Member 'expert' status suggestion

[sparkeh]

So I was thinking that as I have been a member a few years now I can pick out the people whose advice I really trust on certain areas/products/issues etc. eg I know who to listen to if I have a linux problem, or SCCM or networking etc

Obviously when I was a new member I obviously didn't have that advantage.

 

Therefore I propose that members of the community who have a proved track record of providing knowledge about an area are given an 'expert' rank ie 'Linux Expert' etc. Then if that person provides info then a viewer knows that comment has a lot of weight behind it.

 

This is different to rep as its more specific.

 

Perhaps people could be nominated for the rank or chosen by admins but I wouldn't expect it to be handed out lightly.

 

Thoughts?

[webman]

I think it's a good idea. Although I'm a fan of the term specialist over expert to describe the sort of people you mentioned.

[maniac]

Sounds like we'll end up mimicing experts exchange if we went down that route. I've never been keen on ranking members of forums, it starts to devide communities if you're not careful. Rep is different as everyone has an equal chance of earning that, but branding someone as an expert - how would it be judged? How would the community make sure that experts advice is infact good? What happens if someone chosen as an 'expert' offers advice that turns out to be wrong - where does edugeek stand if they appointed them as an expert? Hmm, can of worms me thinks . . . .

[FN-GM]

How would other feel if they where not made an expert when infact they are pretty good in that area?

[sparkeh]

@webman; Point taken. Expert is probably the wrong word. Specialist is indeed better. Perhaps there is something even more appropriate.

 

@maniac; I am not trying to push elitism but I do see your point. Rep is different but lets be honest, rep can be earned for posting pics of a dog wearing sunglasses or something. This is something specific intended to aid the community.

[sparkeh]

How would other feel if they where not made an expert when infact they are pretty good in that area?

 

But I am not suggesting handing it out to people who are 'pretty good' but people who have proved to be specialist.

[tech_guy]

@webman; Point taken. Expert is probably the wrong word. Specialist is indeed better. Perhaps there is something even more appropriate.

 

@maniac; I am not trying to push elitism but I do see your point. Rep is different but lets be honest, rep can be earned for posting pics of a dog wearing sunglasses or something. This is something specific intended to aid the community.

 

What's wrong with a dog wearing sunglasses?

 

http://jwiltshire.org/images/97252.jpg

[sparkeh]

What's wrong with a dog wearing sunglasses?

 

Nothing at all. But if someone receives a lot of rep for posting it, it doesn't mean they can help you with your tech problems.

[localzuk]

Interesting idea, my only thought is how would this be judged?

[Hightower]

How would it be ranked though? I'd like to have a pop for a few of the coding 'specialist' badges should they come about. Do I not get one if someone is better than me? Or do I have to take an EduExam to attain the mark against my name?

[sparkeh]

Interesting idea, my only thought is how would this be judged?

 

Yes this could be a sticking point. I was thinking along the lines of nominations by other members. But then yes someone would have to judge it.

 

How would it be ranked though? I'd like to have a pop for a few of the coding 'specialist' badges should they come about. Do I not get one if someone is better than me? Or do I have to take an EduExam to attain the mark against my name?

I would not anticipate any formal exam would be necessary.

[FN-GM]

But I am not suggesting handing it out to people who are 'pretty good' but people who have proved to be specialist.

 

Would you say i am an expert in anything?

[maniac]

Maybe there could be an extension to the existing rep system that ties rep to one of the forums, so you could see for example that a certain person's had 50 points in the windows forum, and 120 points in the linux forum etc. and make your own mind up about the strength of their advice based on that?

[pauljonze]

I tend to judge the expertise of any posts I find on EduGeek by whether they work or not, what if a new member were an absolute wizz at PHP but hadn't earned the badges? The existing system works fine IMHO.

[localzuk]

Also, would it not mean that those people who were knowledgeable in lots of areas would end up with a profile full of badges? Look at Geoff for example...

[LosOjos]

How would it be ranked though? I'd like to have a pop for a few of the coding 'specialist' badges should they come about. Do I not get one if someone is better than me? Or do I have to take an EduExam to attain the mark against my name?

 

I'd say that for each relevant forum, there could be a public vote opened up to members who have been active for over 6 months (so that they would have a good idea who gives out the best advice on a topic) to vote for someone to be honoured that rank.

 

It's a nice idea but as maniac said, this can split communities causing ill-feeling and jealousy from members who feel someone doesn't deserve a title or that they deserve it more.

