I Hate to Rate

How incredibly cool is that! Well done

Yes, I have noticed that if some of my articles start dipping in ratings that after I've rated some others, mine go back up again. There are some good things about Helium, but the touchy feeliness is not one of them.

I know I rated at least 200 articles and I never got even one rating star so I don't know what they are up to, and that whole bit about "quality" ratings is so subjective without any framework, but they are not like rocket scientists over there if you know what I mean. Maybe if enough people get mad about it they will back down.

Well, I think we could pop into their forum and "discuss" with the rest of the people there. But I briefly took a look of those opinions in their forum and they seem to agree with the policy!

I must admit the proposed policy doesn't overly bother me. I guess we need to remember that they are ultimately a business and need to look after there best interests

I hope it doesn't strike myLot either, although I do have to wean myself off from time to time as I need some of my idle time for other equally idle pursuits. Well, hubby and I are off for a road trip soon, and I will try to come back to myLot again in May, when the spring flowers are blooming and I will look you up on here then. Take care!

Well, in truth the have not made a TOS change at all, as I looked the terms over carefully just today and there is no difference. Just a notice that they think they would like to make these changes and wanted to know what members thought. As you can imagine, I told them what I thought. Yes, many programs do bite the dust! But I don't think that Helium is one of those that planned to do that from the beginning. They do seem to be running amuck, though.

That is exactly how I feel about it. I didn't much like being rated, much less having to rate others...to much like grading papers, lol. I'm retired. I've graded enough papers for a lifetime.

I'm really impressed that you got the 3 stars. Regarding pulling the articles, it is not legal for them to hold writers to one part of the terms of service while they themselves blatantly ignore the written promises they made in the same terms of service to perform their own obligations. If they want people to rate, they need to revamp the whole rating process and make it less onerous, less boring, and more logical. In my view it is just busywork with no substance. Comparing two equally bad (or equally good) articles is not rating! I also don't like getting the same articles to rate over and over and we should be able to skip any article on a subject which is not in our expertise and/or does not fit our interests.

lol.......very well said ann. You are a nice, diligent person - rare and loved.

Oh, Mimpi, I haven't been over to see if they updated, but did take a copy of the old one before we left on vacation recently, so it will not be like the sign on the wall in George Orwell's Animal Farm, where the animals were all scratching their heads and saying, weren't the rules written on the wall DIFFERENT the last time we looked at them. Lol. I read them very carefully. Triond Rocks!

I think I know which site you mean and I like them much better too. I also like Triond a lot. Honestly I'm earning more on Squidoo than on Helium and that is without trying. Also, although the ratings on my Helium articles have not changed much in my view, I'm not sure it was a coincidence that my writing star got yanked immediately after I wrote in disagreement with a staff member over specifics in their TOS. There really is no comparison between myLot and Helium as they are different kinds of programs, but if I had to give up one of the two it sure wouldn't be myLot.

I wouldn't give up mylot anytime too. Here is too much fun and I care too much about this site to be caring about some other sites. But I agree with you that Squidoo and Triond are good enough sites not to be given up. By the way, what is the earning potential in Squidoo? Is it much..? If you are scared to violate any TOS, PM me yeah. Good day, my lady. :)-

Wow! I've earned a bit more than that, but clearly, AC pays much better and without the BS. Triond is still my favorite PTW program, but I joined Hub Pages recently and have a good opinion so far.

I think if the Helium founders put their heads together and tried, they could come up with a satisfactory way to get out of the ditch they seem to be in. It is somewhat a question of whether they would prefer to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I do think that changing the Terms of Service midstream is highly unethical and that whether rating is something some people don't mind doing is somewhat irrelevant. What bothers me about Helium encouraging people to be "harsh" judges as you describe yourself is that there is no evaluation of the credentials of those doing the rating. I've read some of the rhetoric put forth by Helium staff and I don't consider those folks stellar writers, nor do I think they are in much of a position to rate me. I like the fact that Triond simple rejects articles that don't fit their needs. If it is not up to snuff they don't publish it. So far they have published everything I have submitted and I earn more from Triond than from Helium without being pestered to put other people down. I do appreciate your input, however.

I see where you are coming from, but the Helium founders probably had no idea how quickly or how big they would grow when they first wrote up their T&C's. Rating is not all bad though as it can help with new ideas for articles and provides a new perspective. I don't really read many article on the site as such so rating provides me the opportunity to have a flick through some articles. I do agree that the 'stellar writers' on Helium are few and far between and some of the 'experts' as such leave a bit to be desired but I am sure that you will find that anywhere. I think that the main difference between Helium and other sites is that they are really trying to develop a sense that they can be relied on for a high quality and appear more professional. While you may think that we are not qualified enough to be raters, I tend to disagree. We are all readers and have the ability to say what we like to read, ultimately that's all rating is. I agree that the system has flaws, but again what system doesn't? I would love to see a 'this is rubbish button', for me rating would then become much more enjoyable!