[OSM-talk] user rankings (was: Re: featured image)

[Robin Paulson]

On 8 September 2011 10:03, Stephan Knauss <osm at stephans-server.de> wrote:
> I thought about "user rankings" some time ago as well. I have mixed
> feelings.
> On the one hand it might be a way to motivate users to contribute more and
> to reward users having contributed "more useful" things than others.
>
> On the other hand I fear it can easily drift into something worse. People
> editing specific for the ranking.
> Have you heard of the "cobra effect"?
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
>
> It could actually create worse data when people try to improve their ranking
> by "cheating" the statistics.

i've written quite a lot about this for university, and there's plenty
of evidence that offering a reward isn't much of an incentive.
stallman cited some psychological studies by Amabile and Lepper:
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/motivation.html

and there's more on these studies by eric raymond, in 'homesteading
the noosphere':
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/homesteading/ar01s19.html

-- 
robin

http://bumblepuppy.org/blog/?p=237 - government bill to remove basic
human rights in NZ