| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10] > | New golden stars to acknowledge long term membership ('Canceled') Thread poster: Enrique Cavalitto
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| I don't like it either | Mar 12, 2009 |
I wouldn't like my name being surrounded by too many icons. I think it's pointless (if not ridiculous). Moreover, so many people have been members for 3 years that in the end the half of us have - or will soon have - this star. Nothing really distinctive...
Stéphanie
| | | | Angela Dickson (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:40
French to English
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| Not meaningful | Mar 12, 2009 |
I opt not to show the year against my membership (as in Member (2009)) and this new 'feature' overrides my preference. I would like to be able to opt out of this.
I don't think the length of time I have been a member of this site is useful information for me or for those who see me on this site, and I do not appreciate being forced to display it.
| | | | | Call me childish but I like it | Mar 12, 2009 |
That golden star is nice in my opinion,
Of course the option for opting out for those who don't like it is right.
But I really love it
Thanks!
[Edited at 2009-03-12 09:50 GMT]
| | | | XX789 (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 20:40
English to Dutch
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I love bells and whistles. Even better would be one star for every year of membership. That would give me 9 icons in total. People would think I'm really good and stuff.
I like that. I really want people to think I'm good.
Seriously, I like it.
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Textklick
Local time: 19:40
German to English
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In memoriam | Gimme a discreet dark firmament | Mar 12, 2009 |
Kevin Lossner wrote: I appreciate the good intentions behind it, actually, but I just consider it unnecessary, trivializing and disruptive. The fact that Henry & Co. continue to brainstorm new ways to enhance the site and what it offers is good, but sometimes this effort might benefit from more feedback. I think that was part of the function moderators used to serve, but now we in the general community can try our target practice skills..... 
Thank you Kevin. Nicely said. saved me a few keystrokes there.
I also think that Klaus, Cilian and Anne K also each provide a well-reasoned rationale.
Whilst welcoming the many user-friendly innovations (particularly those that really are user-friendly and do not clutter the site, I do wonder on occasion: Proz, quo vadiz? This is an occasion, folks.
What's next?
One of those "What mood are you in you today" icons? Please, no!
"Send a 'Twittr Tweet' to this peer? Aargh!
I have recently worked on a few multi-lingual projects together with various peers, several of whom bear little - if any - 'eye candy' on their profiles. Indeed, that is not why they were recommended.
Cheers
Chris
| | | | Aniello Scognamiglio (X)
Germany
Local time: 20:40
English to German
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| A new thread! | Mar 12, 2009 |
Textklick wrote:
I do wonder on occasion: Proz, quo vadiz? This is an occasion, folks.
What's next?
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 20:40
Spanish to English
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| Starry starry site | Mar 12, 2009 |
Like Paola, I was up early doing a bit of final product finishing, brushing and polishing today, but I reckon it's the 6.30 call that makes you dizzy more than the stars.
I find I now have a blue ribbon and a star. I also have a Member, but can't have a P. Can't recall the criteria for the P just now.
I am still a bit fuzzy from the early start, but I have a feeling potential ProZ.com customers don't attach too much importance to the icons, nor do they understand them.<... See more Like Paola, I was up early doing a bit of final product finishing, brushing and polishing today, but I reckon it's the 6.30 call that makes you dizzy more than the stars.
I find I now have a blue ribbon and a star. I also have a Member, but can't have a P. Can't recall the criteria for the P just now.
I am still a bit fuzzy from the early start, but I have a feeling potential ProZ.com customers don't attach too much importance to the icons, nor do they understand them.
As to colour, someone decided to try to remove the harsher tones of my Ulster accent many years ago, and I remember the child incentives for good diction were based on a star system. Red star best, then blue, then green, but yellow was bad bad news. As Kevin has reminded us.
Yes, I know, Enrique's original post was "golden" stars. Yellow is called gold when it means a positive thing. But yellow is bad. When Jimmy Cagney said "Come and get it, you yellow-bellied no-good", he wasn't offering no choc ice.
The Irish flag is green, white and orange, though sometimes the third colour is actually yellow, but in the best circles that colour is not called either. They call it the green, white and gold. Why? Simple. For all those tearjerking songs and poems about the Auld Sod. "Green, white and gold" rhymes with "our warriers bold", "in days of old", "to England sold" (and "bloody hell it's cold", too, of course!), whereas the only word "orange" rhymes with is, er, "orange".
