Thread: No more green dits. Say hello to our mentors

Keep in mind guys that these badges just give the new guys a point of contact so they know who is someone that would be willing to help answer some questions and who are willing to give up a few minutes of there time to a new person. I know how hard it is in the beginning to send a pm to a stranger asking for help. At least this way they have some idea of who is willing to spend some time directing them and if you receive a pm with a question outside you realm of experience then it is a simple matter to forward their pm and introduce then to the people that they need to be talking to. The Badge is not meant to say hey look at me I know everything! it is meant to say I am competent at most things and I am willing to give up some of my time to help a new person down the right road or help you meet the people who can.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

All I'm getting at is that what Charlie said is the real deal," I would be happier if there were no badges. I think separating people into different classes creates an atmosphere that breeds animosity and jealousy. "

As the person who initially came up with the idea of mentoring, I would like to draw your attention to two things:

1. The moderators (short singular form: "mod") are users (or employees) of the forum which are granted access to the posts and threads of all members for the purpose of moderating discussion (similar to arbitration) and also keeping the forum clean (neutralising spam and spambots etc). Because they have access to all posts and threads in their area of responsibility, it is common for a friend of the site owner to be promoted to moderator for such a task. Moderators also answer users' concerns about the forum, general questions, as well as responding to specific complaints.
2. Mentorship refers to a developmental relationship in which a more experienced person helps a less experienced person, referred to as a protégé, apprentice, mentoree, or (person) being mentored, develop in a specified capacity.

The mentor badge is supposed to alert a member to the mentor's willingness and ability to help him solve a particular problem in a more personal fashion than a forum post.

I brought up the idea because some of the mods and new mentors did "mentoring" in the Chat. And as SRP keeps growing quickly, I felt there was a need for more of that. So the mentoring idea was born.

So, thanks to Bruno for implementing it. I think it will benefit SRP, and its members, greatly. Especially the new joiners.

Doc but a lot of people do this and actually that is what makes internet forums fun. Those who are not mentors at the moment could be a bit disappointed that their efforts did not get credit.
I know that forums are no democracy, but generally people like changes better if they have a chance to talk about them up front.
After defending the rep system just last week this move came a bit suddenly.

Originally Posted by zib

Bruno, I totally understand what your saying. Just, IMHO, labels are bad.
I feel someone's join date and post count should be a clear indicator as to their knoweledge, or simply what they say, and somtimes not. Some guys have a low post count, but have been members of other forums for some time, and you can tell that just by reading their posts. It's just that Mentor implies "teacher' and I don't know that willingness to help is enough in that respect.

In my experience, post count and join date can mean absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. All it really represents is that you got here before me and you post a lot. It does not automatically reflect a level of knowledge, or how well your posts are generally received. Sure, every one uses it to measure people when they start out, but that's just because when you walk into a place you gotta use something, and if that is all that is available, that is all you will use. It is, however, a basically pointless exercise, you could look it up your self I imagine and I bet there will be some guys with a few thousand posts and very few thanks.

I have been using my thanks as a measure for my posts, and I'd like to think I can keep at least 10% of my posts thank worthy, and that is what I have been trying to do. I do this pretty basic calculation for people all the time, just to see.

Personally, I'm not sure about this mentor thing, just because people are chosen, and that removes (in my opinion) a degree the dynamic nature such a position in a group should hold. That is not to say I don't agree with the choices so far.

I quite liked the rep system, but it has just struck me that the thanks system is probably enough on it's own - it is a simple, clear system, and most importantly it is a direct reflection on what you have to say for your self.

One of the shortcomings of the thanks system and the rep system both, was that it did not discriminate between conversation and shaving related.
The mentor system does not have this shortcoming.

As for who gets to be Mentor: most people who remain active will get there sooner or later. I am relying on the mods in charge of the specific subforums to tell me.

One of the reason that Mentors can be useful is that this forum has gone beyond a point where most people know each other. Whole groups of members only visit certain subforums. I am willing to bet that many people here have never heard of Mike Blue, whereas the people who frequent the workshop (and especially the forge) will pay attention to his every word.

The mentor system helps newbies figure out more easily whom they can PM or whose posts to search for if they don't know where to look. Granted, the wiki does some of this already. The mentor system is just another step, but focusing on people instead of information (the wiki).

In the past, this was also part of the mods job description, but the forum has gotten too big to have only the mods do this.

I have been thinking about how to respond to this thread, the same way I thought about how to respond to the invitation from the mods. In the end, I kept my reservations to myself as, like Lynn said, the mods and admins here put a lot of thought, sweat and hard work into these site modifications, all with the desire to make this forum a better place.

It may work, or as in the case of the rep dots, it may not. In which case, it will go away in time. As for me, I will keep doing what I do, and like Randy, will try to do even more.

But to not post or help newbies just because I did not get a special badge of recognition - that would not reflect on the mentor concept but on me.

Congratulations to those who have received badges recognizing them for their positive contributions; it's well deserved and timely.
However, I feel that there are those among us who could also receive some small, back door, hat pin type of recognition for our constant grousing. That being on constant alert and willingness to point out the figurative leaks in that virtual dike also require no small amount of heretofore unrecognized effort and talent, I might add.





good work, ya'll badged

Originally Posted by spazola

Ding dong the rep is dead!!

We seem to have lost the edit function as part of the remodeling. We poor proof readers are, um, unfortunatley outed. I was hoping to be able to keep the door to my wrechted speling and lousy grammer closet closd and lokced.

Or am I missing soemting?

Originally Posted by Bruce

We seem to have lost the edit function as part of the remodeling. We poor proof readers are, um, unfortunatley outed. I was hoping to be able to keep the door to my wrechted speling and lousy grammer closet closd and lokced.

Or am I missing soemting?

Just your grammar and spelling ;-p. Seriously though, I think there is just no edit in this section; I don't think there ever was.