We’re dishing out the medals…
Posted on August 7, 2008 by Tim
Filed Under Technology |
I’m told the cost of producing each Olympic gold medal this year will be around $400 , up from $155 in Athens. Perhaps Paula Radcliffe will think twice about stopping this time round…if there’s any air to breathe that is.
The raw cost, of course, will be irrelevant to the winners in Beijing. A gold medalist has demonstrated that they are truly at the top of their game and will stand proud in front of their adoring fans.
Which is why we hope the cost of the Interactive Investor bulletin board medals we have started issuing today will also be overlooked - because pixels cost nearly nothing. Nada. Zilch. Diddley squat. A few hours of code and our medal supply is endless.
But look at this way. Our top 50 favoured users have earned some respect and recognition. They stand tall amongst the community, admired by many for their knowledgeable input and commitment to the cause of educating their fellow investors.
Which is why we applaud them, our inaugural bunch of medal winners and look forward to seeing more holders in the future. Yes, that’s right, our virtual medals rotate. Only the top 50 most respected users will hold on to them.
For the Dwain Chamber’s copy-cats out there. Trick the system and you will be shamed. Banned from ever competing again.
Oh, and those of you with ‘New’ icons - this helps other users identify your newbie status, helping both you and them during your 30 day induction to our very own Olympic stage. Thanks to one of our users, “JM”, for that suggestion.
Good luck athletes.
Comments
9 Responses to “We’re dishing out the medals…”
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Thanks!
Great idea but perhaps all the users should have been set to zero for this. Posters like Argotman have many names, if you want to see them just look at the people who have him on their fav list.
If not set to zero perhaps only active users can count as a point on the score. Not ones that have left or been banned.
I think perhaps you should have awarded the medals based on how many recommendations each poster has received to date.
A lot of the top Favourites I do not think post here any more, probably gone into retirement. And one’s favourites list is not always kept up to date. So some medal awards have been given out on past glory and not present contributions.
Some people although they respect a posters comments will not always put them in their favourites lists, some people do not even use the favourites listing function. Most people I believe will recommend an article if they think it is informative and worth reading however.
By presenting medals on total number of recommendations the medal awards will always be up to date and will encourage posters to keep delivering good information which can only help the popularity of the site.
Just my thoughts anyway !!
Frankly, a bit embarrassing! My “medal” status goes back several years and is not really deserved as of now, as I do not post regularly on iii any more, other than on a couple of threads.
Perhaps the reset to zero suggested above is a good idea?
What a load of tosh! Should there be a perceived hierarchy when it comes to posting on financial BBs? This could open up an influencing factor when reading comments by the “medalists”. Dangerous grounds me thinks.
Thanks for the comments here and via email.
We have reviewed the method of issuing a medal and made the following change:-
A medal is awarded if you fall in to the top 50 of users that have most favorite votes. However the vote will only count if that user has logged in within the last 90 days. This has made the league status more current and dropped many old votes from years back where users have since ‘gone away’.
Prior, only the medal owner needed to have logged in within the last 90 days to qualify.
Simon - a valid point about medal creating a perception of trust. Will review with users and colleagues.
I don’t think the boards need red-topped poached egg type symbols to add gravitas to ‘favoured posters’.
Besides being uneasy on the eye, they could mislead newcomers to financial bulletin boards that the decorated poster’s view is ‘gospel’ when in fact many of these posters’ views don’t merit that recognition as they are often hindsight profit claimers, ego trippers, or subtle rampers.
The old adage, ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ stands well here. I can click on any poster’s nickname to check their history to get a period summary of their views – as they can with mine – which should be sufficient for the average reader without spoiling the visual décor of the iii pages.
OK, we’ve listened and removed the medals.
See:
http://technology.iii.co.uk/2008/08/13/medal-protest/