What do thread/article ratings mean

[shamino]

I've noticed that every thread can be rated (1-5 stars) and MacRumors topics can also have ratings (positive/negative).

What are these supposed to reflect? Does a positive rating mean people believe the thread to be interesting and/or worth reading, or does it simply mean people agree with the opinions expressed?

This applies especially to the MacRumors topics. It seems that people rate the topic based on whether they like the news item, not on the quality/relevance of the article. Personally, I'd think a well-written, useful article should get a positive rating even if I hate the news being reported.

I realize that there is (obviously) no way to enforce or even monitor any such rule, but I am curious what these ratings are intended to express, and how readers are actually using them.

If I see an article/thread with a negative/low rating, does this mean people believe the article/thread is pointless, or does simply it mean people disagree with it? The former would be useful in deciding what to read. The latter would not help much at all (do you really want to restrict yourself to only reading about what other people want to hear?)

 

[eva01]

Thread rating is built directly into vBulletin and I have yet to find a reason for the rating system on any of the vB forums i have been apart of (including mine) I very rarely see it used, but it was easy to put into the source of vB so they did. Someone must have a use for the thread ratings somewhere. In my own opinion i believe that the thread ratings can be shown for how much the person liked the thread. Sort of like how the critics rate movies 1-5 stars as well. (there we go a movie forum could have use for the thread ratings)

For the article ratings i will let someone else answer that part.

 

[solvs]

I don't think they mean anything. Just a vb remnant I suppose. I usually just ignore them.

Edit: ah, beaten to the punch by eva01.

 

[Doctor Q]

For news threads, the ratings are whatever people think they are. Some people rate them based on credibility/believability, some on excitement level, and some on a good news/bad news scale.

In the other forums, some are based on the level of interest and fun.