by Elton Gahr

Created on: May 05, 2009

Having been at Helium for some time now I have found one major flaw in the rating system. I am afraid to use it. The situation I find myself in is having a considerable amount of money coming from the adjustments at the end of the month and the knowledge that currently my rating store is high enough that I will get it. Each time a rate something I risk lowing that score and making it less likely that I will get paid. So far I have had an issue with this but even with a 5% buffer at the end of the month it is on my mind.

But there must be some system in place to ensure that people put effort into the rating otherwise you would risk having people simply clicking through the process without any thought. So what is the solution to creating a rating system that encourages people to rate, encourages them to be fair, and doesn't scare writers away?

I think the first thing that would be useful would be a buffer of time if your writing stars drop. Consider the possibility of allowing a person to continue to earn for three days after they have reached zero rating stars. This would allow someone who simply had a bad day or two of rating to get back on his feet as well as making me less likely to stop rating completely at the end of the month.

Second, give extra value to the ratings of people with more rating stars. Assume for a moment that two people see the same article matching. One has earned 0 rating stars the other 5. They rate opposite articles as the better. I know as a writer I would prefer the one with more rating stars to effect the outcome more. This should be a minor value, and may already exist but it should be known to raters who would then be encouraged to gain extra stars so they could have more effect on the site.

Third, lower the punitive effect of low rating stars. It is important to have some negative repercussions to not rating otherwise you will have a considerable number of writers who ignore that part of the system, but as it is simply too much. Instead, I believe that it should remain the same in regards to residual pay but be changed in upfront payment. Consider the possibility of rather than it completely negating all upfront payments for a month(and likely making a good write leave the site completely), having it reduce their payment by 1 writing star. This would be 50 cents per article. That is enough to make rating important while not forcing people to quit writing for Helium.

As the rating system currently exists has a strong feeling that it is a hoop designed primarily as an attempt to keep from paying writers rather than as an important and necessary part of the system of Helium. This could be cured simply by trying to ensure that anyone who makes an honest attempt to rate article is paid at least something while still making certain that there is still a cost paid by those who don't try to rate well.

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