When you start initiating discussion threads the rating goes down,isn't it?

This is the first time I have heard of this. How come your rating goes down? Starting a discussion won't affect our ratings. Ratings rely on our participation, so how come your rating goes down when you started a discussion? check this and you may know/find the answer http://www.mylot.com/o/faq/faq11.aspx Why did my user rating go down? You will see this quite often in myLot. This usually happens when a discussion, response, or comment that you started, replied to, or commented on has been deleted. The best way to avoid this is to understand our guidelines and terms and not create or reply to discussions that are in violation.

No, certainly starting new discussion won't affect your rating. It is perhaps the quality of discussion you make. If it violates the guidelines of mylot and got deleted then your rating will be affected. That is as far as I understand. You can read the FAQs furthermore if this did not satisfy you.