Hello,
Sometimes you get to that point in life when you look back and remember how things used to be and reminisce about how they were better back then… Now I don’t want to moan. No, really I don’t but the Qlik community point system is adding value to whom?
To quote a popular phrase, “Points mean prizes!” but do they? On the community the point system allows users to compete. In fact the gamification of life is all around us. How many friends / followers do you have on social media, how many likes / shares did you get, how many times have you started levelling up again on COD and the community point system. Its become a very good tool for keeping people hooked on the service you’re providing. A little competition is good!
Back in the day life was simpler. Questions were asked and community members worked their little socks off to support the developer in need. Who benefited? Well both parties did in my opinion. Not only did someone get the support they needed but the helper often got an opportunity to solve a micro issue and possibly stretch their understanding in the process.
Now, this still happens although in my experience it has been taken over somewhat by a small minority who seem to have a ever present need to increase points, ranking and kudos within the community often at the detriment to what’s important.
Some of the things I’ve witnessed:
- Multiple reply’s of the same answer to the same question (With large time gaps between). Once I replied and my answer was cut and pasted back into the same thread.
- Copying lines from popular blogs and using them as questions
- Two accounts. One commenting “Great Post” and the other marking it as helpful (repeatedly)
So why are people doing this? The only answer I can think of is to earn points and climb higher in the ranking. What I can’t work out is why? Job Prospects maybe…… Well I can say that it would hinder rather than help, when recruiting I look at activity to gain insight over a potential new employee and these types of traits may gain community points but they certainly don’t earn any points with me. Maybe they’re just über competitive, although if so isn’t doing these types of things cheating?
Wouldn’t it be great to go back to those simpler times?
Richard
qlikcentral 
Firstly, I’d like to say I have no idea how you posted this WHILE I was greeting you yesterday in the Qlik Dev Group meeting. well done hehe.
Secondly, I couldn’t agree more with you. This is one of the things I discussed with Brian Munz and Alex K. and how they are planning (and we as users) to avoid from happening in Branch.
Users like the ones mentioned in your post not only make people waste their time, but they also make the forum look a lot less professional. I everyday read articles in the community which do not contribute at all as they don’t add anything new nor create good content.
I guess it’s a job for the Admins to try to spot twin users and it’s on us to be clear when comments are out of place or they are being copied/pasted from another post.
Juan
LikeLike
Hi Jaun,
Sometimes I have several posts all ready and scheduled. Not now though as I’m keeping rather busy, really will try and make the effort next month.
Its good to hear you spoke with Brian and Alex at the QlikDevGroup meeting. Brian did use the phrase “Gameification” during his presentation which both made me smile and also send chills down my spine at the thought.
Rich
LikeLike
Thanks for posting on this. I like to follow active threads and the increasing amount of traffic for “points only” and fake traffic is getting frustrating.
LikeLike
You get a point for each reply, so some long threads whereby advice given is not understood or taken to the nth degree leads some members of the Community to have lots of points. In some cases, the member has not posted a single helpful comment to other users, but lots of “fix my problem” posts.
LikeLike
There’s a 20 point daily limit for replies: https://community.qlik.com/thread/166875
That makes it totally useless to try inflate your points score by posting replies. Somebody managing a mere two answers a day marked as correct will climb the ranks faster.
Perhaps this little tidbit should be emphasized a bit more on the community site.
I don’t think there’s anybody with a significant points score that doesn’t get the majority of his/her points from helpful and correct answers.
LikeLike
Gysbert,
You’d be surprised what some people have figured out to collect point and how fast they are accumulating them.
LikeLike
Hi Gysbert,
That’s for that information.
I agree, using point cheats alone won’t get you to the very top. Although if you use every trick in the book you’re probably looking at 50pts per day for very little effort. Certainly less effort than it takes to answer what could be a complex question which makes you wonder why the right answers shouldn’t be getting far more points…. Then I guess you’ll probably get more dual accounts working in tandem….
Can’t win really which is a shame because of how useful the community really is.
Rich
LikeLike
Great Post
LikeLike
Thanks Richard. I fully agree with you. I’ve seen some weird techniques to get points. For some people, they can sit at work, get paid and still answer questions (lucky ones!). However, there are loads of others who cheat by using above methods and few other sneaky ones!
I really don’t look at points if I interview someone. I’d look at the quality of the answers instead of points. Quality surely beats the quantity!
I think the best way of measurement is points per replies:
I.e. Total points / Total number of replies or answers
This way we will know the average points per response. Another good way to measure is FTRA (First Time Right Answer). This shows how good you’re understanding the problem even if it’s vague question and still providing right answer first time. It surely removes noise!
Cheers,
DV
LikeLike
Thanks DV. Totally agree from an potential new candidate point of view the way they present themselves on the community can really help or hinder their chances.
I wonder if this minority understands this. To keep up with your friends or just to gain ranking for kudos could prevent them getting a role.
Rich
LikeLike