Is it just me, or are some people just unhappy?
-
I realize this is not a highly technical question, but I just read over the post by Trevor Klein on the new Beginners Guide to Link Building by Paddy Moogan at Distilled. I cracked up when I saw the post had 31 Thumbs Up and 1 Thumb down. I see this regularly on very good posts where someone just had to thumb it down. I wish there was a way that person could anonymously post why they did so just so we could discover their wisdom that we are obviously missing.
It kills me that I cannot find the time to produce such quality work and post it to Moz. I start a ton of posts, but am just too busy with client work to finish them. I finally finished one around ugly directory sites blocking link tracking tools and patted myself on the back for days (Thank you Keri Morgret for your editorial assistance). But, really, is it just that there is someone who woke up from a really rough night and thought, "Why the ___ are all you people so ____ happy?! Arrrrrgggghhhh!!!"
Obviously, there is no correct answer and you are more than welcome to thumb this into hell if things are that bad. Peace.
-
Hi Robert,
Quick thought on people not bothering to read the subject is I would suggest moving the thumbs up/down button so you can only vote at the bottom of the article (thus assuming you've read it) and this may help stop thumbs down from just title surfing.
The only argument I do have for thumbs down is spam now and then it's in the comments so would be nice if we had thumbs removed just an opportunity to flag spammy comments.
thanks
-
Hey, there are unhappy people in the world.
You got a problem with that? Deal with it.
<<just kidding="">>
Since I'm not the most diplomatic person in the world, I've managed to rack up 59 thumbs down...often for posts that berate others for black hat or grey hat tactics.
This makes my detractors both wrong and evil.</just>
And I'm sometimes blinded by the light from my halo.
<<just kidding="">>
Seriously, I think there is something to the contention that some people want to express disapproval anonymously.
Two suggestions:</just>
-
private response to sender
-
private response to Moz staff, who can then summarize and post
-
-
Trevor,
Very interesting. When Disqus first made that change, I was discouraged as a lot of times there were scumbags anonymous unhappy people who had to say that Matt Cutts is really satan, etc. and I liked thumbing them correctly. But, I really do get the decision you/Moz made with this. Force people to say something if they disagree. Excellent.
I think the other thing it addresses is the person who reads the title and does not bother to read what was written on the subject. Now, they get no opinion if they can't discuss the subject. Thumbs up to you and the Moz team!
-
That's a great idea, EGOL -- you're absolutely right about some people not wanting to submit criticism in a public way, so offering an avenue for them to do so certainly seems like the TAGFEE thing to do.
-
You're hitting a very important nail right on the head, Robert. We actually have an admin tool for identifying spammy or illegitimate thumbs (sometimes people even hit the wrong button, likely with their finger on a mobile device) -- and one conclusion we've come back to over and over again is pretty simple:
Thumbs down are just a terrible metric.
Someone may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. They may have objected to a post just because they didn't know what one of the words in the title meant, or because they've had a bad personal relationship with the author. It's a nice idea to have a very simple, very quick way of offering constructive criticism -- but thumbs down just never end up fulfilling that need. To boot, it's far too easy to fixate on a negative metric; we've had authors whose posts did quite well get in touch with us in a veritable panic because they received a few thumbs down. Even worse, when readers see that a post has several thumbs down, their initial reaction is often, "This is bunk, or at least controversial, which would require too much effort on my part. Next."
Case in point: One of our most thumbed-down posts ever was written by Carson Ward, titled "Guest Blogging - Enough is Enough." It was written in mid-2012, and in it he essentially lays out Matt Cutts's exact argument from earlier this year. Seeing Carson's 45 thumbs down without reading the piece first would turn most people away without a second thought, when the post was actually (if you ask me) one of the most important things we published that year.
All this leads to a decision we've recently made: Stick a fork in them: Thumbs down are done.
As of now, the plan is to remove them with the next iteration of the blog, in hopes that people will instead opt for more transparent and constructive criticism in the comments and on social.
-
Agreed, and frankly to each of you who responded so far, thumbs up (yes, I was tempted too). I read SearchEngineRoundtable and I have to say that Barry has the patience of Job. I would be telling some of those clowns individuals to pound sand. I cannot leave a comment as I know someone who identifies themself as hurky jerky or missedSEO, etc. will say something that makes me want to get involved in the discourse. Thank goodness anonymity on Moz is a bit more problematic and all is more closely monitored as well. (That is not a knock on Barry, he really does a great job disseminating info).
So, in the end, I just shake my head and wonder... "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Did you just find out you had intestinal parasites?"Best
-
Robert, I have thought the same thing many, many times. I mean, how can you thumbs down a post by Phil Nottingham on Video SEO...really? Or better, yet, an announcement of a feature improvement, new tool, or conference discount? Crazy people!
