User Awards: 'Worst ' Nominations

Discussion in '2014' started by Plums, Jun 3, 2014.

?

Which nomination method would you prefer?

Poll closed Jun 8, 2014.
  1. Self Nominations

    36.8%
  2. Open Nominations

    44.7%
  3. Doesn't Matter

    18.4%
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  1. Plums Wakanda Forever

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    Hey everyone. As you know, during the User Awards last year, we decided to conduct the 'Worst Male/Female/etc.' categories on a self nomination basis; that is, you would only be nominated and put on the poll if you nominate yourself. This was done due to concerns regarding behavior & such during the year preceding last year's awards.

    A few people, however, have come forward and said they would like these categories to revert back to how they used to be -- which was an open nomination basis.

    As a result, this will be a poll to gauge which people would prefer to have.

    To describe the options briefly:

    Self Nominations: You and you alone can only nominate yourself for the 'Worst' categories. You can rescind your nomination at any point of it does make you uncomfortable later on, preferably before the poll is made.

    Open Nominations: Anyone can nominate you for the 'Worst ' categories. If you are nominated and end up lines to be in the poll, you will be contacted right after nominations are all tallied and have the option to remove yourself from the poll if you are uncomfortable with it.

    Doesn't matter: Who cares??? If this does end up getting a majority of the votes, then I will take it as keeping self nominations as they aren't bothered by it.


    Poll lasts till Saturday night. Vote on.
     
  2. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    Self-nominated.
     
  3. Makaze Some kind of mercenary

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    Some arguments for each for your viewing pleasure:

    For self-nominating:


    Against self-nominating:

     
  4. Boy Wonder Dark Phoenix in Training

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    I vote for Open Nominations. I mean...it's an awards show. Self-Nominations seem pointless because it removes the point of an award nomination to me. I mean, yeah, these specific categories can be hurtful, especially considering how much of a community we tend to be and the age group of our community, but it's a playful event. It needs to be stressed that yeah, you can opt out, but it's all for fun. Now, if someone rages with it ("I voted Bubba for Worst Member because he's an ass. He has to get his way and he's so rude and I just think he needs to leave the forum") that's a problem with the voter that needs to be addressed, not the nominee.
    If anything, I think it should be seen as constructive criticism. If I'm nominated for worst member and actually win, well, ****. I need to work on some stuff, but hey, I won a category!

    I see Self-Nominations as attention-whoring. Some of the best members aren't going to nominate themselves as modesty, but they should be up there. On the other end, some members are going to attention whore it. Hell, I think someone would end up self-nomination with some plan to troll ("let me see what they really think about me and then call them out on it").

    So...open nominations with heavy emphasis on the opt-out option and the fun nature of it.
     
  5. Makaze Some kind of mercenary

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    This actually happened, though I can't say they did it intentionally.

    'Tis drama I talked about in my earlier posts.
     
  6. Misty gimme kiss

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    Speaking from experience, a lot of people have been hurt by being nominated or voted for. Yes they can ask to be removed, but the damage is already done -- they know they've been nominated. The user awards are meant to be fun, some of the awards do pick a bit at people but they're meant to be lighthearted. These categories IMO cross that line. I don't really see why someone would want to spread that kind of negativity anyway, whether by nominating or voting, and i don't feel the awards should promote it.
     
  7. Meilin Lee RPG (Red Panda Girl)

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    Not sure how effective this idea is, but... how about before nominations, you ask that all members who do NOT want to even be nominated message a staff member in charge of polling to add them to a list of members who refuse to be a part of this. That way, during nominations, if a member was nominated for a "worst" category while their name is listed as not wanting to partake in the "worst" polls, then their nomination is invalidated. Hence, they won't know whether they've been nominated or not.
     
  8. Misty gimme kiss

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    I imagine most people would not anticipate being nominated for worst member. Not only that but, again speaking from experience, not many people would do it before the polls go up.
     
  9. Ars Nova Just a ghost.

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    This all sounds good on paper, but I find the ideal sadly far from the truth, as people will rally votes against somebody they don't like, or just use it as an excuse to trash-talk. And as far as using it as constructive criticism: First off, which is it meant to be, light-hearted or serious? Second, as a serious category it does a poor job; "Worst" is absurdly vague and likely to be no help to the person, unless they ask why which, again, opens the floor to trash talk. This is partially what made me suggest a category like Rudest Member. But even that wasn't in earnest and I won't be miffed if it's rejected, as I believe the awards should remain light-hearted, and categories like these are by design more likely to provoke an argument.

    As far as self-nominations catering to attention whores... So? If it's meant to be taken seriously then it's still the lesser of two evils, and if it's all in good fun then who cares? We have several categories virtually made for attention whores already. (I WON SEVERAL OF THEM SO CLEARLY I'M A QUALIFIED EXPERT.)

    This idea of reserving the right to tell somebody that they're the worst out there just smacks of nosiness and pointless aggression imo. The proposed gains are speculative at best, and really I don't see what all the fuss is that you have to wait for somebody to give the go-ahead before you tell them what's wrong with them. My grandma raised me to believe that's just common courtesy, not a back-up plan.
     
  10. Makaze Some kind of mercenary

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    Both of these posts are compelling.

