My take on G@G updates (February edition)
Hello GAGers! I would like to thank GAG staff and fellow users for their support. Last month, I shared my review and an approximately calculated review from the community with the pros and cons of each update to better give an idea to the admins about the potential room for improvement and to inform the community about the updates deeply. This is a follow-up.
1. Closed Questions
I don't know why, but every time this site updates, a lot of users outrage at the staff and call a specific (or several) feature as the worst update the developers could implement. The last time they abolished downvotes, you guys said that the GAG team cannot do anything worse than that. This time, you repeated your statements again. It happens every single time. But you know what, change is extremely crucial (Darwin's Theory). Yeah, it can be bad sometimes but you shouldn't conflict with them. The more pressure you will exert, the more chances of failure will evolve. Help them, not ridicule them. Anyway, that "worst update in the history" implemented again this time, under which :-
⚫ Questions will be closed after 48 hours of inactivity (no new opinions).
⚫ Questions will be closed after the Asker decides to select MHO(s).
⚫ You cannot post opinions or vote polls on closed questions, but you'll still be able to like or reply to an opinion.
⚫ Your XPER level will determine how many open questions you could have. You could read more about this here.
Pros:
- Now, everyone has more chances to get one's question recognised.
- Less spamming.
- Genuine questions. Due to a limit, users will likely to always ask genuine questions. No more perpetual "how do I look" and repetitive questions by XPER lv 1-2 users.
- You can let bygones be bygones?
Suggested reading :- Why I Don't Like the Idea of Having Questions Be "Closed" From More Opinions After MHO Is Selected by @mistixs
Cons:
- Can easily be transgressed. You could ask and make an agreement with your GAG friends to post opinion after 40 hours or so to keep it alive.
- The lifespan of questions is so short.
- Such limits will not allure new users.
- Most of us get the best advice after a week. Our followers know us very well, but it takes time for them to log in again here and hence aren't be able to opine unless they're very active. Yes, PM is always an option tho. But who knows if a stranger could help us escaping the turmoil.
- The lifespan is so short that before we post our opinion after a long thoughtful opinion, it's over or Asker selects MHO.
- This site is all about questions and answers, right? So why limit it? Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
Suggested reading :- G@G Undone. Why G@G should stop being a FB clone and just be what it is. by editor @Chief16
myTake:
I love that they finally started to care about "content", but they failed. It's not all over, they'd try different things in the future. Honestly, (believe it or not) I felt a bit better opining questions because of more variety, but at the same time, I "stopped" asking questions AT. ALL. I don't like to ask now. I will ask only if I have a serious problem, but about random things? Nah. Without questions, there will be no answers. Sometimes, I received "helpful" opinions on questions which are more than three months old. At first when I saw this thing
I was like "yay!", but after reading the myTake describing the features, I *facepalmed*. Give us the power to close the questions. It'll help us getting rid of several threads without disavowing them, but don't close them automatically.
Plus, I started to feel like G@G is trying to become an article site (blog) rather a Q/A site. Editors, editors of the week, promotion/feature, featured Fridays (dunno if it's still a thing or not), even annual festive contests are about myTakes, not opinions. If you guys are closing questions in 48 hours, why didn't you implement it to myTakes too? Other myTakes need (deserve) attention too.
Ratings: ★ (Bad)
Community Ratings: 1/2 (Disaster)
Possibilities:
They will revert the changes. Just keep running the movement, peacefully. Furthermore, I think they'll give us the power to close them on our desire.
2. Private Opinions
This one is tricky. It was very hard to review this. When I first heard about this, I was very impressed and wonder how the devs could think that innovative ideas. (Honestly, no sarcasm). With this, you can :-
⚫ Post private opinions. Only the Asker and the Opinion owner can see Private Opinions.
⚫ Have an option to allow private opinions only, for your questions.
Pros:
- Security. No more stalking trolls and cyberbullies.
- You can share an honest opinion. No one will judge or ridicule you for your input.
- You can privately chat on a topic and earn Xper for that too.
- You can give MHO to your favorite GAGer and no one will accuse you for favoritism.
- Now, you don't have to PM other users for private help.
- This way, you could bypass 'private profile' thing to privately chat with other members (requires luck).
Cons:
- Security? Now creeps can opine anything and mods can't even help.
- Boring. It feels like I'm in a desert when I visit a private question. It detaches the community.
