Bring back the stars, you cowards!

Look around this year on a lot of sites, and places that formerly used a star rating system now only have one button, “recommend.” When this happened on Associated Content, I pitched a bitch and asked why it was better to go with a thumbs up or down instead of an honest feedback rating.

It was pointed out that in fact, there is no thumbs down vote, so no negative opinions are allowed. You can either like something, or remain silent. But with this new way, stories supposedly couldn’t be buried by a writer’s alleged enemies.

You get that hidden message? “Say something nice, or don’t say anything at all.” Well gosh, I guess maybe it is good advice for…no, fuck that.

I’ve heard how this new way is more democratic, but in my not-so-humble opinion, that’s bullshit. What this change really means is that stories and articles can only be promoted, not demoted or rejected outright for poor writing and/or editing. Writers must have gotten tired of having every shit article rated honestly, and they didn’t like their peers reviewing their work and rejecting them. It’s so…so mean-spirited that it must be a conspiracy against the writer.