Capt Jeff S. 8132841 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I like the idea of having an influence score so that you can more easily discern who is making the most in terms of useful contributions to this site, whose intention from its inception was to be a place where people on AD could solicit advice, or gain perspective on a wide range of topics of interest, whether it be regarding promotions, duty station assignments, leadership questions, MOS/NEC related talk, or just fun sea stories about one&#39;s experiences while serving. <br /><br />I got on Rallypoint in its infancy and remember those who were on it day and night chasing their influence score and after awhile they got replaced by others who figured out how to game the influence score and artificially inflate their score. I think the highest I ever got was #25 for those not on active duty. But I wasn&#39;t willing to sacrifice my life sitting at the keyboard waiting for someone to post so I could be the first to jump on and say, &quot;Hey thanks for posting this.&quot; &lt; which is really meaningful and contributes a lot to the discussion -- especially when you haven&#39;t even read the link that was shared. Some post music videos, which seem to be a popular one for people seeking to inflate their scores. But who are they kidding? Your influence on Rallypoint isn&#39;t going to go on your resume. It may very well indicate that you have no life -- especially if you&#39;ve a gazillion Trailblazer awards. Music videos are okay if music is your thing. I like music and play bass guitar in a band, but I don&#39;t really see much relevance to how posting tons of music videos should somehow indicate relevance to how your opinions on military matters should be judged. <br /><br />So, being a dutiful Marine, I don&#39;t just want to complain, I&#39;m offering a solution that MIGHT if implemented improve the usefulness of Rallypoint for its original intended purpose, which it seems to have strayed from, and instead of being like Facebook (where people spew at each other and engage in personal attacks and frivolous debate), it could be more like a Linked-In in terms of professional discourse. So here is my solution. I don&#39;t care one way or other and won&#39;t be offended if people hate it... so here goes:<br /><br />1. No points awarded for topics not directly related to military. You can still make contributions of political opinions, religious messages, music videos, or any topic that is not directly military-related (as in warfighting) but you just won&#39;t see it reflected in influence. <br /><br />2. You can still have the Trailblazer Award, but take away influence score points or just reduce it to one point if you&#39;re trying to generate discussion on topics. Then lets see how many people jump on to say things like, &quot;Great post.&quot; just so they can be the first to respond. <br /><br />3. If an Admin deletes a post, a placeholder should be left showing that the post was deleted and reason why (briefly). 2023-02-13T19:40:22-05:00 Capt Jeff S. 8132841

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I like the idea of having an influence score so that you can more easily discern who is making the most in terms of useful contributions to this site, whose intention from its inception was to be a place where people on AD could solicit advice, or gain perspective on a wide range of topics of interest, whether it be regarding promotions, duty station assignments, leadership questions, MOS/NEC related talk, or just fun sea stories about one&#39;s experiences while serving. <br /><br />I got on Rallypoint in its infancy and remember those who were on it day and night chasing their influence score and after awhile they got replaced by others who figured out how to game the influence score and artificially inflate their score. I think the highest I ever got was #25 for those not on active duty. But I wasn&#39;t willing to sacrifice my life sitting at the keyboard waiting for someone to post so I could be the first to jump on and say, &quot;Hey thanks for posting this.&quot; &lt; which is really meaningful and contributes a lot to the discussion -- especially when you haven&#39;t even read the link that was shared. Some post music videos, which seem to be a popular one for people seeking to inflate their scores. But who are they kidding? Your influence on Rallypoint isn&#39;t going to go on your resume. It may very well indicate that you have no life -- especially if you&#39;ve a gazillion Trailblazer awards. Music videos are okay if music is your thing. I like music and play bass guitar in a band, but I don&#39;t really see much relevance to how posting tons of music videos should somehow indicate relevance to how your opinions on military matters should be judged. <br /><br />So, being a dutiful Marine, I don&#39;t just want to complain, I&#39;m offering a solution that MIGHT if implemented improve the usefulness of Rallypoint for its original intended purpose, which it seems to have strayed from, and instead of being like Facebook (where people spew at each other and engage in personal attacks and frivolous debate), it could be more like a Linked-In in terms of professional discourse. So here is my solution. I don&#39;t care one way or other and won&#39;t be offended if people hate it... so here goes:<br /><br />1. No points awarded for topics not directly related to military. You can still make contributions of political opinions, religious messages, music videos, or any topic that is not directly military-related (as in warfighting) but you just won&#39;t see it reflected in influence. <br /><br />2. You can still have the Trailblazer Award, but take away influence score points or just reduce it to one point if you&#39;re trying to generate discussion on topics. Then lets see how many people jump on to say things like, &quot;Great post.&quot; just so they can be the first to respond. <br /><br />3. If an Admin deletes a post, a placeholder should be left showing that the post was deleted and reason why (briefly).

2023-02-13T19:40:22-05:00 2023-02-13T19:40:22-05:00 Cpl Vic Burk 8132874

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div><a class="dark-link bold-link" role="profile-hover" data-qtip-container="body" data-id="196651" data-source-page-controller="question_response_contents" href="/profiles/196651-0202-marine-air-ground-task-force-magtf-intelligence-officer">Capt Jeff S.</a> You have good thoughts there, Captain. The problems is, if they did away with influence points for non-military threads Rally Point would most likely lose a lot of members. I believe you are correct in that many Veterans are using the tactics you indicated to increase their points. The amount the site can charge for advertising is directly proportional to the number of members. It&#39;s a double edge sword. Will what they charge be enough to keep the site going? Maybe, maybe not.<br />I like your #3. I have no idea of how many posts are deleted but that too would add extra work on the administrators that I&#39;m pretty sure they don&#39;t want or need!

2023-02-13T20:03:48-05:00 2023-02-13T20:03:48-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 8132905

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Get rid of points altogether. Military people reflexively turn everything into a d*ck measuring contest anyway. Points exist to stroke egos and give a dopamine hit. Get rid of them and see who really cares about engagement

2023-02-13T20:28:32-05:00 2023-02-13T20:28:32-05:00 2023-02-13T19:40:22-05:00