Do people judge information on SCN based on Number of Points the member has or on the base of Knowledge

[Former Member]

Hi,

With this discussion I have no intentions to hurt or be specific to anyone. Its just my opinion which I want to bring it to the forum.

I believe SCN is a forum to share information so as to bring out new ideas or solve a specific problem the member is facing or to be specific its a knowledge forum.

Recently I noticed that on few discussions where a member with less points gave a step by step procedure which was mostly ignored by many of them from which the problem was specifically getting solved, but when a high level(points) member pasted a link pointing to the same step by step procedure he/she received "Helpful Answer".

Do people judge based on the number of points the member has or the information.?

I agree , by sharing his valuable information he/she became a high level (points) member , but ignoring the right answer just because some high level (points) member has replied back on the same discussion is not right.

Does having No much points means he has No Knowledge.? Its not about the points , Its about the respect to one's time, effort and knowledge he/she has put it into solving the issue.

I believe People should not judge on the Badges or Points.

I hope this wont get marked as "Report Abuse".

[agentry_src · Accepted solution]

Hi Syed,

Might be better asking in the About SCN Discussions, but it is still very appropriate here.  SAP has acquired a number of companies in recent years which are now associated with this community.  I will speak mainly of Sybase and Syclo as I am associated with a number of their now SAP employees.  In this Community, much more so more than others in which I am involved, there are people with much knowledge and experience, but few points.  So generally here, one must evaluate the posts more on the content and less on the "street cred" (point count) as many folks are still migrating over from their formerly independent companies internal boards and resource centers.

In the case of Syclo, (filter on Agentry in the tags) there are a number of former Syclo employees who have recently become very active in this community.  A couple have a hundred or more points, but most are still in the double digits.  However, of the 5 or 6 I am thinking, they are THE experts for the Agentry platform, the SMART suite of Syclo applications, and have broad knowledge of the SAP ERP/CRM backends to which those apps are connected.  From their point count, one would think they were new and inexperienced.  From their posts, nothing could be further from the truth.  One is now a Moderator for this Community despite having a relatively low point count.  He was added based on years of work with the Syclo Resource Center as a moderator there in addition to his demonstrated efforts to share knowledge of Agentry topics in the months prior.

Hope this helps!

Regards, Mike

SAP Rapid Innovation Group - RIG

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Mike,

I am quite convinced with your reply ,but I felt the reply to be very diplomatic in terms of the points. I agree that people having many points have contributed alot of there time in SCN but I also see there are several other ways too how one can receive points.Thanks to Gamification .

I still believe that some people are more focus on Gamification rather than sharing Knowledge.

Thanks.

[agentry_src · Accepted solution]

Hi Syed,

Without a doubt there are folks who are concentrating on accumulating points as opposed to contributing to the greater knowledge.  This is one of the drawbacks of a gamification process.  I have found that those folks are a fairly small (though very, very annoying) minority.  The bad part of it is the effect it has on the quality of posted content.

Regards, Mike

SAP Rapid Innovation Group - RIG

[Former Member]

Hi,

Thanks for the valuable response.

Yes, its the drawback of Gamification. This drawback is creating no difference between the right answer and appropriate or inappropriate answers.

I read somewhere that Posting a duplicate copy of information or unnecessary links or pictures from google are marked "Report Abuse".

When there are so many unwanted blogs or documents created just for gaining points, why aren't those facing any report abuse.?

Those Blogs/Documents are increasing the number of points the member has, which are saturating with people who have spent alot of time on SCN.

Thanks.

Syed

[agentry_src]

Hi Syed,

Reporting abuse is something available to any registered user of SCN.  For those interested, go to the Getting Started link top right and read the documentation available, particularly the Rules of Engagement, often abbreviated RoE.  In a very busy forum, like SAP for Mobile, the moderators often are unaware that there are duplicate posts, points gaming, or plagiarism until we receive an abuse report.  We rely on all the contributing members to help manage the quality of the content.  It truly is a collaborative effort.

If you think a post, document, or blog needs review by a moderator, use the Report Abuse link to bring it to our attention.  We need your support in order to keep each community a valued resource to all members of SCN.

Thanks, Mike (Moderator)

SAP Rapid Innovation Group - RIG

[Former Member]

Hi Mike ,

Thanks for your reply.

Report Abuse is an individual thought. Can the content of the blog/document be individually judged.? Is that fair enough for the content posted on SCN.

In case if somebody report abuses the content posted by the person having alot of points, on what basis would moderator judge the content.? On the basis of content or on basis of points and then take necessary step towards that blog/document.?

A member having high points have contributed alot of his/her time for the useful blogs/documents and just for a change will post something which is very irrelevant to his domain. How would a moderator treat that post on SCN.

Thanks

Syed

[agentry_src]

Hi Syed,

There are guidelines provided for Moderators including a Rules of Engagement.  These are similar to the guidelines provided in the Getting Started links at the top right of SCN pages, though focused on a moderator's duties.  These help by providing general guidelines on how to address different situations.  Since these are general guidelines, a moderator does have some flexibility in both determing his or her specific actions as well as the method of implementation.

I have a standard methods of addressing reported abuses, which conforms to the guidelines though the specific steps are not necessarily spelled out.  Other moderators follow a similar path, though not exactly the same steps that I would do.  Moderators are individuals and though we all have the same desire for a smoothly running, valuable resource for the members, we may achieve it differently.

Many times the abuse report is coming from someone with few points.  So as part of handling the abuse reports, I do look at the point count and add in additional suggestions like the Getting Started link at the top of each SCN page.  When the point count is low, I also offer my help if they reply to the DM with specific questions.  Each new member should be cherished as they can offer new insights into each community.  They can also challenge us with the unique problems and perspectives they can share.

In the case where an abuse report involves a person with a large point count, the process is the same although I generally don't feel the need to offer as much detailed help.  If the post/blog/document is irrelevant or trivial, it is generally rejected for posting and a DM sent to the author.  Most times that is all that needs to occur.  Occasionally the irrelevant post is indicative of a points gaming scheme.  Sometimes that high point count is the result of points gaming which then gets a lot of attention, but not often the type the user would prefer. 

Regards, Mike

SAP Rapid Innovation Group - RIG

[Former Member]

Hi Syed,

Nice topic , even i believe some people focus more on points rather than sharing good knowledge . which eventually leads unwanted content posting.

I really like the answer posted by mike .Mike clearly state The knowledge is more important than points and there is always drawback of gamification.

Chetan

[Former Member]

I never did like the term "Street Cred"... to close to my name. 

Like in my case I am on the people that Michael is talking about for the Syclo applications.  While I do like building points, my work to make sure the OP always gets the information they are looking for no matter who provides information that will help or even solve the question or problem.  On responses that I know should solve the answer that some one else posted, I some times like to add a little bit more information onto it just to make sure the OP gets every thing solved with the lest about of confusion as possible.

In most cases that I have seen, most people don't care about the points the person has, as long as someone give the a path to go on to check.  If the OP gets a lot of responses it may be possible they didn't see the one the first one that would of solved their issue, or possible when they tried to do the steps they missed one so it ended up not working for them.

Stephen Streeter