Asking for an explanation
Posted by marif on April 04, 2013
I posted a review on the 29th March but after 6 days, it is still pending. What makes me wonder is the fact that reviews/stories posted after this date ( 1st April, 3rd April) by other members have already been reviewed and points awarded accordingly. Can somebody from the staff kindly explain why this is happening?
The review in question is "A legacy of stone and art" (La Ribera attraction - added to my Barcelona journal).
I've been an IgoUgo member since 2004 and it is only lately that such things are happening. Is this being experienced by other members as well? Is IgoUgo short on staff? Can IgoUgo reviewers kindly keep the queue as per the date of submission?
Thanks for your effort to keep our site going.
Reply by fizzytom on April 04, 2013
I've been waiting longer than usual for approvals too. Any word on when this might get done?
Reply by juliejaynakStaff on April 05, 2013
Hello all,
March was just a busy month for us- and as I am the only one doing the review/approval process, it took me a bit longer because we were having several technical difficulties. I am currently backed up to March 24th- hence anything after that is still showing as pending.
Largely, what make this process take longer, is if I have to go and create the business listing from scratch because we don't already have it in our database (or, our search engine has been so picky/slow it's been hard to pull up the exact listing you may be reviewing). This is currently in the process of being improved upon. The reason that creating business listings is also important, is because if your review isn't attached to a listing, it makes it hard for non-members to find/read- which is definitely not what we want! We want all of your wonderful, insightful content to be visible to the world!
So, again, apologies it's taking longer than Terre used to do- we've just experienced some technical hangups. Additionally, the more contact information you give on the establishment being reviewed, the better/faster it is for ME. Even if all you can include is a website, it makes it immensely helpful for me to be able to go find the information easily and quickly.
Thank you both- and everyone else for continuing to contribute to IgoUgo! I love reading them all- as long as it may take me. ;-)
~Julie
Reply by koshkha on April 08, 2013
Thanks for that information. I've been adding some weird obscure stuff that doesn't have websites so I'll sit back and expect a bit of a wait. Good luck pulling it all together.
Reply by koshkha on April 11, 2013
I just heard a rumour that the trip bonus has been slashed from 1500 points to just 250 points. I really hope that's not true but if it is, can changes of this type PLEASE be announced somehow to the members?
These things make a big impact on how attractive Igougo is to use as the first place of posting for our reviews.
Reply by juliejaynakStaff on April 11, 2013
Hello all,
Yes, we changed the points received for "Best Of" journal from 1500 to 250. Unfortunately, there are many members who are abusing our system. The intent is not to punish those who contribute stories & reviews to IgoUgo, hence we kept those point values the same. The intent is to greatly decrease the amount of people receiving points simply for what we refer to as “review stuffing†or re-using reviews in multiple journals. The amount of points our most active members will receive for writing great content will likely increase going forward, and we feel strongly about this.
We just made this change last Friday, and we'll be sending out formal communication next week.
Thanks for your continued loyalty & writing on IgoUgo.
Reply by dkm1981 on April 11, 2013
It's such a shame for people who don't abuse the system though! I can't really see how the amount of points will go up, if we are receiving less now though!! I really like Igougo the way it is and enjoy contributing . . . . Please don't change it too much!
Reply by phileasfogg on April 12, 2013
"The amount of points our most active members will receive for writing great content will likely increase going forward, and we feel strongly about this."
So does this mean that I could be writing good content, but just because I am not terribly active (maybe one journal every two months or so?), I am not really on the IgoUgo 'favoured' list? Really?
Reply by koshkha on April 12, 2013
I completed two 'trips' before you made the change but they've not been approved yet. I don't like to be churlish but I'd like to see the old points on those as it's not the fault of the members that the approvals are so far behind.
I would have thought the way to prevent stuffing was to change the rules so that 4 or even 5 of the reviews need to be unique to that journal instead of the current 3. If people are abusing the rules, then change the rules not the rewards.
The last change that annoyed many of us was the one that we couldn't write about something more than once. I hoped that might have shown that most members think you should announce the change before you make it - not change and eventually announce.
Reply by marif on April 12, 2013
Dear colleagues, Dear Julie,
I have already written to igougo.rewards@igougo.com about this issue but after 2 days, I am still without reply.
I am afraid that Julie's words (nothing personal since I know for sure that Julie is a highly esteemed person and a great member of the IgoUgo staff) are this time far from convincing because instead of reducing "Best of" points from 1500 to 250, IgoUgo could have penalized those who abuse or reuse reviews in multiple journals. Such members/abusers should not be rewarded any marks but on the other hand, great writers like koshkha, dkm1981 and phileasfogg ought to get what they rightly deserve. Let me assure IgoUgo that paying with peanuts gets monkeys not great writers.
It seems that our most beloved site to which we as authentic members have throughout the years contributed with our writings/photos is gradually going the way of the dodo. Instead of encouragement, members are being pulled away from the site. What happens after all if members fail to contribute?
One last point. As phileasfogg has said, Julie's words refer to 'the most active members' who will in the future receive extra points for great writings. Does this mean that a member who only writes one great journal will not receive these extra points? Can IgoUgo kindly clarify?
With thanks & regards to all.
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