by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: June 07, 2007   Last Updated: January 02, 2012

At Helium's community, rating discussions are ongoing. Yet, the rules are plainly shown and when these are adhered to, there should be few problems. Dissatisfaction and grumbling continues. Basically, rating is to choose which writer has the best grasp of the topic. It's that simple. Or is it? Often one must decide between the best content and the best well written. Writers who immediately grasp the question the topic asks or perceives where the topic thought leads, are not necessarily the best grammarians.

Too, interesting articles often win out over the more detailed and better researched. And this is understandable. Those will be more read by viewers and therefore will be more valuable to Helium than the ones that are less deep into the subject. How does one decide when this is being weighed? The importance of the subject matter should rule.

Yet, when the same article floats doubled - leapfrogged - and I must decide between the two no matter how hard I search for some difference, I find none, what should I do. Click on the same, allowing them the benefit of the doubt. There must have been some reason for the editing even though you cannot find the missing comma, the misspelled word, etc.

Is the fraction of a cent that my clicking on your article worth jamming up the works? I think not. Do I take ideas contained in the article personally? Of course not. I understand they have the right to their opinions and if their article - although against my ideas and thoughts - are written better and are more convincing than the other, then it gets rated as the best. Objectivity here rates the rater!

Essentially this is how I rate: I read the first one or two sentences of each. Then I read the left one and the right one. After the first two paragraphs I get a good grasp of their writing and grammar. This permits me to read the remainder quickly. After both articles have been read, I choose which one better addresses the topic, or answers the questions. As an example I will vote down a better crafted article if it veers of course and does not stick to the topic. If both are close, and if I find the subject enjoyable, I will reach each one carefully, and try to discern which is better. These are the kind of articles, or stories, or poems, I like to rate.

As for grammar, I'm no expert, but I do try to watch my p's and q's. The better crafted one, however, takes second place to content. If what a writer is saying and is valuable, then editing will polish it into something that can be published I may not choose that one, but I will send a letter to the writer praising him for his ideas and suggesting that the edit out the mistakes. But no amount of grooming will turn empty or ugly copy into something it is not. Not, according to how I rate. I flag those.

Above all, I aim for fairness, and truth of purpose. As I become more experienced in rating and judging the merit of either A or B articles, I look more carefully for content that is exceptional but written by someone not well equipped to write in English. I have, by careful reading discerned that the writer was knowledgeable but was struggling with our language. I give these writers benefits of the doubt.

And sometimes when I have been moved profoundly by something some one I not only rate it the best - if it is the best - and will send a congratulatory letter. I know by experience how thrilling it is for a rater to take the time to tell me I have done a good job without adding the however telling me where I need to improve.Diversity sums up the whole experience of not only Helium but rating. Each day brings new discoveries and and new challenge.

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