    @Misty: I appreciate the point that the negativity is unnecessary. However... The awards just aren't the same with only positive awards. The negative awards bring a lot of fun to the awards. In my opinion they bring enough fun to make the offenses obsolete. The year without them was one of the most boring.

    @Nova: I didn't think of this before. Worst Member helps no one. It could be a critique of anything. Replacing them with specific awards sounds wonderful.
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2014
  11. Misty gimme kiss

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    That's more subjective. I personally don't receive much joy from the worst polls, aside from maybe when I've campaigned for worst staff in the past (but that wouldn't be prevented by my nominating myself -- there is a consent on my part to be put up for the award). I have however seen people hurt over the awards which I feel puts a damper upon what is otherwise a fun event for the community.
     
  12. ♥♦♣♠Luxord♥♦♣♠ Chaser

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    I voted for open nominations simply due to the fact that people voting for themselves just seems depressing. It's like "okay what to do on khv today, hmm I know I should tell everyone how badly I suck". I mean unless I am an idiot and I am misunderstanding this, the whole self nomination thing seems a bit silly.

    With that said, open nomination also has its fair share of issues. For example if someone were to vote for a member who happens to be very sensitive, they could take that to heart and bad things can/will come from that.

    To be honest, I wouldn't mind the whole thing being scraped all together. I mean if we really need it then go ahead and keep it, but this way just seems a lot easier. No drama, nobody getting hurt, nobody getting in trouble. That all sounds a lot better to me. But hey, that's just my opinion.

    Also I should probably clarify that I only voted for open nominations because it seemed to be the lesser of two evils. Both suck, but that one in my eyes sucks less.

    Here is the thing, the awards kind of do lose meaning to a lot of people if only positive awards are handed out, but at the same time it could also save a lot of trouble among members. Like, you could easily say "speak now if you don't want to be in the awards" then those members who come forward will automatically be taken out, that way they don't get hurt. But I doubt the staff as a whole will do that because its a disclaimer that people can get hurt, and I don't know that doesn't seem to be their style. (that isn't a bad thing, I am just speaking my mind)

    The funny thing about the awards (to me anyways) has always been that they seemed like just a way to boost people's egos / a huge popularity contest. I had a conversation about this with somebody earlier this week. Back when I was on coder I believer I got best coder for that year, while I did outdo pretty much all of them in overall activity. I could name people who are more talented than I am at game hacking (on and off staff), so why did I win? I was the only one that really showed his face outside that section. People knew me, and people also didn't know most of them. Most of the people who voted in that didn't know a damn thing about hacking, so they voted for the person they liked and that was probably where I got most of my votes. It was a popularity contest and it will be again this year. Every "Award" show or contest with user input will always be that way.

    My point here, the awards don't help or hurt anyone as a whole. It is a mixture of the two. You could have a sec mod who works their ass off lose to the more popular one that just doesn't show up that much, but people like them more (random example). It isn't "best" it is most popular.

    I apologize for the rambling.
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2014
  13. Makaze Some kind of mercenary

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    I am not sure where you are going with the popularity point. You are not really disagreeing with us.

    The 'Best [Type] Member' categories fall under the same problem as the 'Worst [Type] Member' ones. They aren't specific.

    Take Rudest Member vs Worst Member. Which of these appeal more to popularity and which appeals more to objective analysis?

    Are you against the specific categories, too?
     
  14. ♥♦♣♠Luxord♥♦♣♠ Chaser

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    I was thinking out loud for one thing.

    Where I was going with the popularity point is, its more than possible for people to get hurt or upset even in the normal categories, so in a sense its almost pointless to try to prevent such things from happening. I am not really against anything.
     
  15. Makaze Some kind of mercenary

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    I see.

    I understand your point, but I don't think we can draw a thick line. How much potential damage is enough to scrap it?

    Why haven't we scrapped Question Time? Why haven't they stopped having users as guests in the podcasts?

    There are a lot of things on this site we do in the interest of generating activity and strengthening the community at the potential expense of someone's pride.

    What I'm trying to say is, I'm not sure what changes you are suggesting. If you are not suggesting changes, I'm confused.
     
  16. Ghost King's Apprentice

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    Personally I would be happy getting an award even if it's for worst member. There's some people that might be offended and others would just be happy they got an award so it all seems like a matter of perspective.
     
  17. Ars Nova Just a ghost.

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    ...Not... exactly my point but ok :v
     
  18. Makaze Some kind of mercenary

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    What was your point?
     
  19. Ars Nova Just a ghost.

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    "It's for constructive purposes" is the most commonly touted defense in my experience, I just wanted to show how flimsy it is. I can take it a step further though: Is an awards proceeding really the place to be trying to critique your fellows? Most of whom you know nothing about? By virtue of the fact that you've never met them and precious few of them trust you with intimate details or their personality? (That's the royal "you," mind, not a personal argument.)

    Imo none of these categories should be designed or perceived as going farther than skin-deep. That's the only authority they may presume to have: that of a first impression. Which is why I personally was not serious in suggesting Rudest Member nor why I would want to see the Worst categories open nomination; it has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be too slippery a slope in the past, whereas closed nominations may yet be relatively stable footing.
     
  20. Makaze Some kind of mercenary

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    I don't think we disagree. I don't think they mean much, myself. You just made me realize that if I wanted to gauge my rep, I would rather it be specific.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2014
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