I hate writing meta diaries, and I usually consider them a waste. However we have a problem. Hence, I am making an exception.
I’ll start with a statement that can be filled in:
Recognizing a need for action is a starting point. Failure to take action after recognizing the need can be considered _______.
In this case, we are dealing with rating abuse at a scale that I don’t think we have ever seen in this blog’s history. The problem has reached a point that I personally no longer care how it started or why, nor am I interested in finger pointing. It simply needs to stop.
So, in the spirit of the statement I just put up, let’s realize that there is at least one user who is downrating posts with no regard to the content. The targets merely have to post and they are automatically downrated. Others are downrated simply because they post content that is merely contrarian. That, too, is unacceptable, and yet it is happening. We now have what amounts to an escalating ratings war on this blog. I have been observing this go on for a while now, and quietly did what I could with my minimal time to uprate those unfairly downrated. This problem has devolved to the point that one person alone simply cannot keep up, and honestly, I never could keep up when the situation was more manageable.
Now that I have pointed out a problem and one that potentially affects us all, it is up to us as a community to do something about it. I propose that each of us adopt at least one member (or more) who are being unfairly targeted and uprate them. Calling out the perps will not work. They will not listen. But we can at least do what is needed as a community to minimize the damage the perps cause. I honestly don’t know if there is enough life left in this blogging community to make a difference, but I am going to put this out there in the hope together we can. To do anything less is ___.