Community User Ranking
July 12, 2010 1:38 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for a standardized list of user ranks in online forums/communities. I'm wondering what has become the standard out there, and please don't suggest the Star Wars ranks.
I've seen 2 major themes that comes to mind.
The first is very basic. New User, Regular User, Longtime User. This sometimes comes with a Special User that is either higher than Longtime or is something that you have to have given to you (ie can't get by posting a lot).
The 2nd is a lifecycle theme. One photography forum I go to takes you up in types of camera, starting on a Point & Shoot and moving up to DSLR and lenses and stuff. Another was the life cycle of a monster.
posted by theichibun at 2:23 PM on July 12, 2010
The first is very basic. New User, Regular User, Longtime User. This sometimes comes with a Special User that is either higher than Longtime or is something that you have to have given to you (ie can't get by posting a lot).
The 2nd is a lifecycle theme. One photography forum I go to takes you up in types of camera, starting on a Point & Shoot and moving up to DSLR and lenses and stuff. Another was the life cycle of a monster.
posted by theichibun at 2:23 PM on July 12, 2010
I think you'll find http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/social/people/reputation/ helpful. You may also be interested in http://www.communityspark.com/avoid-standardised-forum-rank-titles/ .
I'd agree with Rhomboid that there isn't a standard; the ability to customize ranks in most popular forum software has made it commonplace for community administrators to do so. Custom ranks / titles add to the feeling of belonging community members get from participating.
I'm certain you'd get better responses if you elaborated on your reason for asking, though.
posted by ElfWord at 3:33 PM on July 12, 2010
I'd agree with Rhomboid that there isn't a standard; the ability to customize ranks in most popular forum software has made it commonplace for community administrators to do so. Custom ranks / titles add to the feeling of belonging community members get from participating.
I'm certain you'd get better responses if you elaborated on your reason for asking, though.
posted by ElfWord at 3:33 PM on July 12, 2010
Just as an aside, things like this will drive me away from a forum. There are users and mods—maybe investors or "prestigious" users. Anything more than that and it starts to be alienating.
posted by reductiondesign at 3:43 PM on July 12, 2010
posted by reductiondesign at 3:43 PM on July 12, 2010
Most forums that do this and take it seriously enough to care about it rename the various generic built-in status levels (typically based on join date, post count or post ratings) after local in-jokes and other in-group references to the forum's subculture. Or as a reference to progress in the forum's area of interest--something like the point-n-shoot vs DSLR thing mentioned above. Also, often users are given custom titles by mods to commemorate certain antics or as a reference to their forum personality.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:28 PM on July 12, 2010
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:28 PM on July 12, 2010
Just as an aside, things like this will drive me away from a forum. There are users and mods—maybe investors or "prestigious" users. Anything more than that and it starts to be alienating.
Indeed. On the few forums that I moderate or administer, we have: New User, Regular User, and a special title "Veteran User" that is awarded to select members and cannot be obtained through post counts. The usual titles of "Moderator", "Board Admin", and so on also apply and are shown. The more ranks you have (based on post count), the more segregated the board tends to feel, and the more spam posts you'll get as users try to inflate their post count to get the "better" titles.
posted by xedrik at 5:42 PM on July 12, 2010
Indeed. On the few forums that I moderate or administer, we have: New User, Regular User, and a special title "Veteran User" that is awarded to select members and cannot be obtained through post counts. The usual titles of "Moderator", "Board Admin", and so on also apply and are shown. The more ranks you have (based on post count), the more segregated the board tends to feel, and the more spam posts you'll get as users try to inflate their post count to get the "better" titles.
posted by xedrik at 5:42 PM on July 12, 2010
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posted by Rhomboid at 2:22 PM on July 12, 2010