knapplc
Active member
Hi guys. A couple of things.
First...
Our friends the psychologists tell us that humans have an innate system in the brain hard-wired to seek affirmative feedback. Call it the Reward System, call it Positive Reinforcement, doesn't matter. What matters here is that we can use it here, on HuskerBoard, to affect our will on the board. I'm not talking about devious social experiments, just something more subtle - how to use what we already have to positively affect what we want the board to be.
Humans are pre-programmed to desire this stuff, so much so that they'll attach value to seemingly invaluable things, then seek to attain those things, even subconsciously.
The cogent example here is the Reputation system. People go out of their way to attain +1s, these fake internet bonus points that this version of the board software gives us, that have no real-world value but that have a root-brain affinity to pretty much everyone on the board. Many, many times over the past five-ish years I've seen people whore for these things, even changing opinions to gain public approbation via numbers beside their posts.
While the Rep System here has no intrinsic value, the members place value on those +1s, and even the hardest among us will modify their positions if there's a reward available.
I think we could use that to our advantage, and I think we could affect the direction of the board by having the Moderators actively apply +1s to those opinions we desire, and intentionally ignore - not punish, "talk to" or in any other way influence - but ignore those opinions we find less valuable.
To do this would require little effort on the part of the Mods. We already have 100 +1s to give out per day, ten times the number of the regular members. But that greater number gives us greater influence, and we can use that influence to guide the board more subtly - and possibly more effectively - than by the blunt force of suspensions and other punishments.
Giving more carrot than stick, as the old saying goes.
This would require input from Eric, Chad, Frank and anyone else with a vested interest in the direction of the board. We would need to know what kinds of posts we're trying to foster here, and which we don't want. The ones we do we would simply +1 whenever we see them. Nothing aggressive, nothing concerted, nothing overt. Just a simple, subtle campaign by the guys with the +1s to use to move conversations in the direction that would most benefit HuskerBoard.
I truly think that by offering more "carrots" like this, rather than the "stick" of punishment, we'll see a better outcome for the board, and more success overall. All we would need is direction from the bosses.
Psychology is a powerful thing. So much so that guys like me, who knows full-well that these +1s are bogus, still take interest in them.
And that brings me to...
Second...
About two years ago, someone talked about the rep system in the forums, I took some time to see who had what Rep points, and I put that into a spreadsheet. That became my "baseline," and from there, about every two months, I took another sounding of the amount of Rep points the top 50 or so members had.
This speaks to the psychology of the Reward System. I know these are irrelevant internet bonus points, but it didn't one time hurt my feelings that every time I took a survey, I had the most. I know/knew it was/is bogus, but it still affected me. It affects everyone.
So to this second point, I have a question - I have data going back to 2012, taken roughly every two months, of who had how many Rep Points, roughly the top 50 of the board. I have a solid two year's worth.
Is anyone interested in seeing this? Is this info interesting in any way? I'd be happy to show you what I have, if you would find it interesting.
To my first point, positively reinforcing our desired behavior, I could publish this information to the regular forums after showing you guys, and show the other members. It could help push interest in Rep points, and it could assist us in our endeavor to guide behavior through positive reinforcement - if we choose to do that.
So let me know two things - First, are we interested in trying to guide behavior on the board by having the Mods +1 "desirable" posts, and if so, what kinds of posts would those be? And Second, but not necessarily related to the first, are you guys interested in seeing this data I've been collecting for my own personal interest, and do you think the members would like to see it as well?
First...
Our friends the psychologists tell us that humans have an innate system in the brain hard-wired to seek affirmative feedback. Call it the Reward System, call it Positive Reinforcement, doesn't matter. What matters here is that we can use it here, on HuskerBoard, to affect our will on the board. I'm not talking about devious social experiments, just something more subtle - how to use what we already have to positively affect what we want the board to be.
Humans are pre-programmed to desire this stuff, so much so that they'll attach value to seemingly invaluable things, then seek to attain those things, even subconsciously.
The cogent example here is the Reputation system. People go out of their way to attain +1s, these fake internet bonus points that this version of the board software gives us, that have no real-world value but that have a root-brain affinity to pretty much everyone on the board. Many, many times over the past five-ish years I've seen people whore for these things, even changing opinions to gain public approbation via numbers beside their posts.
While the Rep System here has no intrinsic value, the members place value on those +1s, and even the hardest among us will modify their positions if there's a reward available.
I think we could use that to our advantage, and I think we could affect the direction of the board by having the Moderators actively apply +1s to those opinions we desire, and intentionally ignore - not punish, "talk to" or in any other way influence - but ignore those opinions we find less valuable.
To do this would require little effort on the part of the Mods. We already have 100 +1s to give out per day, ten times the number of the regular members. But that greater number gives us greater influence, and we can use that influence to guide the board more subtly - and possibly more effectively - than by the blunt force of suspensions and other punishments.
Giving more carrot than stick, as the old saying goes.
This would require input from Eric, Chad, Frank and anyone else with a vested interest in the direction of the board. We would need to know what kinds of posts we're trying to foster here, and which we don't want. The ones we do we would simply +1 whenever we see them. Nothing aggressive, nothing concerted, nothing overt. Just a simple, subtle campaign by the guys with the +1s to use to move conversations in the direction that would most benefit HuskerBoard.
I truly think that by offering more "carrots" like this, rather than the "stick" of punishment, we'll see a better outcome for the board, and more success overall. All we would need is direction from the bosses.
Psychology is a powerful thing. So much so that guys like me, who knows full-well that these +1s are bogus, still take interest in them.
And that brings me to...
Second...
About two years ago, someone talked about the rep system in the forums, I took some time to see who had what Rep points, and I put that into a spreadsheet. That became my "baseline," and from there, about every two months, I took another sounding of the amount of Rep points the top 50 or so members had.
This speaks to the psychology of the Reward System. I know these are irrelevant internet bonus points, but it didn't one time hurt my feelings that every time I took a survey, I had the most. I know/knew it was/is bogus, but it still affected me. It affects everyone.
So to this second point, I have a question - I have data going back to 2012, taken roughly every two months, of who had how many Rep Points, roughly the top 50 of the board. I have a solid two year's worth.
Is anyone interested in seeing this? Is this info interesting in any way? I'd be happy to show you what I have, if you would find it interesting.
To my first point, positively reinforcing our desired behavior, I could publish this information to the regular forums after showing you guys, and show the other members. It could help push interest in Rep points, and it could assist us in our endeavor to guide behavior through positive reinforcement - if we choose to do that.
So let me know two things - First, are we interested in trying to guide behavior on the board by having the Mods +1 "desirable" posts, and if so, what kinds of posts would those be? And Second, but not necessarily related to the first, are you guys interested in seeing this data I've been collecting for my own personal interest, and do you think the members would like to see it as well?
