(UPDATE: Most of this Post is an update from last night, and I've already received received much feedback critical of using this Top Readers List as a metric for Site Recs Given. Original I just grabbed its the only empirical data available to me and I was train in quantitative methods, so that was my instinct. Valid Comments Like, "This makes it seem like a competition. or Rserven's great one saying RECs do not equal READERS" So I've asked Jotter if we could get aggregate states for total site Recs, total Site Tips Given, and Total Site Tips Received. For History, I'll Leave the Rest of the Post as Is." While we search for better metrics. Please still rec Jotters Weekly Total Impact to support our Support Emerging and Under Appreciated Writers Campaign voice interest in this Concept while we search to create better metrics to measure its success.)
Hi Everyone. Some of us are going to try an experiment of trying to be more generous with our recommendations this week a way of following on the post encouraging people to be quicker to hand our tips and recs in the post Breaking: Jotter's High Impact Posts discovers only 51 of yesterday's 126 posters rec'd even 1 post.
As unexpected gestures of support, the ever kind and generous, Jotter gave us an expanded Top Readers list, last week, showing the 120 people who gave out the most recommendations to our writers. (Rather than just the usual 20 to 40.) He also honored the readers by placing this list above the accumulated author impact, although few seemed to notice the symbolism.
Jotter did this so we could measure the impact of the post, Striving towards a more nurturing, generous, supportive, fun, and successful writing culture (poll), I wrote a week and a half ago, urging everyone to be more supportive to emerging writings which was resoundingly ignored and or rejected by our community. To spare me further embarrassment, we didn't even run statistics, so I could slink off in the dark with my tail between my legs to find a new hobby.
HoundDogs are anything if not persistent, so in an unexplainable moment, I tried a slightly edgier approach, which in not really my style, but seems to work better somestimes, and posted, Breaking: Jotter's High Impact Posts discovers only 51 of yesterday's 126 posters rec'd even 1 post yesterday, which received a warmer response of 325 plus recs from the community if not from the founding team, or Front Pagers. Let me apologize if this brought any discomfort to those of you not giving recommendations for good reasons. It was not my attention to call any attention to individuals, or invade privacy. So with no response from leadership, the matter seemed mute.
Then, one of the grass roots movement type of thing happened. What do they call them now, spontaneous, "nettroots," emergent causal, chains, of latent democratic social change? What brought me out of my slumbers, late last night, and moved me to a next action step, was seeing vickijean's post I pledge to encourage new diaries, after I dropped by and recommended one her earlier posts on my daily pledge to recommend 10 new, emerging, or under-appreciated writers each day.
She wrote, she was "Taking The Pledge!" which cheered me up immediately. Well, except for the part about "chastizement" which Vicki later confessed she was teasing me about. (when I do this is always seems clear and funny, when others do it I always think why don't they put on a snark tag!) So I wrote back something about how what I had heard on the street is that call to action had been delivered with "charm and upbeat positivism."
After reading our chatisement about not rec'd each other's diaries, I hung my head in shame and made a pledge.
1. From now on I will read the non-recommended diaries first.
2. I will keep reading until I have recommended at least 5 new diaries.
3. Then I will read the diaries from the "popular kids".
Finally, we had "moved the needle! Some evidence of "progressive action" at work. Some evidence that this could be work a sustained effort.
Hypnotoad says "you will recommend Jotter's High Impact Post Tomorrow!"
So I called Jotter and he's going to run he expanded list tomorrow and next week.
Here's what we ask. You do not have to set a Daily Goal or Pledge for yourself unless you want to which you can do in the comments, or just say, "I"m in." OR "Go Kossacks. or something inspiraitional."
andor
1. Please Recommend Jotter's High Impact Post tomorrow. We will interpret any number higher than 10 and an endorsement of this idea. (which we need a good name for.)
2. Next week we will compare the total recs for the top 120 authors, and I am waiting to hear back from Jotter if we can track the total rec's for the whole site.
3. At the end of the week we will asses our experiment both qualitatively and quantitatively, and if learn we can make a positive measurable impact we could keep on going, refine our efforts.
(UPDATE: Most of this Post is an update from last night, and I've already received received much feedback critical of using this Top Readers List. Valid Comments Like, "This make it seem like a competition. or Rserven's great one saying RECs do not equal READERS" So I've asked Jotter if we could get aggregate states for total site Recs, total Site Tips Given, and Total Site Tips Received. For History, I'll Leave the Rest of the Post as Is."
