An observation of the site over a one year span has revealed a dismal state of voting or shall we say that voting has become virtually non-existent. We have two of our moderators active and flags being handled speedily also now.
The current statistics (as on 13/02/2021 IST 8:14 PM) as per Area 51 show about 641 avid users and 9,665 out of 16,783 logins per day, and despite such overwhelming numbers, even well researched questions and answers fail to get a commensurate response. Well framed, undisputed, on-topic posts which pique the interest of the community in general too, manage to merely clamber up to 3 to 4 votes or in an extremely rare scenario 6 to 8. This is in complete contrast to the scenario prevailing until recently, about a year and a quarter back (please correct me if I’m wrong)
As per our site’s help centre, let’s see why voting is important:
Voting is central to our model of providing quality questions and answers; it is how...
* ...good content rises to the top
* ...incorrect content falls to the bottomModerator elections are an important part of that plan, but voting on questions and answers is the primary mechanism through which the community governs the site on a day to day basis
not to mention that upvotes are a great way to thank the author of a good post for the time and effort put into writing it!
And encourage people to post better answers, when the community appreciates them.
As per the above help centre guidelines, voting will be a great solution to the problems plaguing the site as well as the phasal sluggishness. (Would’ve answered this question but the problem of lack of votes is grave enough to require a separate post). Yes there will always be a difference of opinion, but that shouldn’t deter us from voting on another truly good post by the same person. It is our duty to give due appreciation. No one’s efforts must go futile.
One of the Possible Reasons for the Site not Graduating
As per the policy of the entire Stack Exchange network, sites in beta require relatively lesser reputation as compared to graduated sites for similar privileges. Here is a comparison of a few of the important ones:
| Privilege | Hinduism SE | Stack Overflow |
|---|---|---|
| Highest Privilege | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| Trusted user - expand deletion privileges | 4,000 | 20,000 |
| Cast close and reopen votes | 500 | 3,000 |
| Access moderator tools (deletion) | 2,000 | 10,000 |
| Edit Qs and As | 1000 | 2000 |
| Create tags | 150 | 1500 |
It can be seen that, privileges on a graduated site are nearly five times than a beta site. The statistics of our site currently reveal that there are only 5 users out of a total of 16,783 users that have a reputation of 25000+. They have gotten their reputation due to the earlier non-reluctancy with appreciating by voting. In the event of graduation, most of the burden will rest on these 5 and very few others slowly climbing there, as opposed to a substantial number who are greater than 5000 (or at least 4000) and currently have all privileges.
The only way users’ can possess reputation enough to unlock privileges on a graduated site is by the community as a whole contributing votes (not unnecessary ones though)
Arbitrary and Conservative Arithmetics:
Let’s take 640 (not even 9655) avid users as our base and adopting a conservative and arbitrary method
- Of these let’s assume a figure as high as 90% don’t analyse each and every question on the feed and may innocently tend to skip through them. That leaves us with 64 viewers.
- Of 64 viewers, say half are people to whom even questions that are interesting/ appealing (not very narrow) are not appealable. That leaves us with 32 users liking a post.
- Say half of them (320) are new and are not aware of the rules 32/2 = 16 old users liking a post
- Even assume half of these 16 tend to read and like, but genuinely forget to vote or don’t have that ingrained in them. That leaves us with 8.
Even as per the above extremely conservative calculation, a well researched post, generally appealable to half the old people, which maybe skipped by 90% of the avid users, and some with mentality not to vote, it is expected to garner at least 6-8 votes (which as I cited above is an extremely rare phenomenon nowadays for posts which would’ve ordinarily gotten 15-20 votes). In my opinion they should at least get 12-15 votes, in line with the earlier vote count.
A list of 10 good general posts (IMO):
- Do the eight immortals (Including Lord Hanuman) still exist in Kaliyuga?, but a similar post 3 years earlier by the same user managed to get 6 votes.
- What is the difference between Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga? - a lot may know the answer, but someone did make an effort to ask it and respond to it.
- Which parts of Virāṭ Purūṣa are constituted by Varṇa Saṃkara-s & Mlechcha-s?
- Why was traveling to Kalinga (modern-day Odisha) considered a sin? - well researched answer from scriptures.
- Can we do Mantra japa while consuming non vegetarian on a daily basis? - very relevant answer in modern day scenario.
- Fasting for health in Hindu scriptures
- Do sinners directly get moksha if they die in Varanasi?
- What happens if a person without Upanayana gets married?
- What is the benefit of writing ramakoti book or sivakoti book?- under-appreciated answer.
- What are six darsanas or philosophies, known to be limbs of Shiva?
Some may obviously not agree with the above list but I hope it gets the message across.
Disclaimer: these do not intend to advertise any particular users, but are appreciable in general. I have purposely not included my own posts :P
Please everyone may feel they vote enough but very evidently that’s not the case.
Questions:
- Can we please increase the voting on the site?
- What measures can we take to improve the voting on the site and thereby breathe life into it?
- Any other suggestions?
I sincerely hope we come up with a solution and act on in instead of a standard discussion going in vain.
