Why can't you rate your own chapters?

Basically what the title says. I don't know when this changed but apparently I'm not allowed to give my chapters a thumbs up. I mean, if you can't rate it more than once why does it matter if you give your chapter a thumbs up rating even though you wrote it? We are readers of our chapters as well right? Don't we get to vote for ourselves?

 

This was part of "2017-09-27: Remove dislike button." which includes the implementation of the suggestion No Self-Liking Chapters

Authors, who consider self-liking as kind of cheating would be disadvantaged if they don't hit the like button by themselves. So there should be either a notice to encourage them to like their own chapters or apply a Like by default.
So, either way, it would just artificially increase the total number of Likes.

 

The purpose of the rating system is for writers to get feedback on what chapters are good and what chapters are not. Unless you're me or someone with similar issues as me and think that everything you write is trash, you already know that you like your own chapter. Otherwise you probably wouldn't have posted it in the first place.

So what do you get out of "liking" your own story? Nothing out of artificially increasing the total number of Likes(as Gene.sis mentioned)

 

Speaking for myself, I like the change. I never understood the point in liking your own stuff.

 

I see the purpose of the rating system as a way for readers to notify to other readers whether they should spend time reading it first and foremost. As well as a way to give the author feedback. I'm a writer and a reader. It doesn't artificially increase the number of likes if you like your own writing, it's one person clicking a like. It can only be clicked once.
What is there to cheat on? It's a website with stories.
Maybe the default should be to automatically give your own published stories a like but as it sits taking away that choice seems wrong.

And yes, to me, a chapter with no likes looks like even the author doesn't like their own writing.

 

May be it only my opinion but doesn't posting the chapter proves the author already likes it?

 

Also, Majus had a very valid point in that thread about No Self-Liking Chapters.
"Originally I would support the idea – but now I wouldn't.

Why? Because of the exception.

Because I met this one author, to whose story I contributed. The author edited my chapters so heavily, yet changed them to be so much better – that it left me in awe.
So I liked the chapters, that were originally my but were edited by the author... Because they weren't only my creation now, but the author's as well."

 

Which author can objectively judge whether their content is good or bad?
That's like grading your own exams.
And if they really could judge, they surely wouldn't publish a bad chapter and rather make it perfect.

There would be one extra Like per chapter without any meaning, increasing the total number of Likes a user received.

With the argument of showing the quality of a chapter, it would make self-liked content look like more worth reading than the work of an author who doesn't push the Like button of their own chapter.

In that rare case, I'd ask the editor to push the Like button in my place.

 

Well... I still disagree with your opinions. It's like saying voting for yourself in a political race isn't allowed. Taking away your ability to "like" your own work is undemocratic. It's one "like"... why does it hurt to allow the author their own "like"? And It's not without meaning, it's the authors voice for their work.

 

It's one like per chapter. That absolutely adds up. Especially in longer stories.

Comparing it to a political race is silly, but if you want to do that then a more apt comparison would be that you go around and vote for yourself in every state/region/county/whateveryournationisdividedinto. Would that make a difference in the whole race? Maybe not, but it is definitely not something that's allowed in any political race that I can think of.

As for claiming it's "Undemocratic" that's absolutely silly. This isn't a democracy. It's a website on the internet. The fact that the site admins give us any say whatsoever in how the site is set up is a lot more than most websites do.

 

I dislike the change too. Honestly I dislike the removal of the dislike button but that's a whole different issue. I was very much in favor of the self liking thing if for no other reason than that it allowed you to pepper the story with likes indicating the chapters you were ESPECIALLY proud of.

OH, sure, an author won't publish a chapter they don't 'like' but there's a difference between 'like' and LOVE, and let me tell you, I've published a lot of content that I 'like' but couldn't honestly say I LOVE.

 

I wholeheartedly side with the side that favors authors having the ability to like their stories. Even compromising to just liking the introduction just to get the story a knock on the door.

I agree with you on that note. I do wonder what it would be like if we had a like, love and lust button. You could only decide one per chapter. Then again that might be too much.

We are lucky the admins are open-minded and willing to listen to its users. Their are many sites that do not even do that.

 

The dislike button was all well and good when it was used properly. The problem with the dislike button was the fact that it was abused profusely.

