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Proposal for modification of reviews rating system

pash

Hi everybody,

I joined MDL back in 2020 and over these years I've posted almost 300 reviews, mostly for J-dramas, and in many cases for dramas that hadn't been previously reviewed. Lately, alas, I've noticed a surge in the number of downvotes I'm getting. Sometimes I post a review, and in a matter of just a coupla hours, they get a downvote already. And I kindly ask what could possibly deserve a downvote in my review of the J-drama "Atari no Kitchen!", (the most recent of such instances) 'cause I really can't imagine it...>____<
https://mydramalist.com/756921-atari-no-kitchen
I suspect that I've rubbed someone the wrong way with one of my reviews and that now they're getting off downvoting my reviews just because they come from me (perhaps a kind admin/mod could tell me? I'm not asking for names, of course; I'd just like to know, say, that perhaps "Mr. Y" has downvoted me 10 times, Mrs. X 15 times, etc.).

Now, I really think the system is rife for abuse, the way it is.
Downvoting is anonymous. Whereas it might take me up to one hour (and sometimes even more) to write a single review, which I then post with my name on it, anybody could anonymously downvote it and it only takes them one simple click to do so. How is that supposed to be fair?

After all, when it comes to posts, we can only like them (by clicking/tapping on the heart icon), but not dislike them, and I think that's *great*. It encourages positivity and a friendly atmosphere, and avoids flames/trolling etc.; you like a post, good, hit that heart and let the poster know; you don't like it, just move on. Simple and efficient.

I propose we employ the same system for reviews: you like them, upvote them; you dislike them, move on.

If downvoting (for reasons I personally fail to see) needs instead to be absolutely kept, I suggest to at least regulate it. For example, by removing anonymity altogether, so that if someone serially downvotes the reviews by one reviewer, anybody can see that and realize that they're being haters.
Another option would be to limit the times you can downvote one reviewer, to, for example, two ot three, tops.
You read one of my reviews and don't like it? I can accept that. You do the same to another review of mine? It doesn't make me happy, but I can imagine you had forgotten my name meanwhile. The third time, or anything more that that, it's clearly a personal attack, come on! Tantamount to giving one star to a restaurant on TripAdvisor because you didn't like their Caesar's Salad, then another single star for their Greek Salad, and then another for their "Niçoise" and so on for every single dish on their menu. You'd be clearly harassing that restaurant! If you don't like it, why would you keep going there? Out of metaphor: if you don't like my reviews (because we have different ideas, opinions and tastes, which is only natural), why do you keep reading them (or pretending to - again, read the review I linked above and pray tell me what could possibly deserve it a downvote)?!?

Let me conclude by stressing out that writing reviews takes time and at least the courage of putting your name on them. And, like them or not, they contribute to the community.
Anonymously downvoting them, instead, is just childish and cowardly.
And it's tantamount to trying to silence the reviewer's voice, 'cause downvotes make the reviews less visible and in some cases just end up hiding them, basically.
You have a different opinion? Fine, write your own review and share it with everyone. And sign it.

Sorry for the rant, but this thing really hurt me. I use my time and effort to contribute to the community, but if the system doesn't change I'm gonna have to ask myself why I should bother doing so.

Thanks for the attention!

Best regards,

Pash

39votes
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Ceki

I'd suggest editing the title to "Remove downvoting on reviews" as users might find it easier to find it among other topics, if I stumble upon the similar topic I will link it here.

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Popcxqueen VIP

How do you know that your reviews have been downvoted? (And when you say downvoted, you just mean people click on No for "Was this review helpful to you?") Do you get a notice that says "Your review has been downvoted" or some other way that flags it? I'm asking because I've seen critiques of the review process before and I've never understood how people know that their review is being downvoted or not. Are you saying that because you wrote a review that it should show up first in the list and when it doesn't you assume that it's been downvoted? And how would you ever know that someone clicks No more than once?

I'm honestly asking because I still don't understand how this part of MDL works (and I've been around here since 2018.)

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pash
 Popcxqueen:

How do you know that your reviews have been downvoted? (And when you say downvoted, you just mean people click on No for "Was this review helpful to you?") Do you get a notice that says "Your review has been downvoted" or some other way that flags it? I'm asking because I've seen critiques of the review process before and I've never understood how people know that their review is being downvoted or not. Are you saying that because you wrote a review that it should show up first in the list and when it doesn't you assume that it's been downvoted? And how would you ever know that someone clicks No more than once?

I'm honestly asking because I still don't understand how this part of MDL works (and I've been around here since 2018.)

