[rainfreak]

Originally Posted by willysp

I totally agree with your statement - telling someone to restart their phone is a 'technical contribution'.

The following examples of Thanked posts are what I was mentioning in my post and are not technical contributions:

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...postcount=4884

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...64&postcount=5

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...7&postcount=44

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...&postcount=123

Would you tell me that any of those 4 posts contribute technical knowledge to a technical forum, and should enhance one's reputation in a technical forum?

Again, I really don't care, but let's not pretend that "Reputation" necessarily means technical contributions. With so many people having a day-glo sig pimping and basically saying "PLEASE, PLEASE Thank Me For Just Being Me!", it's not gonna change.

Reputation for some (like Calk and others I mentioned) is a real gauge of contribution.

Reputation for many others is just a vote for popularity and inclusion.

Peace.

Can I be included because I am popular?

The mathematical likelihood of you showing two of cataclysm13's thanked posts, of your four examples, is astronomical. However, since I am the one that thanked both of those particular posts, I would be happy to elaborate for you as to why. But please understand that it was not for reasons of logic or a reflection of his contributions to the site. Instead, I did it because I can. And since this is an online community, and we are all members of the community, we all have the right to choose what we thank people for.

Did I give cataclysm13 thanks for his ability to count correctly all the way up in the four digits? Yes, that is partly true. Did I thank him because I thought it was funny because a few pages prior, in that same thread, he called me out for breaking the thread rules and posting too quickly? Yes, that is also partly true. Did I click that little ominous button because he is my son and I wanted to help him gain VIP access? Ok, you got me there... that was part of it, too. Lastly, did I help to build his reputation level for the simple reason that I can? Damn, you got me red handed again.

I often click thanks for posts that are helpful in a technical way. I also click thanks for posts that are funny to me, for new people who introduce themselves, and for no other reason than to do it. I admit, I might be addicted to clicking that little button o' love, but I am a high functioning addict and haven't let it affect other aspects of my [online] life yet.

I think everyone who is concerned with the "improper" use of the thanks button, and the inherent reputation system, needs to remember a couple of things:

1. Sometimes a post that gets thanks are for reasons that you may not understand or agree with.
2. The reputation system is flawed; like most things and every human being.
3. This is an online community for humans; see rules number 1 and 2.

I have over 5,000 points for reputation. I assure you that more than half of those are not for technical help, but rather from people for some smartass comment or picture that I posted. But I don't think that means that I shouldn't get the thanks, or the points associated with them, because I still offered someone something they enjoyed or found useful. I think moving forward we all should just keep in mind that we are here for knowledge and fun.

Now if you'll please excuse me, I need to go find recent posts from cataclysm13 so that I can thank them. And while I am at it, I am going to thank your post above, too. Because I can.