Re: Is a 1 star rating on a post better than no rating at all? Or is it an insult?

On Jul 6, 11:39 pm, Mark Clayton <spamuser1...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Unfortunately, they do not mean nothing. Google may be using the
star ratings to affect the order that they display posts in
a thread. If you use a "real" newsreader, posts are usually
displayed as a tree showing who replied to which message, sorted
by the time of the post. Google defaults to showing posts in
one long list, tossing out the message/reply hierarchy, and my
impression is that starred posts tend to be show first. I could
be wrong, but comparing threads side by side between a conventional
newsreader and Google's version show quite a difference.

And one star seems to help, rather than hurt.


I don't think Google does anything with the star ratings. It doesn't
seem to even have the ability to filter messages below a certain level
like some web forums do.

Google defaults to showing messages in the order they were posted much
like a web forum. If you select the option to view messages as a
tree, you have a choice to sort by date/time or by reply, like you'd
normally see in a newsreader.

A lot of people look down on Google, and while it has nowhere near the
number of options as most newsreaders, it can be configured so that it
does not seem completely foreign to someone that is used to the
traditional way of accessing usenet.

I keep my messages displayed as a tree sorted by reply, with the
threads sorted so those with the most recent replies are listed
first. The only real difference I see compared to a newsreader is
that Google doesn't know exactly which messages I've read, but it has
a pretty good idea which messages are new since the last time I read
the group. But with a newsreader I have to mark a bunch of messages
as read if I skip them because the subject doesn't interest me, so
they don't keep showing as new. Also with Google it doesn't matter
how many computers I access the group with, but a newsreader only
knows what I have read on one computer.

Google is also one of few choices available when accessing from a
computer or network where usenet is blocked.

I've been on usenet for about 15 years and I'm not ashamed to admit I
use Google almost exclusively to access it for the last 5 or more
years.

Steve Yates
Team-EM
http://REELpinball.com
.

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