Here is the list from last week. One of the great this about data and the scientific approach is that we can make hypothesis and test them with data. What can we learn from looking at our data on the people who already made the most recommendations. Who are these people? How many recommendations did they make?
Holy Smoke! Our site's top Recommender is "a2nite!" One of my best friends here, and one of our most Frequent Flyers in the Bridgegate posts. She recommended 211 posts last week, or just over 30 posts a day.
Also may we call you attention to the fact that you could have been on this top 120 list by only recommending 8.3 authors a day for the week. If everyone recommends more this number will be higher next week.
I'll leave it to you all in the comments to draw out other obserations.
Jotter and I may start a special interest group for this project, if there is enough interest. We will let you know. Thanks. Please recommend his High Impact Post tomorrow.
Impact total: 284.4
nrec - Number of recommendations
ncom - Number of comments
tator - Number of commenters or commenTators (ow, ... sorry, I know).
impact - Calculated currently using nrec and cnx
post - A hyperlink to the Daily Kos post displaying the title.
Author - Hyperlink to the post authors Daily Kos home page.
Time - Post time shown as time of day for daily lists and date for weekly posts.
The analysis of readers includes the
number of recommendations awarded, the number of authors recommended,
the number and percent of their recommendations on the most recommended list (conversion)
and a ratio reflecting how much better the recommendations they made matched
the top hit list than would the same number of random picks.
rec number of posts recommended
authors = number of authors recommended
TopHits = number of recommended posts in top hit list
conversion = 100 * TopHits/rec; percent of recommended posts on top hit list
ratio = TopHits/predicted, where
predicted = ntop * rec/nposts, where
ntop = number of posts in top hit list = 127
nposts = total number of posts = 1129
Thanks everyone and please join me in giving a special thanks tomorrow by giving a special recommendation to his High Impact Post tomorrow. Thanks so much!
12:25 PM PT: Breaking: I just added this note to Jotters first HIgh Impact Post, which isn''t the one containing the Top Readers list, if you haven't figured out all ready.
Sorry again for all of the "emerging nature of this" making it appear as if I am just making this up as I go along. Don't you hate it when this happens. Sorry. I'll try to land this one as quickly and gracefully as I can and then go back to my quite corner of the world and play video games where I can much less trouble.
Anyhow, here's an update and some corrections. I just rewrote the post I wrote last night after (0+ / 0-)
much useful feedback.
One comments raised concerns, that the way I wrote about it focusing so much attention on the Top Readers list made the Supporting Emerging and Under Appreciated Writers Campaign seem like a "competition" which was no anybody's intent. I'm sorry about that, and that was entirely my dong.
My original reason for "grabbing onto" the top readers list was its the only empirical data I saw around and being trained in quantitative methods, that was my instinct.
So late, late, last night I asked Jotter if we could get aggregate stats for total site Recs, total Site Tips Given, and Total Site Tips Received.
I'm sorry if my effort here seems like a last minute, disorganized spontaneous, grass roots, netroots, sort of thing -- that would probably be because that's exactly what it is.
Jotter's Week's High Impact Post will have a longer Top Readers list
So, anyhow, I've asked anyone interested in helping to develop these emerging idea, "notions" vaguely defined urges, and latent intentions" and see if we can mold them into well formed action steps and social change to take a first step in showing support for a top notch under appreciated Kossack writer by Recommending and commenting in Jotters two High Impact posts today.
I hope the last minute nature and sloppiness of the appeal does not detract from its worthiness. Perhaps, some of the more natural leaders of the community could pick up this effort and take it form here if you see merit.
Oh, one last thing. Perhaps, it would be better if we called it the Support our Volunteer Writers campaign. or Support Kossack Writers, because our intent seems really broader than just "under appreciated" or emergent" doesn't it.
What are we going to do, give any of us who finally succeeds, the old "heave - ho" out of the group club house if they finally succeed?" That wouldn't feel very charitable.
But "Writer's Support Group" sounds sort of "Rehabilitive."
And, if we said "Writer's Union" we might get banned, because, management might think we were agitating for rights, benefits, or pay.
So we seem to be looking for something in-between that connotes pride, assertiveness, and self-respect, but with sufficient submissiveness to existing power structures as to not be seen as threatening to the existing power structures. Where could we find any models for that kind of group?