The guys at AR have designed the posts we publish to be rated by the bloggers on AR.  I really like this feature for a number of reasons, both as a reader and a writer.  And when used in conjunction with the other cool features on AR, it can be useful in making the posts we read and write more relevant.  But if we don't use it correctly or don't use it at all, I think we will be missing out on an opportunity to strengthen the site.  Here is how I use it to analyze other posts and analyze the posts I have written.

First, the ability to rate a post gives me the opportunity to provide feedback to a post without having to actually write comments.  In fact, a lot of times a post is written that doesn't necessarily generate an open discussion or forum for others written opinions.  It is just a well written post with anecdotes or experiences that can help us do our jobs better.  Or is just makes us laugh.  There might be 20 out of 30 comments that say "Great Post" or "That Happened to Me".  When I see one of these posts I just give it a 4 or a 5 and move on.  No need for a another thoughtless comment.  This rating will definitely have an effect on the post and will give the writer a higher score for the post but if you are just looking for 25 points, go ahead and comment but also give it a score. 

When I score a post, I never score a post I haven't read.  I'm not sure how you can unless you are just trying to keep your favorite blogger on the dashboard without regard to the quality of the post.  I score the ones I do read on two categories: Content, Mechanics.

Content is usually the reason I stopped and read a post in the first place.  We all like humorous stories and funny pictures, but we also like real life stories and battle stories.  I definitely read these posts.  But I also rate posts very high if they are thought provoking, witty and/or imaginitive.  I also like posts that provide insights into resources and new and better ways of doing things.  One thing I do not do, is give a post a low score just because I don't like the point of view of the writer.  If it well written and thought provoking I will probably give it a 5 but I will make sure I also leave a comment.  Also, I don't rate posts that just spit out data without any opinion or analyses included.  I have run across a lot of post that read like a law journal.  Very boring.

Mechanics are the one area for me that will make a potential 5 drop down to a 3.  Spell check is available.  There are also the things called Dictionaries.  If you can't take the time to use one, you deserve a lower score.  Bad grammar is another pet peeve that will drop you down on my scale.  I usually only need to see verbs used in their correct tense and I'm happy.  Also, split a post up into paragraphs.  One huge paragraph is torture on the eyes and usually doesn't even get read no matter how good it might be.

Just to give you an idea of how the ratings affect the scoring of posts I want to show you the scores of two posts that I have had featured in the last week and you can see for yourself how it works. 

"Top 50 Teams Don't Blog"  Featured Jan 4th.

34 Comments    596 views  241 clicks   522 points

"Who Cares if You are a Realtor?  Nobody it seems!"

87 Comments  1025 views  687 clicks   513 points