How to determine the 'value' of a myLot discussion?
@destry (2567)
Kirkwall, Scotland
October 30, 2015 4:45am CST
I would like to pose a question to @GoAskAlice if I may.
Regarding the guideline "Discussions, responses or comments that offer little or no value" I have seen various discussions that consist of one sentence(I know word count and size isn't everything) of very vague meaning, and in my opinion it offers no value, but surely this is a very subjective guideline and is based on personal opinion of what constitutes "value".
Is there any formula or set principles of what dictates "value"? Or is it all subjective? If some one thinks a discussion has little / no value, is at appropriate to a) report it for your review and b) inform the OP kindly that we think it offers little / no value.
Many thanks in advance.
9 people like this
9 responses
@GoAskAlice (5865)
•
30 Oct 15
I have already replied to your message, but I think it's a great question so I will try to elaborate a bit more in your post for others to see. I'll start with the obvious fouls. For example. "Hey, how is everyone today!" would be an obvious candidate for removal. But if you then add something like "I'm terrible, what a day, I had to blahblah yadayada etc etc and it went blahblah etc etc". (replace blah and such with actual words please) it transforms the whole discussion.
It isn't always about the number of words or sentences in a post. A good discussion can be had with just a couple sentences sometimes, provided that the 2 sentences have some depth. For example: "What a great day. I'm loving the weather" would probably be removed if reported. But something like "What a great day we're having with this weather. I remember days like this when I was a kid, do days like this make you nostalgic?" is more likely to generate a conversation.
One of the other things I take in to consideration is the person's native language. I would not, for example, be too hard on someone for a very brief post of a sentence or 2 with someone for whom that is a major accomplishment in linguistics. If it seems someone is at least trying and the only thing limiting them is a limited command of the English language, I will take that in to consideration.
As I had stated in my advisory post yesterday, I do welcome members informing others of the rules when a violation occurs. But it does get a bit trickier in cases such as this. While I do want people to be mindful of the rules and to be reminded, I think in these cases a bit more discretion may be in order. Just report it and I will review it. Or, perhaps see if you can coax a bit more value out of it in comments and responses. It certainly doesn't hurt to try and you might have made someone's day a little brighter. A lot of people come here with the intent to sharpen their English skills, having someone engage them is helpful to those ends.
Over all I would just rely on common sense. There are grey areas, to be sure, but in most cases obvious junk is obvious.
10 people like this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
31 Oct 15
@goaskalice this is a very informative, very useful answer for both old and new mylotters. i wish everyone could see it.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
4 Nov 15
This is a thoughtful answer to a difficult question.
2 people like this
@yukimori (10192)
• United States
30 Oct 15
From what I can tell it's entirely subjective and based off other users' interactions with posts or the lack thereof.
If you see something obviously against the guidelines, it should be reported. If it's one of those gray areas, you can report it and it will be reviewed then deleted if it's warranted. That's the great thing about having human eyes verifying reports.
I'm not entirely sure there's a nice way to tell someone their discussion is poor quality... 

5 people like this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 15
@PhredWreck No Lamb not a good Idea lol you would get in trouble again 

4 people like this
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
31 Oct 15
@gabs8513 Oh, a bit of a troublemaker, is he, our friend @PhredWreck? I'd never have guessed if it weren't for the happy, smiley avatar... 

3 people like this

@slund2041 (3314)
• United States
30 Oct 15
While I am glad there is no limit as to how many character's a post has to be. I do feel some people are abusing that right. I wished people would try not to ruin a good thing.
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (502573)
• Italy
30 Oct 15
I believe that even a one line discussion can become a "valuable" discussion if people start to comment, they find something interesting to say and an interaction start.
When we see a post that seems with no value, the easiest thing to do is to flag and let Alex decide.
5 people like this
@marguicha (230350)
• Chile
8 Nov 15
Although this is subjective, I would not like or comment on any such post. And probably, if no one does, the mylotter will not earn from that.
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
30 Oct 15
I have wondered about this as well and I think everyone has pretty much answered you.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
30 Oct 15
I one word comment or response is one thing that is of no value. I wold translate a discussion of no value to be something like, "Hi, how are you today?" or something similar.
2 people like this