 

Personally I know a few people who always give me top notch advice in certain areas, and I think those people know who they are as some of us regulars (am I a regular yet lol?) will openly ask for their advice on the boards or via PM

 

EDIT: maniac's suggestion sounds good to me, +1 to that if EG did go down this route

[sparkeh]

Maybe there could be an extension to the existing rep system that ties rep to one of the forums, so you could see for example that a certain person's had 50 points in the windows forum, and 120 points in the linux forum etc. and make your own mind up about the strength of their advice based on that?

 

Yes that is interesting idea. I wonder if that is currently possible?

 

I tend to judge the expertise of any posts I find on EduGeek by whether they work or not, what if a new member were an absolute wizz at PHP but hadn't earned the badges? The existing system works fine IMHO.

 

Thing is one of the reasons I thought about this was after a reading a few threads that contained very bad advice that someone trusted and made the problem worse. A 'suck it and see' approach is not always possible.

 

The new member point is valid but that is not the way communities work is it? Regardless of how whizzy at php someone professes to be, I would rather take the opinion of the community who have decided to recommend a member who is proven to know they about php. Plus if they really are that good then I suggest that they might gain a good reputation among the community and be recommended themselves.

[sparkeh]

Also, would it not mean that those people who were knowledgeable in lots of areas would end up with a profile full of badges? Look at Geoff for example...

 

Could do I guess.

Then again would be people want to have lots?

[LosOjos]

Could do I guess.

Then again would be people want to have lots?

 

Perhaps if a user has more than one, they get a particular badge to signify this, with full details on their profile page

[Hightower]

Thing is one of the reasons I thought about this was after a reading a few threads that contained very bad advice that someone trusted and made the problem worse.

 

I'm sorry, but the way I see it is these forums are not policed (in terms of checking solutions work). What's to stop a 'trusted' person giving you good advice that is bad advice because your network is slightly different.

 

Anybody who doesn't cross reference solutions provided here deserves to deal with the consequences. I wouldn't go mucking around with live services no matter how trusted the source was, without testing first.

[LosOjos]

What's to stop a 'trusted' person giving you good advice that is bad advice

 

Good advice, by definition, is not bad advice

 

Seriously though, advice is just that: advice. It's not a fix-all, definitive solution to every conceivable scenario, it's advice based on experience and knowledge, and it's easy to spot when somebody knows what they are talking about and when they are just guessing; that's the difference between good and bad advice.

[AyatollahPies]

As long as it's not based upon how many times a poster has been thanked, as this function is abused beyond a joke.

[sparkeh]

I'm sorry, but the way I see it is these forums are not policed (in terms of checking solutions work). What's to stop a 'trusted' person giving you good advice that is bad advice because your network is slightly different.

 

Well technically nothing. However, someone who has been recognised as providing high quality advice is much less likely to give advice that is going to cause major problems. Right?

Also I never advocated vetting solutions, this is just impractical.

 

Anybody who doesn't cross reference solutions provided here deserves to deal with the consequences. I wouldn't go mucking around with live services no matter how trusted the source was, without testing first.

 

Of course we are all responsible for what actions we take on our networks. But if someone gets a raft of answers to their problem, then giving some kind of indication of who actually knows about the issue can only help. After all that's why we're here isn't it?

[sparkeh]

As long as it's not based upon how many times a poster has been thanked, as this function is abused beyond a joke.

 

**Original reply edited**

 

Sorry do you mean the thanks function is absurd or my suggestion?

[SYNACK]

Maybe there could be an extension to the existing rep system that ties rep to one of the forums, so you could see for example that a certain person's had 50 points in the windows forum, and 120 points in the linux forum etc. and make your own mind up about the strength of their advice based on that?

 

I think that this would be an extremely useful feature that would actually solve a bunch of the issues that people have with the current setup and apart from coding it does not require any additional overhead from the users or the managment staff. This leaves the grading wholely to the community which avoids the bottlenecks of only a few people having to do it and adds to the democracy of the feature.

 

If there was a breakdown avalible of the rep score by forum (maybe linked from the bar into a page on the users profile) then it would clearly show what kinds of things that user gained their rep for and you could see if it was mostly for 'dog in sunglasses' type posts. Overall I think that this feature would address any percived unfairness in the existing system and is a very good idea which I personally hope is enacted at some point in the future. Fantastic idea maniac

 

As long as it's not based upon how many times a poster has been thanked, as this function is abused beyond a joke.

 

I think that this does still need to be taken into account as it is not always abused, I think that the division of these into the seporate forums would also make it easier to filter out errant data.

Edited June 30, 2010 by SYNACK