Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
Answerway Ettique?	bluebags	12/22/04
I've been on this site for about a week and this rating business puzzles me. I got blocked for apparently asking too many questions without rating them (I did rate the first answer I was given though). I'm a bit shocked because I didn't expect that rating the question was meant as 'payment' for a question being answered. In fact, I stopped rating answers because one expert got unhappy about my rating his/her answer 4 stars and sent me a followup about it. I got really put of by it and decided not to rate answers anymore. Now I got blocked for doing just that! Are there some written or unwritten rules about this?
Clarification/Follow-up by bluebags on 12/22/04 12:15 pm: To anyone who'd answered so far: I appreciate your sharing your thoughts. I understand better now. Hello hadenough, for one thing, you're not letting me rate you by posting a followup, not an answer. It would seem that you are not giving me a chance, even though I have expressed a desire to handle this ratings issue responsibly by posting the above question. I posted this question for greater clarity and understanding. I do hope I have not become an unwitting target for experts who are upset with not receiving rates to take out their frustations on. An open-minded, non-accusatory approach to solve any conflicts - I suppose "general humanity" would require that this be acknowledged too. I appreciate frank, honest feedback but not the angry tone, which I find offensive. I do not think I have asked you, hadenough, any questions before and I do believe it is not appropriate to use such an accusatory tone "You did... You..." as if pointing fingers at me. Perhaps such dissatisfaction could have been expressed on a relevant board for other members to read and understand, instead of only coming alive when one relatively new member (not expert) brings this up? If I understand correctly, there has been no previous posts on this board regarding this, and I am not aware of any other catergory this issue could fall into. As far as "general humanity" goes, I'm not sure "rating" someone is an "understood" thing. Thanking verbally is more or less widely understood enough, but this is not equivalent to rating someone. I do believe I've thanked almost everyone who answered my questions, just that I am aware that repeating too much isn't a good thing, so I don't necessary thank people on follow up answers(in whatever form). There are people who get irritated or angry when thanked, and when asked about it, the answers are to the tune of "can't you think in terms of the concept of unnessary?". I do want to avoid such situations as much as possible, and I wasn't trying to "take it out on others" as suggested. If I were, would I bother to clarify this on this board? It is rather offensive (intentional or not) to be seen in such bad light immediately without being given any benefit of the doubt. I did clarify my rating with the expert in question about the four stars, by the way. I do hope that it is apparent that I am posting this question because I do wish to correct any unintentionally offensive behaviour and at least know what is generally expected. I want my stay in Answerway to be as pleasant as possible for myself as others. I would not want to assume I know what everyone is thinking without asking first. Different people/groups have different standards. I am trying to find out what the standards here are. I also wonder, in a similar vein, if it would be a good idea for experts to inform people that they do not wish to reply to their questions? Perhaps that way I could immediately send my question to another expert and not have to send my question to a few people, only to receive a delayed reponse much later? I hope this will, all in all, be a fruitful discussion. Thanks for all the feedback so far. It has been helpful.
Answered By		Answered On
CeeBee2		12/22/04
I've been here nearly two years and have never heard of anyone being blocked for not rating. Did you get a message or window from Answerway saying that? If not, how do you know AW blocked you? On the Home page (to the top right) are User and Expert Guidelines. These were developed by the two site owners with the help of a number of charter AW experts. Please read them. They may answer a lot of your questions. As far as lower-than-five-star ratings go, I've gotten every level rating and every kind of rating remark (plus a lot of ratings of all levels with no remarks). There is a huge cross-section of society here at Answerway. If you feel abused and put off by someone, that will carry over into how you treat others on the site, and that's not fair to them, just as the initial situation was not fair to you. But that's what happens when you are dealing with real people with real emotions (yes, the experts here are more than screen names, are really real people!). I've learned the best way to handle actual and perceived offenses both here and in the Real World is to rise above them and be the better person. Just like in Real Life, I've gotten to know people who live all over the world. I've made some friends whom I hope I will always have in my life. I wish you excellent adventures here too!

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