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There's a subtle confusion, and one that could very well be like marmite, in that a huge swathe of people are oblivious to this alternate interpretation and would never see the point.

So here are the two interpretations:

You flagged something as bad for the first time, here's a badge!


Something of yours was flagged as bad for the first time, here's a badge!

And yes, some people for all their programming might can stumble at such an incredibly simple hurdle.

So first flagged post isn't enough, ( your first flagged post ) as it doesn't tell you who flagged the post and who didnt.

I suggest:

Flagged your first post

Which firmly puts the action on you, and removes much ambiguity.

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I'm afraid I'm stumbling on the marmite analogy... –  Benjol Feb 10 '11 at 12:31
@Benjol - I assume it's because you either love it or hate it and can't see why the other group think the way they do. –  ChrisF Feb 10 '11 at 12:42
I just received this badge. I don't know if you get it for flagging a post of having one of yours flagged. And whether flagging the post must lead to some action for you to get the badge. –  CashCow Feb 10 '11 at 14:13
This is what the enhanced badge list is for!</standardPlug> –  Pops Feb 10 '11 at 14:27
We dont have a link to that page on every single badge description and such a link would be overkill so its a moot point. –  Tom J Nowell Feb 10 '11 at 14:33
But having looked up civic patrol "flagged a post" might be better, as its obvious anyone who has flagged any post will have the badge, and its obvious what you got the badge for, aka flagging a post. Theres no question of any further attributions like 'flagging his post' or 'flagging her post' or 'your first post was flagged' or 'first time you were flagged' etc that arise from the current description –  Tom J Nowell Feb 10 '11 at 14:35
The marmite analogy was that some people will see this as a problem. Other people will fail at all to get the problem at all, its a non-issue, they cant see the other interpretation, it just doesn't fit into their world view. They would never have that kind of language interpreted that kind of way in their culture/country/community/forums/family/etc, whereas someone like myself, someone from my culture/county/community/forums/family/etc DOES see this kind of ambiguity in this language being used to mean both the up and the down interpretation. –  Tom J Nowell Feb 10 '11 at 14:38

4 Answers 4

Actually I think Flagged your first post is also unclear. That sounds like you have to flag the the first post you made. I recommend leaving the description as is.

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Ah I agree that my suggestion has an issue, but the original is still problematic –  Tom J Nowell Feb 10 '11 at 14:31

I received this badge 7hours ago, that is while I was asleep, and I must admit I didn't do anything in SO for the last months, is it normal?

EDIT : and I agree with the OP, the description is not clear, for instance some badges are not 'a good thing you've done', but rather ironic, like tumbleweed, so it's not that obvious!

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In this case they changed the criteria for when the badge is awarded. It used to exclude the "for moderator attention" option, but now that's included so if you've ever used the "flag" option you'll get the badge. –  ChrisF Feb 10 '11 at 12:41
yes I did, several months ago, so that's why –  Kevin Feb 10 '11 at 12:46

After having rec'd this badge and spent 10 minutes trying to find out what post of mine was flagged, I highly recommend changing the wording.

As an aside, I didn't receive this badge because I flagged something, I got it because the rules for the badge changed (I think). The last time I flagged something was... like a month ago.

So there wasn't any action<->badge connection.

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In my opinion it's clear enough as is... the name suggest that you've done something good for the community and that good thing is flagging a post.

The badge is earned shortly after you flag a post (question or answer) for the first time and though I can't know for sure I believe flagging is enough to get the badge even if no action was made on the post.

But... minor change in syntax won't hurt anyone and it might indeed prevent some confusion. :)

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That is one interpretation, my point was that there is a second interpretation that flips it on its head leading to confusion –  Tom J Nowell Feb 10 '11 at 14:31

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