Why can&#x27;t this site bring back negs?

Original post by Captain Jack

Everyone says they want negs back, but they don't really, do they?

Reply 62

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

Why are they called gems? gems should be round.

I will call them rectangles.

Reply 63

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

A confusing thing for this forum is the hatred towards Islam? In France my home country I think even though we have been most affected by Islamic terrorism in the past year or so and we seem to be their target country people remain relatively tolerant. In the UK both through observation in the real life and on this forum over the past few days it seems as though phobia-Islamic is really a big problem.

"phobia-Islamic" LOL.

Islamophobia is a junk word intended to shut down debate when the truth is that there is nothing wrong with mocking an ideology. Anti-Muslim bigotry is a problem, anti-Islam criticism isn't.

Reply 64

uberteknik

Original post by markreed

Probably because people don't want to have their feelings hurt :tongue:

No. It's because negs were abused and used to stifle comment and debate.

If someone had a valid but controversial viewpoint then others who disagreed simply negged. That caused many people to hold back from posting for fear of being labelled a troll.

For instance, religion, was a prime example where whole societies would gang up on one or two commenters simply because they said something which that particular group disagreed with.

Worse, some people saw maximum negs as a badge of honour and would deliberately go all out to cause offence - in other words trolls were rife.

It completely undermined the value of this site for debating and exploring real issues with no bias or prejudice.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 65

Original post by uberteknik

No. It's because negs were abused and used to stifle comment and debate.

If someone had a valid but controversial viewpoint then others who disagreed simply negged. That caused many people to hold back from posting for fear of being labelled a troll.

These people need to get a grip.

Original post by uberteknik

For instance, religion, was a prime example where whole societies would gang up on one or two commenters simply because they said something which that particular group disagreed with.

There is only one society here that would do that. Now, instead of negging, it's reporting and it gets users banned. Societys ganging up on users is the problem, not the medium through which they gang up with.

Original post by uberteknik

Worse, some people saw maximum negs as a badge of honour and would deliberately go all out to cause offence - in other words trolls were rife.

People see positive rep as a badge of honour and it has led to some users devaluing others opinions on the basis of low rep. Also, a lot of users tend to only post humorous responses to 'rep farm' - also undermining debate and discussion.

Original post by uberteknik

It completely undermined the value of this site for debating and exploring real issues with no bias or prejudice.

Debates still occured with neg rep. The idea is to not take rep so personally and seriously.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 66

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

Yes I think so. But from what I have seen anti-Islam criticism and anti-muslim bigotry seem to fall under this umbrella of phobia-Islamic. And they desperately need to be separated so that Muslims are not harmed by this rhetoric.

Those who want to stifle criticism of Islam will attempt to conflate the two, but anyone with half a brain cell can see they're different things.

Reply 67

WHo gives a **** whether negs helped or hindered debate - TSR isn't a debate site it is a forum - a community.

Encouraging people to express disagreement and move on without descending into bickering is better for community cohesion.

Reply 68

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

I do not wish to stifle criticism of Islam just as I don't want to stifle criticism of any regressive practice or any restrictive and problematic doctrine, but it can still be termed this because it simply means 'hatred or fear of Islam'. I think we need to give it a more term granular to differentiate so that the majority of peaceful Muslims are not affected by this growing fear in our socieities. I find it strange that in France we seem to have managed this better than in the UK... as I spend equal times in both.

I categorically disagree as it implies criticism of Islam is irrational when it most certainly isn't.

Reply 69

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

Yes and there must be some form of block function on this site too ?

That's what I use instead of neg now. It's not great (it hides the posts of users you block but doesn't prevent them from seeing your posts or quoting them)

Reply 70

uberteknik

Original post by hezzlington

These people need to get a grip.

There is only one society here that would do that. Now, instead of negging, it's reporting and it gets users banned. Societys ganging up on users is the problem, not the medium through which they gang up with.

People see positive rep as a badge of honour and it has led to some users devaluing others opinions on the basis of low rep. Also, a lot of users tend to only post humorous responses to 'rep farm' - also undermining debate and discussion.

Debates still occured with neg rep. The idea is to not take rep so personally and seriously.

Well, yes. There are always plus and negatives for both approaches.

On balance, having experienced both systems in operation, my view is that bringing back negs would be retrograde. But that's my opinion.

Reply 71

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

Phobia does not mean criticism as far as I know from the French use- it means hatred or fear?

I may criticise your opinion Plantaganat Crown but that does not mean I hate or fear you.

Exactly, you have just shown why criticism of Islam isn't Islamophobia!

Reply 72

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

Oh I see and how do you use this ? It's just some people made sexual comments at me on a thread yesterday.

If people say things to you that you're uncomfortable with then use the report post function - top right of the post concerned - and flag it up to the community team.

If you don't think they're breaking any rules but think they're dicks then go here: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/profile.php?do=ignorelist and add them to your ignore list. Any posts they make will be spoilered (so you can still opt to view those posts if you wish) and you wont receive notifications if they quote or tag you. You can get to the ignore list using the drop down on the top right of the page (by your username) under "My Followers" (logic...)

I've got 114 on my list atm :moon:

Reply 73

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

114!! wow! how long have you been using the site ?

Since all this were fields/forever

Reply 74

emobambam

14

No I don't think they should bring back the neg. There was just way too much bullying going on. I had four gems.

Reply 75

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

People bully on a forum like this ? Through down thumbs?

It's an insult to the definition of the word 'bullying'

Reply 76

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

I don't think so. I think that bullying can be very much dependent on a specific scenario and should be approached like this every time. We cannot decide objectively what constitutes bullying I do not think.

Removing the method of bullying is avoiding the issue though. Anyone bullying via neg reps should have been warned or banned.

Reply 77

Original post by Isabella d'Anjou

I don't think so. I think that bullying can be very much dependent on a specific scenario and should be approached like this every time. We cannot decide objectively what constitutes bullying I do not think.

Okay.

The fact you're disagreeing with me means you're personally attacking me and my character and I feel like you are bullying me.

Spoiler

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 78

markvr

13

Original post by uberteknik

No. It's because negs were abused and used to stifle comment and debate.

If someone had a valid but controversial viewpoint then others who disagreed simply negged. That caused many people to hold back from posting for fear of being labelled a troll.

For instance, religion, was a prime example where whole societies would gang up on one or two commenters simply because they said something which that particular group disagreed with.

Worse, some people saw maximum negs as a badge of honour and would deliberately go all out to cause offence - in other words trolls were rife.

It completely undermined the value of this site for debating and exploring real issues with no bias or prejudice.

You could also make the argument that removing the ability to neg someone is also a hindrance to the ability to express opinions in a debate.

At the end of the day, there are both positive and negative reactions in arguments and being restricted by how you can express the latter in comparison to the former is just as, if not, more conducive to silencing dissenting opinions.

There will always be trolls and other unsavoury individuals who, instead of offering up constructive responses to a thread, will simply post something for the sake of being controversial without justifying why. Removing a functionality such as negging will hardly eliminate this.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 79

Bang Outta Order