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Disqus Clout

Started by jyoseph · 2 months ago

Are there any more detailed definitions of "clout" for disqus? I've been using disqus for a few weeks now, commented on several blogs and have a -1. How can this be? I checked the definition in the FAQ's and it was rather vague. Anybody know?

13 comments

  • Eh. Decided my comment wasn't worth much merit.

    Cheers!
  • Hi, sorry for that sordid experience. We understand how this is being
    used on websites with, well, strong opinions. There are updates coming
    to address how the ratings work.
  • I understand there's some adjustments to be made to the weight of a vote and the effect it has on the Clout, so, no problems here at all. Just making an observation. And it looks like there's been some adjustments made even since yesterday.

    When I view my own profile I can see nearly every comment I've ever made on a blog that has Disqus installed. I can also see where one time I was rated at -1 for a comment I left (a harmless, simple comment I left). Seems trivial but, that makes me sort of want to avoid leaving comments at that place. That is, if a single -1 vote has such a bearing on my overall clout. I'm guessing that's not the intent behind the Clout system.

    Out of curiosity, In what cases would you want to vote a comment down? If you simply disagree with the comment or if you are offended? I think more needs to be said on this topic.
  • We have our own personal beliefs on when the ratings should be used,
    but there is no enforced criteria.

    A comment should be rated down if it is spam, inappropriate, or
    otherwise detracting from the discussion. I don't think "disagreeing"
    warrants rating down comments.
  • In any case, everyone makes mistakes now and then; are you considering the option of being able to nullify your initial rating?
  • Just click on the button again and it will undo.
  • test
  • this "clout" thing is really not a good experience!
    i use disqus on my own wordpress blog {no "clout points" for installing that myself}
    i set it up on my tumblr {no clout for doing that}
    i love disqus and have got a lot of people on to it {no clout for that either}
    i comment all the time on lots of different blogs etc...

    and i have -3 ?!?!???

    what the heck?

    all i want to do is change my user name!! but i don't have enough "clout"
    leaves a bad taste in my mouth big time.

    i'm tempted to just delete my account and start again with the user name i want....


    please fix this daniel.
  • The grounds for handing out the positive clout points are pretty nebulous compared to the negative ones; it's somewhat easy to hand out negative rating for inappropriate content, but appropriate ... everything is appropriate, if it isn't inappropriate, so what goes in between?

    The things you are talking about in brackets have nothing to do with the way you comment, so therefore you shouldn't get any clout for doing it, naturally; clout isn't points for propagating Disqus.

    Looking at your comments on your profile, I don't see any comments that were rated negatively, which I find pretty damn odd. Do you yourself know, if a particular comment of yours received this negative clout? Perhaps Daniel can elaborate - and, assuming there is a bug, fix it.

    But your comment raises an interesting point; regaining lost clout seems a bit too difficult, especially if your initial comments weren't really that bad, even though someone down-thumbed it. To draw an example, I would hesitate greatly in using Disqus on a political or controversial blog post, because things will almost indubitably get very heated, and some people will eventually use the ratings to show their discontent, even though it's no proper way to do it.

    An interesting feature to implement would be some sort of negative clout deterioration rate; if someone initially makes some stupid comments and gets rated negatively for doing so (not saying that's you), he or she should not be permanently ostracized but given an incentive of redemption by keeping on posting, but in a way that won't get any more negative clout. Since the only means of redemption, being rated positively, depends on aforementioned nebulous grounds - and on subjective, diverse people - perhaps a safety precaution like a negative clout deterioration rate would alleviate this.
  • Hi, can you email us at help@disqus.com

    We can help.
  • I would like to disable clout and ratings as well. I am finding that when dealing with controversial topics, clout and ratings of posts is not really all that helpful.
  • A temporary solution, at any rate, is to lock the comments for the post in question. Not a longsighted one, though. :)
  • Thanks, but that won't really help. What I really want to eliminate is commenters voting on each other. I don't think the real purpose of the feature is universally understood. Most of the time commenters seem to just rate each other based on agreement or disagreement with the comment rather than the quality of the comment.

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