I give negative rep to the random spam / ad members.
I like seeing it drop to 'so and so can only hope to improve'
Next time I'll wait for Aerospace to hit them first. I wish they showed the reputation power here.
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That only lists how much rep someone has received, not the weight of someone's rep "hammer", so to speak. It's a combination of post count, seniority (age of account), and I think something else I don't remember.
Negative rep to new members (who aren't spam or ads) is probably likely to cause them great distress. I bet its really hard to come back when someone with a hefty Rep comes along and says 'Dumb question, ask Google first' and knocks them down a ways to a point they can't expect to come back from.
So I wouldn't give rep to a newbie unless they really earn it (positive or negative) and resort to thanks more at first (they seem to understand that system faster anyways).
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jeremy - gnomeontherun Educated questions often get educated answers, and simple questions often get simple answers.
Negative rep to new members (who aren't spam or ads) is probably likely to cause them great distress. I bet its really hard to come back when someone with a hefty Rep comes along and says 'Dumb question, ask Google first' and knocks them down a ways to a point they can't expect to come back from.
So I wouldn't give rep to a newbie unless they really earn it (positive or negative) and resort to thanks more at first (they seem to understand that system faster anyways).
Agreed. Just because someone should have maybe done a little research first is no reason to give them negative reputation if they are new or inexperienced. They just might not know what they really need to search for.
Sometimes I do find it necessary to say, Google It, especially when they are very unclear about what they are looking for or if there are just too many options.
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jeremy - gnomeontherun Educated questions often get educated answers, and simple questions often get simple answers.
Agreed. Just because someone should have maybe done a little research first is no reason to give them negative reputation if they are new or inexperienced. They just might not know what they really need to search for.
And we mustn't forget that having googled, they might just have found themselves here. I would think that the natural thing to do, then, is to post a question.
bazz
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"The day you stop learning is the day you become obsolete"! - my late Dad.