Your Demoted!08/21/2009 08:28 PMI have no problem with ideas being demoted, as that is the power of the system and how the good ideas rise to the top, but I think the whole process becomes even more valuable if people comment why they have demoted. This feeds the cycle and lets our all learn from others insights.
Now that I have written this I realise that I have probably done what I have just said we shouldn't. Time to go back and review my Demote Votes and provide some constructive comments why.
Technorati: Lotus Knows
1. Ben Langhinrichs21/08/2009 11:16:45 PM
Homepage: http://www.GeniiSoft.com/showcase.nsf/GeniiBlog
It is sometimes hard to decide whether to demote or ignore an idea that may be good, but clearly doesn't belong in this IdeaJam instance (e.g., a feature request or "make designer faster" idea). Ironically, leaving a comment in IdeaJam gives an idea more exposure (places it higher on both the "Most Comments" and right SideBar list), so I don't tend to comment on an idea that seems off-topic or out of place.
2. Theo Heselmans22/08/2009 01:40:05 AM
Homepage: http://blog.xceed.be
I only promote when I agree with the idea, demote when not (which I hardly do). I use 'no opinion' a lot, which for me means:
- I don't care
- I don't understand
- I have no feeling for this topic
- It is off topic (like the numerous feature requests)
When I have something useful to add, I comment.
3. Matt White22/08/2009 02:28:33 AM
Homepage: http://mattwhite.me
Hi Adam,
This is an issue we have wrestled with over the last couple of years. On the community site an etiquette has evolved that a demotion will usually result in a comment, but we don't want to force that in the system as we feel it would hinder people expressing their true view if we are forcing them to explain themselves.
AS with all social software, there is no right or wrong answer here, we just feel that the system forcing you to work in a certain way is ultimately self defeating.
Really glad that you enjoyed going through all of the ideas on the IdeaJam sites, and I notice that you've put an idea on the community site as well which should hopefully re-start the conversations we had back in 2007 about this issue.
Matt
4. Matt White22/08/2009 02:30:27 AM
Homepage: http://mattwhite.me
Here is one of those discussions I mentioned by the way... http://ideajam.net/IdeaJam/P/ij.nsf/0/D4C0ED64ED407A3D8625734800294EA3?OpenDocument
5. Adam Brown22/08/2009 08:07:51 AM
Homepage: http://www.isw.com.au
I think that if it is Off Topic the first comment should say so and then it gets left alone with No Opinion Votes.
The fact that demotes with comments driving a topic up the list is not such a problem as often these points can be debated which is the real strength of the system. I have been debating with Stuart McIntyre over PVU licensing models and I think the discussion both ways is very useful -http://lotusknows.ideajam.net/ideajam/ibm/lotusknows/ideajam.nsf/0/9951B4858FD5CECE86257618001D0A31?opendocument
6. Richard Schwartz22/08/2009 09:40:42 AM
Homepage: http://www.poweroftheschwartz.com
The beauty of IdeaJam (and similar systems) is in the simplicity of the binary decision and the speed with which you can express that decision.
The drawback of IdeaJam (and similar systems) is the same. I'd kind of like to see second binary choice available, for relevance of the idea. It defaults to "on topic", but can be changed to "off topic" with a single click. But that begs the question of what else should you be voting for? How about voting on the appropriateness of the tags, or the appropriateness of each tag? Well... as you can see, simplicity goes out the window pretty quickly if you go down this road. I think it's better to leave it the way it is.
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