Social Recognition in Online Communities and Feedback for the Future

[Myr]

Before we start, if you're not a big fan of change or hate gamification elements, or think levels are some sort of offense to humanity, this topic is not meant for you.

With that out of the way, for those of you that made it past the first paragraph either because you are interested in the topic in general or wondering what the hell I could be talking about... let's begin with history.

When online communities first starting being a thing, they all started off with the most basic of all features, the post count.  They added ranks based completely on the post count.  That is, hit 200 posts and you are ranked X, get 400 and you are Y, get 500 and you are Z, oh and at 500, you can change your Member Title.  That system still kind of exists, but we shut it off over a year ago except being able to set your member title.

The replacement was Reputation, first based on Likes and then reactions.  The software here allows for both positive and negative reputation scoring.  We didn't do that long due to the 'review bomb' phenomenon.  This system was an improvement over a "post count" only system as the post counts were easily abused by spam posting.  The Reputation Levels are abstracted a layer from post count.  I could spam post 50 times, and no one likes it, it leaves me at 0 reputation.  Or I could write some insanely popular post that 50 people like and I get the 50 points of reputation.  This was a big improvement in that it motivates some people to strive to post content that people react well to.  (I'm obviously simplifying here, but this is what the entire social media industry is resting on.  They need the people that make stuff and getting the dopamine hit when someone reacts well to it.)  Marketing is tied into all this stuff too.  A non-insignificant subset of people are driven by the 'gotta have it' mentality.  If you ever want to red-pill yourself on how much you are manipulated by companies, read a persuasion or marketing book some time. 

This method also has it's downside as well.  People always end of finding ways to use something in a way that the designers didn't intend or hadn't anticipated or thought wouldn't be an issue. Steve Jobs on iPhone 4's antenna issue and his infamous "Don't hold it that way!" response, as an example.  Reactions are a one size fits all click.  Whether it is a phenomenal 250,000 word novel posted on the system or "Good night", a 💗reaction is the same for both.  Oops.  I'm not sure about you, but I value the 250,000 word novel an author poured his heart and soul into a whole hell of a lot more than someone saying "good night" and getting 10 thumbs up for it.

This brings us to the brand new Invision Community 4.6.0 Beta 2 that is testing right now.  This is the third generation of Online Community Social Recognition and rewards.  Post Counts are still there. Reputation is still there (and not changing, except reputation levels).  With this version of the software, they are adding another abstraction layer.  We can now target fairly specifically using a new accumulating value that they are calling Achievement Points.  They have removed the old ranks from the system to base it completely on Achievement Points instead.  Reputation, as I said, stays the same. You get 1 point for each reaction you get.  The titles, all having to do with Scribes, are going to be dropped though.  Reputation will just be a number without anything attached to it.  The scribe titles will be recycled into the new Achievement Point based rankings.  So now would be a good time in this to define some terms and how they work.

• Post Count - make a post on the site as a topic/reply/comment/blog/story/whatever and the post count goes up by 1.
• Reaction - When someone clicks the like or other reaction type to content you posted. This makes your Reputation number go up.  (or down, if the member removes their reaction)
• Member Title - you set this in your profile and it shows up under your name when you post something
• Member Rank - Old version is no longer shown on site. New version will be deployed when we upgrade to 4.6.0
• Achievement Points - Variable number of points rewarded for different actions on the site.  example - making your first post. Posting a story review.  Getting 10 reactions on a story review.  Getting 10 Story reviews on your story.  You'd get points for any of those events. We can set the number of points you get.
• Badges - Badges are little icons that you can get for specific actions (making a first post, signing in 7 days in a row, signing in 1 year after you've joined the site, posting a story in an anthology), for reaching a certain number of achievement points (500 points, Woot!), or they can be assigned manually by staff. For example, maybe you make an outstanding post and staff say "Wow! what a post!  Here's a badge for being so cool"

The above screenshot shows my profile on our test server. On the left you see member Rank (based on Achievement Point Total).  on the right, you see some badges.  You'll note they all say "Rare" on them.  "Rare" is put on a badge if less than 5% of the people on the site have the badge.

How things show up is going to shuffle about to, as they switch to a more graphical look on posts.

Note that the rank is shown as an icon that overlays your avatar.  Moderators have a little shield that does the same. Post count is back under your name as a summary (the 1.5k). Reputation is moved up into the hovercard when you mouse over an avatar. The member rank badge offers the visual indicator of reputation, as higher rank means you're actively involved in the community.

Boy... that's a lot of run up.  What we need feedback on is Ranks... achievement point values, badges and general approach.

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by Myr
Removed Club Link

[Mikiesboy]

I used post on a site where you got points, and /or could buy points with real money and use them for various things, give them to others. They also had badges they gave out, or you could buy with points to give to others for various reasons. You either did that or didn't. It was okay. If i remember correctly they handed out points and badges if you reviewed a certain number of things per week/month etc.  It was fun and depended on how involved you wanted to be.

[Myr]

4 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

I used post on a site where you got points, and /or could buy points with real money and use them for various things, give them to others. They also had badges they gave out, or you could buy with points to give to others for various reasons. You either did that or didn't. It was okay. If i remember correctly they handed out points and badges if you reviewed a certain number of things per week/month etc.  It was fun and depended on how involved you wanted to be.

I have put some thought into a system like that as a way to support authors, but the tax situation to do that is daunting to say the least.  If we do something like that, it'll be an additional system on top of the existing stuff.

[northie]

Interesting... tried to request access to the test club and nothing came up. I accepted the requirement and then... *shrugs* Clicked on the link again and got an error message saying I wasn't authorised to see the page it led to.  I'm certainly available and interested in testing (always am). 

[astone2292]

I'm in the same boat as northie. Accepted the requirement and was whisked away to a new tab with the "Myr created a club" bubble on a blank browser tab. I'm always for productive change, and am interested in providing feedback. 

[Myr]

It's a closed club, so, it heads off waiting for approval.  Which I've done.

Thanks for those that have expressed interest.  It's still open to more people joining.