- Favouritism is the worst thing I feel on G@G. That point on 'pros' was sheer sarcasm. Boo!
myTake:
It's great. The G@G community is saying that it is a bad feature because bullies can harass others and what's PM for? Listen, we can't PM anyone outta nowhere & there are private profiles too. Plus, we don't even know who to ask & who can help the best. This way, we'd "invite" other users to help on certain topic. For security reasons, I think G@G should allow UberMods to read private opinions & increase their monthly quota because, why not? They're allowed to read private things so it is reasonable. For boring, well... stop stalking and reading others' posts you perv lol.
Ratings: ★★★1/2 (Good)
Community Ratings: ★★ (Below average)
Possibilities:
G@G will further continue to check this feature and maybe, they'll listen my idea to tackle security issues.
3. New notifications
I always want new notification style because the current system was so lacklustre. But I didn't know that G@G was that enthusiastic. Now, even forever alones are getting 40+ notifications.
⚫ New notifications. I cannot mention them all. They're more than the total number of Pokémon on this planet.
⚫ You can now adjust your notification settings. (In your settings page on your profile).
⚫ A new "Mark all as read" button to clear all of the notifications which could help you clear ghost notification(s).
Pros:
- No more ghost notifications.
- Refreshing.
- You can now adjust your notification preferences.
- No more messages by 'GirlsAskGuys-System' for not selecting MHO.
- You can literally "subscribe" to the people you follow.
Cons:
- Bugs. So many bugs.
- Useless notifications. So many useless notifications. So many useless notifications. So many useless notifications. So many useless notifications. So many useless notifications. Isn't it frustrating?
- There is no ghost notification. It is actually a legit notification that is from @mention. By "marking all as read", you may clear one or more important notification(s). This is faux ghost notification. False positive.
- Some don't even make sense. (refer myTake/scroll down)
myTake:
Nobody cares about "A poll you voted on has final results" & "Someone else's opinion is chosen as the Most Helpful Opinion".
Bellegirl21 and Bellegirl21 replied to your opinion"...". There are not two BelleGirl21. It should be like Bellegirl21 replied to your opinion"...", no matter how many times she replied. Simple English. We are not even receiving important notifications (I know that you already know). And please, do something about that @mention bug. It's not ghost notification.
Ratings: 1/2 (Disaster)
Community Ratings: 1/2 (Disaster)
Possibilities:
No one liked them. Even you know about this. It will be fixed sooner or later.
4. Versatility
myTake:
The last time I shared myTake, this site didn't support the black dots I used on PC version (⚫⚫⚫) They were supported on mobile version tho. But now, they're working flawlessly. (I checked my previous take and they were there even on PC version). I think G@G now support various other characters as well. I'll add another character (peace symbol) to check if it'll come in original state or it'll get converted into emoji (like it used to). I don't know if G@G actually did anything or not but at least, I noticed that change and I'm very happy. Thanks.
Ratings: ★★★★★ (Perfect)
Community Ratings: (N/A)
5. No fillers required
Now, you don't need to add filler WHILE posting photo/video opinion/reply.
Pros:
- Saves time.
- Productive.
Cons:
- N/A
Ratings: ★★★★★ (Perfect)
Community Ratings: N/A [I don't think anyone noticed that, but if anyone did, then - ★★★★★ (Perfect)]
6. Thumbs up
Oh boy, look at this. What have you done. You won! Congrats. There is no point in talking about this anymore. However, in order to give credits:
Pros:
- Stupid heart is gone
Cons:
- Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.
myTake:
Downvotes are coming back. I cannot tell what they'll be called. I'll be more than happy if they'll be given classic upvote/downvote name. After a lot of struggle, you proved that how much power common users have. Finally, you finally got
[credits]
Photos
rethinkrealestatenj.com
freeimages.com
michaelhyatt.com
wikimedia.org
tarexir.com
fao.org
facebook.com
boldnebraska.org
Linked myTakes
Notification limitation example
@BelleGirl21
Updates information
Other information and feedback
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All copyrights and other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
PS: This take is not meant to offend anyone. I don't take responsibility that all of the information provided in this myTake is 100% correct. I'm just a regular user of this site and I wrote what I observed.
Calculation criteria for community ratings is based on several different attributes.
Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it. I tried my best to stay impartial and elaborate every update. My apologies in advance if I missed anything or hurt the sentiments of anyone.
What about you? How do you rate each update? Share your thoughts. We would love to hear from you.
PS: Please read this myTake. Don't just read it, feel it. Someone's job is on line. Someone is working hard to make YOU happy. Don't disrespect them. Cheer them up. We all make mistakes. Hope everything will be alright in March and we'd enjoy this site like never before. ☮PEACE☮
Game on folks, believe!
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