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We are introducing two new content filters to Questionland. These filters either hide specific posts completely or collapse posts so they can be viewed selectively by clicking. The filters are controlled by you so that you can decide what you want, or don’t want, to see.
The two filters are:
1. Family Filter
When this filter is “ON” (default is ON) it will hide questions in the sex category. If you turn the filter off it will show them. Your setting is saved in a cookie so you only have to set it once unless you clear your cookies.
2. Reputation Filter
When this filter is “ON” (default is OFF) it will collapse questions from community members whose reputation is “negative”. ”Collapsed” means that you will see that they are there and can view them individually if you want. People get negative reputations when they’re down-votes are greater than their up-votes and they don’t have any favorite answers or featured questions. Again, your setting is saved in a cookie so you only have to set it once unless you clear your cookies.
Why Introduce Filters?
Sex. We are very proud of the open and frank nature of the Q&A on Questionland. There are few sites that deal with sex as constructively and educationally as Questionland and the community is exceptional in providing help and being non-judgmental about people’s preferences and predilections. But with openness comes a certain amount of explicitness and that is not everyone’s cup of tea. So it seemed reasonable not to foist this on the unsuspecting people who were simply interested in getting to know their city a little better. If you are offended by the idea of not being offended then you can turn the family filter off.
Reputation. Collapsing posts by people with a negative reputation is an admittedly crude approach to something that warrants a finer touch. So this is just a first step in trying to improve the overall quality of the Q&A that appears on the site. Overall our goal is to ensure that the best content rises to the top and to let the community decide what is most worthwhile with some editorial input from the moderators (such as featuring questions). We’ll be working on refining this as we learn more about what works best.
Improving Your Reputation
If you have a negative reputation or not a great one, you can improve it pretty easily by following the steps we outline on the reputation page. In short, what you want to do is give great answers to people’s questions. Don’t answer questions unless you have something helpful to say. Ask great questions that are relevant to the Seattle community and are likely to be featured. Don’t ask questions just for the sake of it. People are going to take their time to help you – don’t waste it.
The Dangers
Adding reputation filters does not come without potential problems such as malicious down-voting. We will now be monitoring voting to detect this kind of thing and ensure it doesn’t happen. If you suspect it, email us at feedback@questionland.com and we’ll take care of it.
As always, thanks for your contributions to Questionland and for helping the community.
Let us know how this experience is (answer this question) and we’ll continue to work to make sure that we refine our approach based on your feedback.
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