Back to the grindstone ... ▲ Collapse
| | | | diana bb
Lithuania
Local time: 21:40
English to Lithuanian
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| Is it possible to hide it? | Mar 12, 2009 |
I would like to do it right away.
Thanks in advance,
Diana
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| A military gene? | Mar 12, 2009 |
I must have some military gene (well, my grandfather was in the German army during the war), but I like it. The more little shiny things on my chest, the better!
| | | | | Alternative suggestions | Mar 12, 2009 |
Couldn't we rather have increasing numbers of birthday candles for each year with little wavy flames? Pink for girls and blue for boys?
Get serious Henry & Co, please. Those of us who are, only need one thing to acknowledge we're members, namely a receipt that we can use for tax purposes.
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Angela Dickson wrote:
I don't think the length of time I have been a member of this site is useful information for me or for those who see me on this site, and I do not appreciate being forced to display it.
Actually, in the light of one or two recent comments, I wonder about the value of displaying any kind of distinction. Any individual is perfectly aware of their own status, as is the site, and I am increasingly inclined to the opinion that that is all that matters.
It is certainly no guide to ability or quality (one even potentially could argue a case, albeit controversial, for there being an inverse relationship ) which is what customers are interested in.
It is no guide to expertise, which is all kudoz participants really want to know about.
On the forums, it appears on occasion to hint towards a two-tier system on the value of an opinion. I would certainly think this info could be usefully removed from the forum, to encourage points of view to be taken purely on their intrinsic merits.
I know we are all used to seeing the distinction made (and not only here), but can anyone think of a genuinely useful purpose it serves?
| | | | | No, thank you, Mr. McBean... | Mar 12, 2009 |
...this plain-belly sneetch does not need a star. Or does he?
Speaking of childish things, this does remind me of a quote from one of my favorite stories:
"They kept paying money. They kept running through, until neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew whether this one was that one …or that one was this one... or what one was who.” -Dr. Seuss
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Eric Hahn (X)
France
Local time: 20:40
French to German
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| Even better improvement | Mar 12, 2009 |
Veterans deserve a better treatment : I suggest one star for each year !
[Edited at 2009-03-12 12:26 GMT]
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who cares?
| | | | Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 20:40
Member
English to Hungarian
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Hi Enrique,
Like many others, I don't see a utility of this new feature, as it does not carry extra information. Moreover, it can be misleading, giving an impression of higher quality. It might also influence the decision of inexperienced outsourcers when looking for translators, which is probably unfortunate, as I don't know of any proven correlation between quality and long-standing membership (and even if there is one, I have serious doubts about whether such a correlation should... See more Hi Enrique,
Like many others, I don't see a utility of this new feature, as it does not carry extra information. Moreover, it can be misleading, giving an impression of higher quality. It might also influence the decision of inexperienced outsourcers when looking for translators, which is probably unfortunate, as I don't know of any proven correlation between quality and long-standing membership (and even if there is one, I have serious doubts about whether such a correlation should be used in such a way).
This latter bias cannot be remedied by the opt-out possibility: when it comes to being contacted by outsourcers who might use the star as a selection criterion, those translators who choose not to display these stars will be at disadvantage with respect to those translators who display them. I am fully aware that some translators would not mind this disadvantage, as they prefer not to work with outsourcers who would be tempted to be biased in their choice by a mere symbol -- but still, introducing such a new feature that might serve as a (secondary, tertiary) selection criterion will, for many translators, imply that they either have to make a compromise or face the consequences.
I also feel that ProZ.com's image as a site for professional translators does not benefit from the introduction of such stars. It is partly due to the symbol itself: compared to the ribbon, which looks more serious, such a star may be more appropriate for e-Bay and other similar sites. But that is a vague impression -- and I think I must be wrong, for ProZ.com staff has certainly measured the pros and cons carefully. Could you share some of those with the community?
Finally, there are some bugs:
- The month of becoming a member does not seem to be taken into account properly. I could see members who joined ProZ.com in May and December 2005, and for whom "4 years" is displayed when the mouse is moved over the star.
- Corporate members do not get the star, even if they are long-standing members (e.g., no start next to "Member (2002)").
While fixing these bugs is probably easy, I think it would be useful to discuss first whether an opt-out system is satisfactory, or the majority of users would prefer not to have the system at all -- as opting out has consequences, too. It might, however, be too late for that choice, as those who like this new features would feel something useful is taken away from them. Your and other staff members' detailed opinion on the utility of this new feature would be highly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Attila ▲ Collapse
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