Reputation

I don't really know what to think about the Reputation function on this site.
Everyone would like to build up a lot of positive points I'm sure. That's another way to certify how wonderful I think I am.

But there are the inevitable negative comments.

There have been time when I see the posters point and feel this is a good way to get needed feedback without starting a war.

On the other hand I have a few which are poorly explained and leave me wondering just how my wonderful self deserved it. Naturally they were also negative.

The most recent was just one word - troll. Naturally there was no senders name attached.

This is the point of this thread.
Do the members think this is valuable for this to be anonymous?

Pro, it stops the possibility of a nasty mud slinging war.
Con, it stops any conversation and explanation.

It does take any heated discussion off the main pages which is good in my opinion.

What do you all think?

 

Please don't let yourself be bothered by any one single Post Feedback / reputation comment.

Like everything in the world it is imperfect and not every comment will be perfect and some will be inappropriate.
The anonymity of post feedback does create problems sometimes; the problem with identifying who left each comment is that then, unfortunately, it would cause some to seek retribution either using the post feedback or with posts on the public forum threads which would be even worse. It's a problem when two people lock horns and can really detract from otherwise good threads on the forums when one person feels they want to get even or get payback with another person for a previous slight. When it works well, the post feedback / reputation comment hopefully will provide a small relief valve to give someone an indication you really don't like their post (hopefully with an understandable and legitimate reason given), and of course, hopefully it is used mainly to tell people that their post is particularly interesting or useful or helpful.

The main thing is to look at the overall trend.

If most people are finding your posts useful, interesting, and helpful that's a good thing. Thank you.

If you start finding that many feedback comments on your posts are finding them unhelpful or dangerous or off topic or insulting then it's an opportunity to see if your posts aren't coming across as you intended. For example if your rep number starts at 10 and goes to -20 it indicates your posts aren't being received well and hopefully will prompt a change in posting style.