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For
better or worse, we're living in a world of "like", "+1"
and other various quippy symbols of our online
approval. As much as we "like" these different ways to
show our approval, we weren't completely satisfied with
their effect when commenting on local news and local
gossip through our Zipper smart phone app. They all
work well but they only show approval and when dealing
with information, especially of the local news variety,
there are times to sound off with a resounding "No" and
we wanted a fast way to this as well with just the click
of a button...or thumb as the case may be. Let's take a
look at the "Thumbs" and see how they work to shape the
local news and local gossip that's important to you.
So
what are the "thumbs" when using the Zipper app? Next
to every message, whether just looking at the teaser
screen, the full message, or replies, you will see a
thumbs up on the left side and a thumbs up on the right
side. They are separated so that you don't
inadvertently hit one while meaning the other. It's
very simple in context of what the Zipper is built for,
primarily a holding and ranking place for local news and
local gossip from everyone in your area. Basically, the
thumbs is your confirmation or denial of the information
given. If you have some relevant info on a particular
local news zip, you can chime in with your
confirmation. As more people comment via their thumbs
on the validity of the actual event, you'll get a higher
level of accuracy on the news and gossip zips that are
reported. This is why the Thumbs Down is equally
important.
Let's say that you only had the thumbs up approach. You
may have a given story where 300 people have viewed it
and 100 gave it a thumbs up. Sounds great...100 people
confirmed it. But what about the other 200 people? Did
they have no real opinion or further validation of the
original local news or local gossip zip OR did they know
it was incorrect but had no way to quickly cast this
vote. That's why we need both thumbs, up and down. If
you don't know either way and are just passively
receiving new local news info, no need to hit either.
If, however, you have information on the particular
piece of news confirming for refuting in nature, by all
means, chime in quickly with your respective Thumbs
button. So how does the vote of the thumbs affect the
given local new's relevance or ranking for your local
news attention?
There are three criteria which drive a particular zip's
position on you local news radar and the "Thumbs" is one
of them. A calculation looks at the "freshness" of the
zip or how old the info is. Every piece of local news
or gossip gets it's place in the sun if only briefly.
The "thumbs" help to keep it there depending on how
people vote. If the majority of those knowledgeable on
a particular news story vote Thumbs Up, then the story
will stay aloft. A quick way to vote down spam or ads
is to "Thumbs" down the message. If that's all it gets,
it will disappear almost instantly. This is a great way
for the owners of the Zipper (all of YOU!) to protect it
from spam and nonsense in a way that many other systems
can't. Spammers won't bother with the Zipper since they
disappear almost immediately. That's a win for the good
guys!
So
the Thumbs are an important way for you to monitor the
local news and local gossip content and validate those
messages that are real, helpful, and just good plain
local news. |
