So you're probably thinking, what are "valuable" users? :)
Well, "valuable" might not be the best word to describe it, but since I see them as such - I'll use it anyway.
So, to me "valuable" users are users that can translate rare, or scarce, languages.
I think it's pretty obvious as to why we would like them sticking around, so I'll move straight to the how.
Here are some of my ideas put in points :
1. More exposure time of new content published by them.
2. More "special" attention by other "serious" users.
- by serious I mean, users that see a lot of what's going on in the site (for whatever reason).
- and by special attention I mean: comments ratings and whatever.
3. More points and other rewards (?) for any upload.
I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions here too!
I'm also aware of the sparks I might have flared be the idea of favoring certain users - but please consider my arguments before getting all riled up about it.
Interesting.
But seeing your "solution" without a discussion leading up to it, makes me feel like I've jumped in the middle of a conversation.
Of course there are those who contribute more than others; I thought that the point system is there to take care of that quantitatively, while the rating system and "thanks" button take care of it qualitatively. Are you saying that you believe these mechanisms have become inadequate for the purposes intended? Or are you saying that they need to be "re-purposed", i.e., the original *intent* is inadequate to current circumstances, or maybe even simply wrong?
Of course, there are those who arrive, contribute a while, and then leave; such is the nature of a temporary medium like the internet. Are there any stats on the membership available publicly? Such as:
(1) Are proportions amongst the different roles stable?
(2) What are those proportions currently?
(3) What proportion of novices advance to each of the higher roles?
(4) Conversely, how many stop (drop-out)? How many are trolls?
(5) What are the average and median active membership periods?
(6) What are the average and median roles at time of drop-out?
(7) Do these numbers vary according to language pair?
(8) If so, are rare language pairs unduly represented in the drop-out sample?
(9) If not, is there a problem in general membership stability?
You see, these are objectively measureable criteria. If you actually get to questions (8) and (9), I suspect the answers may point to your post being a solution in search of a problem. But then again the numbers may prove you right.
You've started an interesting discussion, but we all need more facts.Are they available?
BuenSabor
Actually, I didn't mean any of this, and I kind of feel like you're taking the discussion to whole different direction - one you seem particularly interested/bothered with.
However, I can't say your questions are irrelevant - they all are (including 9 ;)), but I'd rather we focus on the original question, ignoring this "bigger problem" for now.
It's just too much to handle, and I wouldn't mind trying to settle for a more "superficial solution".
As for the stats: most of them are available to the admins, some are also available to mods, and the regular user could try and inquire deeper by using all sorts of site statistics services (ex. http://www.alexa.com/).
So to address the original question -- are you actually losing your "valuable" members, faster than you can replace them? Are you in fact having more difficulty in holding "valuable" members, as opposed to "regular" members, such that a different incentive structure is needed?
That's why I asked those questions before, so I could answer these questions for myself -- not to be some smartass trying to browbeat you.
A special badge could be a good idea actually, and I don't think people forget about them. Many mods here have profiles that look like Russian generals :D. I did wonder how many of these are there and what's the criteria for each? except from the "interface translator" which is quite obvious.
Agreed, and I'm with you on that, but it would be much harder to try and completely change a person than to try and appeal to him via this competitive gamified way.
Do you have any idea on how to reach users on a deeper level? - it would certainly be better.
I wasn't here, and that sounds interesting. And about the ratings, that's exactly the problem, and most of us are guilty of it.
If they'll show more on the main page, more users will eventually see them, thus increasing their chances of getting feedback.
Just like me and Norwegian, I almost never get feedback on my work :/ and when I do, it's only because I literally "hunt down" users to do it :)
This is the main reason why I started this topic in the first place. Same goes for : Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese and these are just the ones that I know of / care for atm.
Well, rare languages are a given. Then we can go by statistics, either specific to this site or on a grander scale.
To answer your question :
This is the main reason why I started this topic in the first place. Same goes for : Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese and these are just the ones that I know of / care for atm.
So yes.