Star Rankings Getting Lower and Higher Due To Politics

I have posted a couple of political discussions recently and my ratings have dropped a lot I guess. I even posted a discussion about this and got some shocking information!! I never really cared about the star rating system but dismissed it as just opinion. Now I find out that it actually effects your earnings. Basically the higher your ranking the more you earn, and vice versa. I have been leaning towards Obama and perhaps some of my post were not received well by many. I still feel everyone is entitled to his/her opinion and what they think of me doesn't really bother me. Personally, I never give negative ratings though, even to someone I am in disagreement with,especially after I found it to effect your earnings here. I figured people were being childish and rated me negatively to begin with. The rating system should be done away with or at least revised in some way. There are a lot of supporters here for both political camps, you don't believe it check out some of these political discussions or post one of your own. See if your rating drops (well you have dropped off the chart). Either way, it doesn't stop me from posting whatever I want and I still get paid here.

Keeping a star rating of 10 in a politics discussion board is near nigh impossible, particularly in a heated run-up to a presidential election! There is no way you will keep a 10 star rating if you choose sides (Obama or McCain). So if you want a 10 star rating, the only advice I can give you is to be very circumspect in your posts, identify which MyLot members tend to get 'overheated' and flame other users and therefore avoid their threads and posts, and above all don't choose sides. Problem with this approach is that it is rather safe and you are effectively curtailing your own freedom of speech by not saying what you think to try to attain a 10 star rating. Personally, I would say that this is not worth it as you are not contributing fully to Mylot and you are not therefore doing yourself justice if you follow such an approach.

It can get rough on the political threads. The star bashing cuts both ways and is not just against the Obama supporters. Republicans and Democrats are both walking wounded on here. I've been offended only a couple times. The last was when someone who was not the poster of the thread hopped into my little box and called me clueless for stating that we have a separation of church and state in America and it comes from the First Amendment. Actually, what she said was "Talk about clueless" meaning me for thinking such a ridiculous thing. DUH!

Have my rankings ever been affected! I've been here since close to the beginning (of myLot) and I had a 9 Star and a ranking in the politics interest of about 50 until late spring when this election started to get really heated. You can see where I am now! I must admit for a long time I thought it was mainly the Democrats who were taking the biggest hits but I have noticed some conservative Republicans have also gotten whacked. There are and have been some from both sides of whom it could be said they "had it coming" for being disrespectful and downright abusive and "flaming" but for the most part it's happened to members who simply enjoy a good debate and in some cases have very strong opinions and are quite passionate about some issues. There's nothing wrong with that at all; I can feel one way about a particular issue and be very passionate about it and you can feel the exact opposite and be just as passionate but that doesn't mean we can't respect one another and even be friends and give each other positive ratings for making good, thoughtful posts. Unfortunately, some here don't see it that way but I guess that's to be expected. The best thing to do is to ignore these members once you figure out who they are, then they can't "hurt" you without trolling around after you. If you ignore them, eventually they'll forget about you...lol! Annie

Yep, this is a rough board on stars and rankings. Dispite what some folks will say, it's being done about equally by both sides. As long as I as undecided my long held 10 was safe but the minute I started voicing an opinion in support of Obama or against McCain or Palin, down it started to go! Some folks gotta have that feeling of power I guess. Personally, I don't minue people but I did report one horrible post a little while ago that some others also indicated that they had reported. Free speech comes with a price I guess but the stars and ranking don't really mean anything so who cares?

Oh, mine tends to drop when I post in response to certain people - so I don't post in their threads or respond to them. I tend not to minus people at all, though I did once. More to the point, I try to offset the fact that people minus others for posting negative opinions by plussing anyone I think adds positively to a discussion, no matter whose side their argument supports. Every once in a while, I'll just go right through a discussion and plus everyone who responds just because the discussion is a good one.

Ever since I started posting and responding to more political discussions, I've noticed my star rankings go down. It was at ten, and now it is now, and still getting lower! I'm an Obama supporter, so it is happening on both sides.