Hi, yeah, it's like that, exactly. Listing a reviewer's reviews by their "usefulness" makes them appear in order from the ones with more upvotes to those with less; newer reviews will always appear on top of all those with the same number of upvotes; so if, for example, a review with 10 upvotes appears *after* one with 9, it means it's gotten downvoted, and the same goes for new reviews that don't appear on top of all those with 0 upvotes, but rather at the bottom. That's how you know. But you're absolute right, although it's easy to see which reviews got downvoted, it's a lot harder (and in some cases totally impossible) to determine precisely *how many* downvotes a single review got. For example, if you see a review with N upvotes followed by one with N+1 and then by another with N, you know that the latter reviews got downvoted, but you don't know how many times, it could be they both got one single downvote, but also two, or more...no way to find out.

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Kate VIP
 Popcxqueen:

How do you know that your reviews have been downvoted? (And when you say downvoted, you just mean people click on No for "Was this review helpful to you?") Do you get a notice that says "Your review has been downvoted" or some other way that flags it? I'm asking because I've seen critiques of the review process before and I've never understood how people know that their review is being downvoted or not. Are you saying that because you wrote a review that it should show up first in the list and when it doesn't you assume that it's been downvoted? And how would you ever know that someone clicks No more than once?

I'm honestly asking because I still don't understand how this part of MDL works (and I've been around here since 2018.)

with some reviews it's easier to know they were mass downvoted than others. i have a few reviews that have the most number of upvotes for that specific drama, and yet they appear below reviews that have just a few upvotes. that means they were mass downvoted 

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Kate VIP

I know the issue personally. Got quite a few of my reviews mass downvotes. That said, I don't care that much. For me rather than  who downvoted them, I would love to know the number of downvotes - out of pure curiosity. 

I do think downvotes are rather useless tbh. They are abused a lot by both overprotective fans and people who hate a drama for one or the other reason. I don't think downvotes truly does what it supposed to do - help filter the "unhelpful" reviews 

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Aoi Community Manager

Would you prefer to see the downvote count or completely remove downvotes? However, removing them can cause significant changes.

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Kate VIP
 Aoi:

Would you prefer to see the downvote count or completely remove downvotes? However, removing them can cause significant changes.

I would at least want to be able to see how many I have. At the same time, I know some users don't want to know, so maybe it could be something we can set in setting personally (I want to see the number of downvotes). 

At the end of the day, I do think "unhelpful" vote is kind of useless and abused a lot. People not clicking "helpful" already means the reviews was not helpful - the option to vote unhelpful just calls for abuse of the system. 

If you want to know the opinion of other users and people who write reviews, I can ask in post on feeds, posts like that often gather a lot of users sharing their views and opinions. It might be useful. I can link the post here later. 

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pash
 Aoi:

Would you prefer to see the downvote count or completely remove downvotes? However, removing them can cause significant changes.

I'd rather remove downvoting completely. My idea is to make reviews rating exactly as it is for posts: just a simple heart icon at the bottom of them and if you liked them, you click/tap on it, otherwise you just move on. Simple and efficient. And it encourages positivity and a friendly atmosphere, removing all the abuse.

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pash
 Kate:
At the end of the day, I do think "unhelpful" vote is kind of useless and abused a lot. People not clicking "helpful" already means the reviews was not helpful - the option to vote unhelpful just calls for abuse of the system. 

Very well said, I completely agree! ^____-

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ASTER

disagree to remove downvotes on review

I understand your frustration, but don't you think that someone who has given his valuable time to read a review of a drama should not have the right to vote(downvote) on that review just because he doesn't agree with your review. This is inappropriate.

As far as you have given time to your writing, similarly the readers have also given their time to reading.

And how can you say with confidence that people are targeting you? I found it a little strange

edited Quote
pash
 ASTER:

I understand your frustration, but don't you think that someone who has given his valuable time to read a review of a drama should not have the right to vote(downvote) on that review just because he doesn't agree with your review. This is inappropriate.

As far as you have given time to your writing, similarly the readers have also given their time to reading.

And how can you say with confidence that people are targeting you? I found it a little strange

If you read my first post, I extensively explained it already. I post a review, coupla hours later it already gets downvoted. And pray tell what could deserve a downvote in that one I linked!
As for their "valuable time", as proven precisely by that review (but I could point you to *dozens* of such cases, believe me!) haters clearly don't even bother reading, they simply need ONE SECOND to downvote. And they do so ANONYMOUSLY.
That's just bullying, in my book.
Imagine if they used the same system on d-addicts: subbers would post subs, and people would click anonymously on "these subs weren't useful". How long would it take before subbers would stop posting, with such a system?!? >____<

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Kasia Krakowianka

let's keep helpful/not helpful with the count. After all, who gives hangs their lives on how many of what we got?

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pash
 Kasia Krakowianka:

let's keep helpful/not helpful with the count. After all, who gives hangs their lives on how many of what we got?

Maybe those of us who didn't post just ONE review but *hundreds*...

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Aoi Community Manager

I am able to view your downvotes, and it appears that only three of your reviews have been downvoted, with a higher ratio. However, there is no indication that these downvotes are specifically targeting your reviews. The rest of your reviews are all positive.

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