What would make you negatively rate a person's posts?

Marion Zimmer Bradley is widely discredited. nice story. innacurate. I think the thing is, I get bothered by the wilful continuation of innacuracies. yes, some people don't know otherwise, but in presenting it as fact, it's spreading ignorance. I wouldn't just automatically do it. but there's a number of people who have had the historical innacuracies pointed out, accurate facts and figures presented and sources provided. and still they cling to the story, as they prefer it. harsh, I know. but it just bothers me. I try and be fair. but willful spreading of innacuracies as truth does bother me a lot.

Well, you managed to educate me with that one... I would have assumed wiccanism was an ancient religion... but from what you say there are huge differences between modern wiccanism and ancient witchcraft. I really have no knowledge of either. I mean, I have read Marion Zimmer Bradley's 'Mists of Avalon'. Which to be honest wasn't really about witchcraft as much as it was about the changing of a matriarchal order where women held the balance of power to the Christian patriarchal order where men hold the balance of power. I think if you actually took a middle road between the legend of King Arthur and the world portrayed in the mists of avalon... you'd actually end up with something close to the truth of the time. The fact is though that a person might post something, thinking it is correct even when it isn't... do you really think it's justified to give a negative rating for that, or would it be better to present them with the alternative view? I mean, not everyone is going to go out and research every little thing they say. Lazy or inappropriate answers... I'd say maybe, depends on just how lazy or inappropriate it is.

Well, after all, the mists of avolon is just a novel, it doesn't make any claim to historical accuracy... and I certainly didn't look at it as a historical book. It would contain certain elements of truth but they would be distorted by the modern perception. Actually, I found it a fairly dull book which took a couple of years to read, I kept putting it down for months on end. It certainly wasn't a book that grabbed my attention and held it to the point where I couldn't put it down. I think part of the problem is that the belief code of the time wasn't really documented (please correct me if I am wrong there) the way it is now.. or perhaps documentation found has been witheld by the powers that be for fear of embarassment. But I think that most of the knowledge was passed down from parent to child, mentor to acolyte... as I say, please correct me if I'm wrong on that. That's just my assumption and I'm open to education. I agree that if people hold to their innaccurate assumptions in the face of evidence that it's wilful ignorance... but I'm still not sure that I would negatively rate for that. After all, we're all entitled to our opinions, even if we're deliberately being ignorant... but then, continuing to espouse their beliefs as fact to others... hmmm, I don't really know. I just look at it as difference of opinion as being healthy... the world would be a dull place if we all agreed Apparently you know a fair bit about this topic (or you wouldn't have mentioned it in your original response). Are you a Wiccan?

Personally, I always try not to be offensive in my posts... but there will always be people who will respond negatively anyway... I think it's pretty much unavoidable. We can't please everyone all the time You say you give a negative for personal harassment and sarcastic comments... would you do the same if a person was doing the same to someone else?

yes i agree with you we can't please people always. no, don't do anything that will worse the situation or the discussions...i will answer him with a mild words.

Personally I wouldn't even answer with mild words... often they just want you to react, whether mildly or aggressively doesn't really matter to them... the point is they got a reaction. I think it's better to deny them the satisfaction But that's just my approach... and I think your approach is fine too, it's just not the way I would choose to respond. Do you think that giving a negative rating is going to worsen a situation? After all, the person doesn't know who has given a negative rating or for what reasons. If they end up with a very low rating it might cause people to not take them seriously. I know that is true for myself. If I see a rating of 2 or 3 it makes me wonder what the person has done to earn such a low rating. I still take each post on it's own merits and if they make a good post I'm quite happy to give a positive rating to reward them for it.

That is actully better reporting rudeness. So that mylot can take care of it.

Well, so far I haven't given any negative ratings... perhaps in the case of extreme rudeness a negative rating would be appropriate... in the case of direct verbal abuse of other members or myself, reporting the post to admin would be a more appropriate response.

