Answerbank to check if I've received any replies, therefore I'm not logged in when I read them so don't rate them at that time, then forget to later. Can I have some stars now?

[sft42]

I suppose it depends on the question being asked.....for factual hard to find answers then giving stars is a nice thank you but for opinion based and debate type questions such as this then I don't think it is as much called for....plus most only tend to give stars to peple whose views gel with their own...for that reason I try not to give stars on these questions as much as possible......good idea though, increasing the number of stars to 5 might help.

[LeMarchand]

Getting a rating is nice (I think 3 stars is adequate), however, a "thank you" is just as good - or even a "no, you're wrong" - at least some sort of acknowledgement. There was one technical site that I visited where people were getting very shirty about the ratings people were giving their answers, as there was a "league table" thing on site. I prefer the more laid back approach of Answerbank. I agree with sft42 about ratings of answers for debate questions!

[treaclefight]

I try to rate all answers if only to acknowledge that i've read them, trying to preserve the 3 stars for particularly funny or well explained answers. But the more i get to know the site, the more i'm getting used to seeing particular names and there's more feedback from knowing the style of those people got than there is from the stars (if that makes sense). I think 5 stars might allow a bit more freedom of expression, but then again there's nothing stop people putting in a reply to their own question thanking the contributors too. i could have answered this much more concisely by just agreeing that it's good manners to thank people if they've done something for you.

[gilf]

Errr... I notice you havn't rated any of these answers.

[answerbok]

well i don't know why i came here cos you Know i give out more stars than i get.. :-)

[paulz]

Chums - thanks, it's just us regulars who seem to do it. Personally I think it's a pride thing, you feel as if your opinion/ideas/thoughts are actually worth something. I also get a warm glow seeing something I've bothered to respond too is valued. Gilf - I was trying to rate them all yesterday pm, but the a/bank was very slow, and would only display � the q + loads of gibberish, so sorry its late, and thanks ;+)

[Squirrel]

I feel kind of mean if I only give an answer one star, and it loses some of its meaning to people if I give everyone the full three...and, yes, often I just can't be bothered. If you're new to the site, though, it's not immediately obvious that there is an option to give out stars. That could be one reasom.