Hi Drandres.

Thank you for your message and for sharing your thoughts on this matter. And thank you DISCHINO for taking the time to respond to the message.

We originally set-up the rating system as a way for members to quickly climb the ranks - as you are aware, one needs a combination of both activity and qualitative contributions to the form to make it out of the mail room with ease. The same would apply for our senior ranks (Vice President and President).

I can definetely accept your argument here regarding Hub "protectionism"; in fact if I were to comment on the type of inquiries I find myself most often responding to, that would have to be our rating system.

I guess the only response I can provide you is to consider how one perceives a new comer to any Hub; do they find ones first comment relevant, or do they dismiss it as a mere disruption?

Someone brought up a great point that relevancy can depend on many factors such as your point of view, your level of knowledge and your areas of interest within a specific topic.

I thought that was a great point, as it probably explains why some members can get impatient with discussion that others find valuable. Remember this next time you read a message that don't appeal to you.

The good news here is that we are talking about improving the rating system, as opposed to the lack of one.

But at the end of the day, what we are relying on is the judgement of HUB leaders that have been rated by fellow members. We trust they will continue to do a great job of using their authority wisely.

At the end of the day, as a Hub Leader and a President Member within AGORACOM, you have quite a bit of control over the content and the posters within the Hub's you participate.

I respect your awarness regarding moderation - it is not easy monitoring any forum. As such, we have to try help yourself and many others strike a balance between allowing people to provide constructive criticism and making sure the rules are followed.

There is no way to be perfect in this endeavour. However, the AGORACOM community is head and shoulders better than anything else on the web. I am in awe of the incredible information posted here from some very intelligent and well-balanced people and I appreciate everyone's insights.

We all want communities with perfect harmony but until someone can figure out how to conduct mind control through forums, most of us are happy with this environment, which gets rid of those people who obviously want to disrupt the harmony.

I hope this response is satisfactory.

Kind Regards,

Andreas Marouchos

Community Director