What I meant by obvious cheaters is when it's obvious that they cheated. For example I noticed a response to one of my discussions that looked very suspicious. So I reread some of the other responsers responses to the same discussion until I found the one I was looking for. Sure enough the cheater had copied and pasted most of this person's response. Not only did I report this person to mylot admin, I warned others on here about this cheater by posting a discussion about it. Yes, that is against the rules, but had I not done it this person would most likely still be a member of mylot. And I learned from this new discussion from other mylotters that this wasn't the first time this person has done this. There were many more responses/discussions where that came from. Another obvious cheater that I've seen on here is one that replies with the same response in similar discussions, yet it has no bearing to the discussion. And the people that get responses like these are usually oblivious to this, and just wonder why the response makes no sense whatsoever.

You make a good point there sacmom. Point being that if you are going to report a post to mylot you need to do so BEFORE you rate the post... otherwise you lose the opportunity to report. But what do you mean by 'obvious cheaters'?

You're a lover not a fighter eh nova? I'm the same. For me to give a negative rating it would have to be something really serious. I always try to post worthwhile responses and discussions and thankfully I don't seem to have posted anything that has caused serious offense so far... but it's only a matter of time before I manage to get someone aggro I'm sure. Always love your posts too... you're witty, honest and thoroughly entertaining

Thank you so much, jewel. It's nice to hear someone say I'm honest, because I'm really so open and honest here in my discussions and responses. I don't hold much back. What you see here is what I am. Although I'm a little bolder sexually here than in my offline life. A little. Anyway, thanks, darlin. I enjoy your posts too. Something about you draws me - you're compelling. So I look forward to getting to know you, and what a good way to get to know someone. It's all in our own time, and lends itself to some frank and enlightening conversations. I just love having met the people here that I've met. But at this point in my night, I'm too tired to continue any further. Now it's off to bed with me, I'm afraid. Very early morning coming up. I'll catch you around the Lot, my friend.

I can relate to be bolder online We don't have to worry about people's reactions so much. And it is a great way to get to know people too.. like you say, in your own time. YOu can learn a lot about a person just by checking out their profile and having a look at the responses they've made. Sleep well my friend

It is ok, nice to see you again! I always look for the good in people, even when there is not any. Everyone I have met on here so far is lovely and so I am hoping that I never come across someone who is not.

Like you, I haven't come across anyone on here that is a real jerk... but I'm sure it will happen one day. Regrettable but just a part of life I'm afraid

Thanks for popping in and giving your opinion Gemini Like you, I haven't given any negative ratings at this stage... and I hope I never feel that it's necessary... I prefer to see the good in people rather than the bad. Although I know there may come a time that a negative rating would be appropriate... mainly for the reasons you state... deliberate offensiveness. I wouldn't bother arguing with someone who left an abusive response... no matter how tempting it might be, because as you said... often they are just waiting for you to bite back so I refuse to give them the satisfaction.

I would have thought having a low rating would effect earnings... ie. they would earn less on posts where people constantly left negative ratings. But ignoring them could also be an option... as long as it's not continual bad behaviour.

Hi mrtim... rudeness doesn't really bother me UNLESS it's a direct attack on myself or someone else... in which case I will probably both comment on the post and leave a negative rating. I have seen a few posts that were totally off topic or useless 'me too' type responses... if a person isn't going to contribute something worthwhile to a discussion then why contribute at all? Obviously, they're just trying to increase the number of posts they have responded to... but making that kind of response probably won't help... mylot will just delete the post and reduce their number anyway. Having said that, I admit that I occasionally leave two or three word responses... but only AFTER I have left a proper response and someone else has responded to my response... in which case it doesn't help my post count anyway.

That's fair enough I guess... I suppose it's intuitive for all of us. After all, I'm a person who isn't easily offended so I might not care (or even notice) if someone gets mildly abusive toward me... but someone else might be more sensitive and see the attack and therefore give a negative rating.

If the post was unoriginal then it was a breach of MyLot guidelines and should be reported to MyLot since they don't like plagiarism (as it's called when you take someone elses content and call it your own) For me it would depend on the actual content whether I also gave it a negative rating... I might just draw the posters attention to the fact that they have breached mylot's guidelines instead because with a negative rating they don't get any feedback as to why they received it so they won't really learn a lesson from it.