I recently had the thought that it would be nice when looking at answers to a question to see if someone has a badge in one (or more) of the tags in the question.

For example, when browsing a question tagged Java, if I saw a bronze, silver, or gold star next to the picture or username of someone who answered, I would know that user has had a positive impact on Java questions in the past.

Some benefits:

  • Ability for users to know which responders have given well received answers in your tag, and (roughly) how well received they were.
  • Ability for the responders to show that they have worked hard and contributed to a tag and others have benefited from their responses.

Some negatives:

  • Some users might be drawn to the fact that 'User XYZ has a gold badge, they know what they're talking about' and risk accepting an answer that may or may not be the best answer.
  • Tag points are not updated real time and according to this question, updates have failed in the past, so users on the border of a tag may not be properly represented.

However, in my own rebuttal to the last one, since the script is run everyday at 03:00 UTC, if a user were misrepresented I imagine it would be corrected within 24 hours when the script runs again.

Something that has to be taken into consideration as well is where this marker would be located. I imagine it could go somewhere in the bottom right corner, along with the users username, rep, and badge counts.

Does anyone else feel that this would be beneficial? Are there other benefits or negative consequences? Should this marker (were it implemented) be included for those who ask a question on that tag as well?

  • 4
    I don't see any reason why a new user couldn't answer questions within a tag with some authority well before they gain a tag badge. And I've seen people have tag badges just because they flooded the site with low-quality answers in that tag, and gain the tag by sheer numbers. – Martijn Pieters Dec 30 '14 at 14:59
  • I don't believe in that the reliability of answer should be measured by the user submitting it. Better measure would be the sources for that answer. – Roope Hakulinen Dec 30 '14 at 15:02
  • 1
    I suspect Jon Skeet and Eric Lippert gave good answers even when they had low rep and no tag badges. – Ňɏssa Pøngjǣrdenlarp Dec 30 '14 at 15:20
  • 1
    @Martijn Pieters: Sometimes I wonder about a system that doesn't just look at raw numbers, but also ratios. For example, a user who has a substantial number of answers (e.g. 500), and a high ratio of score per answer (e.g. average 5 per answer), would be ranked higher than a user with 6 per answer of 50 answers, or a user with 1 per answer of 1000 answers. But then I realize the voting system, and its users, simply isn't robust enough for that to work very well. Votes in general aren't exercised very well at all. Sad, really. – BoltClock Dec 30 '14 at 15:28

Focusing on who posted the answer is focusing on the wrong thing. When evaluating answers evaluate the answer, not who posted it.

Those who use the poster's attributes (name, rep, badges) as a shortcut for deciding how to vote are harming the site. Let's not give them more opportunities than they already have.

  • I understand. As someone who doesn't think that way, I guess I'm blinded to how many people really would treat it that way. It is important to read every answer, and base your choice on the quality of the answer, but I think many users would be lying if they said they didn't take a user's rep into consideration at least a little bit. – AdamMc331 Dec 30 '14 at 15:11
  • 1
    If one should not focus on the user, what's the point of reputation? – Matthias Bauch Dec 30 '14 at 16:11
  • 2
    @MatthiasBauch Reputation is tied with privileges on the site. That's the main reason for its existence. I'd be completely fine if we did not show the reputation of a user under their name. – Louis Dec 30 '14 at 16:23
  • @Louis but then we'd have to READ what you write to realize what you can help with? Sounds tedious.... urgh (/end sarcasm) – Patrice Dec 30 '14 at 19:12

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .