by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: February 17, 2007   Last Updated: December 22, 2008

As Helium writers, I wonder how often we think of the effects that rating has upon not only our own experience but the experience of other members. The effects of ratings are widespread and make a great deal of difference to everyone's experience of the site. This article sets out the different effects of scenarios faced by Helium raters, and demonstrates the different approaches which make a difference to our experience and that of other writers.

*Honesty.
*Integrity.
*Inspiration.
*Giving inspiration to others.
*Approach to member responsibility.
*Approach to fairness.

Honesty.

How often do you sit in front of a screen and click that rating button? Every time you do, someone's article goes up, and someone else's article goes down. When you consider the significance of your rate, it makes you think of the effect that has upon another writer. We all rate, and now with incentives in place, more and more members will rate in order to have their participation recognized. Honest appraisal of other people's work is the only way to get the best effect on the site presentation, and also in recognizing those articles which are well written, informative and indeed the cream of the crop.

If you cannot rate honestly between two articles and start to judge things simply based on a quick glance at presentation, take a closer look. An off topic article well presented may fool you, and at the end of the day, it is us, as members, who take the full brunt of the effect of those ratings, since off topic articles rising to the top of the pile make members look stupid. If you don't have the time to rate honestly by judging content, leave rating until you do, because that honesty is what makes the site work, and the effects of that honesty are imperative if the rating system is to seen as a viable method of sorting out articles.

Integrity.

If you read subjects upon which you have no knowledge, how can you judge? The effect of rating articles where your knowledge is limited can be a disaster, putting less informative articles on top and those well informed balanced articles which are factual at the bottom of the pile. Integrity is knowing your own limitations and in acting upon them, so that no writer suffers just because you didn't understand the subject.

The effect of ignoring this? Imagine someone looking for medical advice and being given the wrong information. Imagine a parent looking for help with a child related problem and being advised by an item which really doesn't belong on the

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