P.S. I was tempted to thumbs down this question just to mess with you, lol. Undoubtedly some negative Nelly out there will do it anyway...but it ain't gonna be me!
-
I think that a lot of people are looking for "easy" and when an article or a Q&A response explains that you gotta do hard work, a few people will give it the thumbs down. Some people might also think that some articles are not as good as others that have appeared on the moz blog or that an article is irrelevant to me and I assume to most other people.
Some people might have constructive critique or negative comments that they don't want to post in public. These could be very valuable to moz and to authors. So, a link somewhere on the article where private feedback could be submitted could be a way to collect them. If this is implemented it should be clear to the communicator that this is not an avenue for private consultations - just a way for you to share something with the author or with moz that might not receive a reply.
-
Assume they are using it as an "i disagree" button or they didn't like it or didn't find it helpful etc. Whilst I see where you are coming from I would imagine the thumbs down to be helpful in understanding what people think of posts from a Moz perspective.
As always there is a multitude of reasons of people doing any number of things, you will only give your self a headache trying to work out why people do silly things! Well done to Paddy though
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
In 2 days, a loss of 20 reviews
Hi Mozers, I have a cosmetic dentist client, in Belgium, who had 95 reviews. And in 2 days, he lost 20 good reviews (10 reviews per day), from real customers. The problem is that his rating went down drastically because they were only 5 star reviews. Yesterday he got a 5 star review from a real customer and this morning he disappeared. Have you ever experienced such a scenario? What could be the cause? Thank you in advance for your help. Kind regards,
Reviews and Ratings | | JonathanLeplang
Jonathan0 -
Different tools different backlinks stats
Hello, I am Uzair and I have just started a new blog website: https://pakistanonline.net/ What I do want to ask is that I am relative new in digital marketing and SEO and I can't seem to understand that all of the tools that I have used till yet have given me different backlink stats of my website. Why?
Reviews and Ratings | | snjaoieiw0 -
Google my business phone reporting? Doesnt cross state lines.
We have a branch in Toledo Ohio, which is close to the Michigan border. Cleary we get calls for direction from Michigan customers. However, our phone reporting does not cross the state line. Any ideas? This happens at other branches that cross state lines as well.
Reviews and Ratings | | bakergraphix_yahoo.com0 -
Should I publish Amazon reviews on my own site/products? Do I need to worry about duplicate content or anything else?
I'm redesigning my site expected launch early January. I'll be selling some products that are currently are only available on Amazon; and those listings have thousands of very positive reviews. I'm seeing apps that are available that will sync reviews from my Amazon seller account listings to my products on-site. I'd love to start my site off with the great validation these reviews are sure to provide customers, but I wonder how concerned I need to be about duplicate content or any other cons.
Reviews and Ratings | | VaporApparel2 -
Google Removed All Anonymous Reviews from GMB Listings with No Warning
I just saw that Google is no longer accepting anonymous reviews for businesses, and in fact have REMOVED all current anonymous reviews. This just happened in late May, but I'm pretty surprised there hasn't been any talk about this, it's a pretty big deal. Before I knew this I called their "specialists" to ask why we lost so many reviews. I specifically asked if Google had changed their review requirements that would result in old reviews being removed. She said no. She's either not well informed or just lied. https://orthopreneur.com/anonymous-google-reviews-disappeared/ My company just lost 20+ positive reviews. Anyone else hurting from the change and finding solutions?
Reviews and Ratings | | HammerandHand1 -
Do people receive notifications when you respond to their Google reviews?
If someone leaves a review of your business on your Google My Business listing, and you respond to that review, will they receive an email notification of your response to their review? We are working with a client who has unanswered reviews from several years ago, and though it's best practice to respond to all reviews, we didn't want to respond to reviews from 2013 if the person (who has likely forgot about their experience with the business in question) is going to get an email notifying them of our late response to their review. Thank you!
Reviews and Ratings | | BlueCorona1 -
Fixing Google Review (it's technical, not about an unhappy client)
We have six 5 star reviews for our Tampa office...but for some reason, our rating is a 4.8. Why is that? And, more importantly, how do I get it fixed? https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=kemp+ruge+green+tampa+twiggs&lrd=0x88c2c48aec26ee65:0xaa2e3a3569ca3602,1 Thanks, Ruben
Reviews and Ratings | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Google places and "people also search for"
I run a yoga studio in Toronto, Canada. I googled "Fireflow Yoga". The Google Places listing shows up on the right, and underneath it there is a listing for 5 competitors under the title "people also search for". Is there any way to turn it off that that "People also search for" does not appear as part of the listing? I also did a reciprocal search of the 5 competitors connected to our listing. They also have 5 "people also search for" on their places pages but we are not listed on their pages. What can I do to work towards Google showing our listing under "People also search for" when they look up similar businesses nearby? thanks. blBFSKU
Reviews and Ratings | | FireflowJ0