Re: [Bug-gnupedia] Re : Just a few more issues

[Toby Tremayne]

Bob,

    so the ranking system would be entirely based on a moderator's decision?
What do you think about reader review of the articles?  Would a combination
of both be worthwhile?


Toby Tremayne
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-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Fisher <address@hidden>
To: address@hidden <address@hidden>
Date: Thursday, 18 January 2001 11:31
Subject: [Bug-gnupedia] Re : Just a few more issues


>Thom Chance wrote :
>
>"And finally on ranking articles Good-bad or 1-5, I
>think this could be a mistake. This will marginalise
>views that aren't mainstream, so that if somebody
>submits an article on gene therapy that is very pro
>the subject, and a lot of people are against it, the
>article would look bad perhaps unjustly."
>
>This is an interesting point. However, I think that given that
>the Gp is likley to receive a large volume of articles (hopefully!),
>many of which will cover nearly identical topics, a ranking system will be
>enormously useful. Also, the example you give is perhaps not what we
>normally think of as encylopedia material. Normally encyclopedias are very
>rich in factual content, but shallow on opinion. Highly opinionated
>articles may indeed be ranked lowed, but I believe this is a GOOD
>thing. Articles which at least attempt to cover the topics evenly deserve
>a higher ranking -- in my opinion, a comprehensive article detailing both
>sides of the history of abortion in the United States (for instance) is a
>far more worthwhile article than a polemic from either side.
>
>As for why a ranking system is crucial, imagine, for instance, perusing
>/. articles without any moderator rankings whatsoever. There will be gems
>in there, but you would have to a lot of time to actually find them. If
>you set your preferences to read only those comments ranked 4 and above,
>you can immediately access some very thoughtful and insightful
>commentary; much better than you could normally get from any professional
>media pundit. Naturally, no system is perfect, and some posts will have
>been ignored by moderators and others will be ranked unfairly; however, I
>find the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
>
>Part of the bias problem can be circumvented by using a weighting system
>discussed in my Strawman proposal which weights by the reader's ranking as
>a contributing author in that subject area.
>
>Best,
>
>Bob
>
>
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