... and here is why.

There are a number of ways in which fanpop will be affected kwa this new rating system, and I can't think of a positive one. Here are the main issues for me.



Cheaters Ahoy!

As the new system does not indicate how many people have rated an image/video/link, this will make it much, much easier for people to use multiple accounts to rate their own contributions. As other people cannot see how many people have rated an image, someone with multiple accounts could rate their picha 10 times and none of us would be any the wiser. This is unfair on honest Fanpoppers who do not abuse the system just so that they can get their medali quicker.



Mass Rating Epidemics

In addition, it will be impossible to detect when users are asking for 10 other people to rate their contributions, while ignoring the contributions of others. Personally, I don't mind if people ask a couple of their Marafiki to rate their contributions if the contributions haven't been rated after a while (that is what this spot is all about), but there are already many, many Fanpoppers who will ask as many as 15 people to rate their contributions. Meanwhile, other users who contribute equally good content do not get ratings. Thus, there is an imbalance between good, regular spot attendees and random, mass-raters getting medali that, quite frankly, they don't deserve. Under the new system, we will not be able to detect this kind of activity.



The Death Of The ATSOF

With the new system, we do not know how many people have rated a contribution. Thus, if an image is rated 1 star, we do not know if it is because it has been trolled, au if it has been rated 1 kwa 100 different people because it is genuinely a crap image. Thus, much of the good work that the ATSOF does will no longer be able to happen. We are now far less capable of identifying trolled content and thus, zaidi and zaidi trolls will get away with being jerks.



Goodbye VRSOF!

Now we are no longer able to tell how many times something has been rated, we are going to be less able to identify who is worthy of the VRSOF's help. This, again, will open the doors for zaidi people to abuse the kindness of other Fanpoppers in order to medals. This happens enough now, but this new system will undoubtedly make it very difficult to trust anyone who asks the VRSOF for help.




I have read in a couple of maoni that the aim of changing the rating system is to stop people obsessing over ratings and medals. However, I believe that this new system will create zaidi ratings-mongering and medal-cheating, as it has now become zaidi anonymous than it was before. I mean, the old system made it relatively easy to spot people who were getting 10 people to rate their contributions/using multiple accounts because wewe could easily see how many people had rated those contributions. Now, people can use multiple accounts au ask 20 people to rate their stuff and no one will be able to stop them.

As someone who has been a passionate rater from my early Fanpopping days, I understand how frustrating it is to contribute content that never gets rated. So I understand that people want their contributions rated. But the awali system was already being abused kwa dishonest fans, as well as taken advantage of kwa zaidi honest mashabiki who simply wanted to see their work rated.

I need to say that I have always supported fanpop and the fanpop Four, and I have never had any major issues with any other sasisho that have been made to Fanpop. I have always adapted to them quickly and have enjoyed them. But this one just baffles me. I think it will lead to zaidi cheating and trolling and ultimately, it is the honest Fanpoppers that will suffer.

So those are my thoughts. I upendo rating and rating is a big part of mashabiki feeling appreciated and part of their spots. I will continue to rate, but I do feel like it will probably be a waste of my time. In the weeks leading up to this change I was already very disillusioned with the rating process, as I had noticed a sharp increase in the number of people getting other Fanpoppers to rate their contributions in some of my favourite spots. Now that one of the ways of policing such behaviour is gone, I'm pretty sure this kind of issue is going to become rampant through many spots.

Sorry about this, but I had to rant about it. It has kinda been like a giant slap in the face to the people who belong to this spot, the ATSOF spot and people who rate fairly in general.

And so ends my melodramatic ranting and raving.