I remember those days when I would post a chapter and not even a few seconds later it would immediately be hit by 1-2 dislikes. These people didn't even read them. Short chapters, long chapters...It didn't matter and every story that reached the top 10 suffered from the same thing and there was nothing you could do about it. I do not miss those days.

It's really the same thing as with the dislikes.

It might be okay for you to like the one or two occasional chapters that are super-duper-mondo-omega-super good, but that's not what most people used the ability to self-like their own chapters for. Most people who abused self-liking did it to buff their rating.

The other issue is...as gene.sis said: Can a writer really objectively judge whether their content is good or bad?

There have been(and still are) people who have posted stories and chapters on this very site who think that they write gold when the reality is much different.

Indeed.

 

So let me ask you this: am I, in your opinion, one of those people?

I think that authors, if they have any business being authors, MUST, at least to some degree, be able to identify when they are writing utter crap, and edit it to NOT BE utter crap. I'm tired of being judged by the standards of the WORST members of the groups I belong to when I am in fact one of the BEST.

EDIT: Ok, upper 50% anyway.

 

I am surprised there is such a divide over this issue. To me giving myself a like would feel utterly hollow and meaningless. I simply can't see the point of it or the value in it.

It would also "reward" those with tons of short chapters that can be cranked out in 2 minutes a pop. As it stands now likes actually have some weight to them since you had to earn each one of them.

On the dislike thing, I am definitely glad it is gone. I would just find them discouraging over all, making me less likely to write (or at the very least less likely to share). The negativity isn't needed. Unpopular chapters are pretty easy to spot from the lack of likes.

But, it's all a matter of opinion. But I'm glad it is the way it is now.

 

There's no one who posts regularly on the forums that I know of who is one of those people.

Bad people ruin things for good people all the time. Unfortunately that's just the way it goes in regards to most things in life. The sad truth is that some measures have to be taken in order to prevent people from abusing the system. Otherwise the system loses it's usefulness.

 

There's also a critical difference between the Dislike and Like functions. When we had both, I could rightfully click either button for any reason that tickles my fancy: the kink involved, the creativity of the idea, the characterization, the grammar, anything. However, with the system as it was, we can't rightfully say there's a reason to be suspicious unless there's an absurd quantity of them (as was done in The Ms. Shabby Incident). I fought firmly to minimize the malicious Dislike fallout by arguing the necessity of reviews to facilitate a community watch and utilizing the report button to create a map of pattern behavior. It had its problems, but it would have been a means to ensure Dislikes at least attempted to have validity to them. How does that really work with Likes? "I really enjoy all of your historical references mingled in," says nothing about the quality, but isn't it also a valid reason to Like a thread? If it's meant to be artificial, how could we tell? Sure, a map of activity could help, but only if the person is utterly stupid about it. Situational ideas aside, how do we tell if comments similar to my example are proper positive reviews or biased, exploitative ones? Unless someone can answer that definitively, self-Liking shouldn't even be a consideration.

If you want a special way to tell the world you're proud of this particular piece, then either leave a note at the top of the thread's body saying as much, or petition Friedman to expand the Highlighted parameter to include a purely aesthetic addition to thread bodies that sacrifices any and all promotional advantages to gain a limitless supply. A Like doesn't tell the world you're proud of this thread. You're the only one who knows who Likes your threads unless the comments reveal other fans, so self-Liking your special threads doesn't even communicate your pride, thereby mooting the argument.

 

I agree, and very nicely done, thank you. You have, in a clear and concise manner, demonstrated the core flaw in my thinking: well done sir!

 

Lets remove the like button entirely!
It is too superficial any one can like a piece even the ones who might have abused the dislike button before and force everyone to comment.
There is no validity to the like button and could be exploited the same way making most of the votes superficial.
There are so many options at this time to like a story from the like button, bookmarking, favorite, and comments.
How much more do you need for positive feedback?
Comments at least offer at times some constructive criticism.
Do we need more constructive criticism or more glorifying of mediocre authors?
I know I am not the greatest author on the site and I am always looking for assistance and improvement of my own works.
For me I would rather receive the criticism then a bunch of cheerleaders.

 

I'm in favor of this, we are a writing site, not Facebook.