A touch of the juvenile...
Nov. 11th, 2001 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpIn prior on-line translator-related communities I've been a member of, there has always been an aspect of that involvement devoted to answering other people's questions. It's a win-win situation: the asker gets an answer and the answerer gets a little ego boost in the community.
ProZ institutionalizes this with their system of awarding KudoZ for answering terminology questions, so it offers a sort of souped-up, formal way of distinguishing yourself in the community (and this one appears to be by far the largest of the three I've been involved with).
But I think - I'm not sure - that I've rubbed up against something that I have never encountered before, and it has to do with the fact that - just as in the game show The Weakest Link - only one answerer gets "the points."
On Friday, one fellow posted a number of queries having to do with computer-related acronyms (ASP, CATI, EDIFACT, SAS). I answered them one after the other, and was pleased to find I was the first to respond in each case. My ego proceeded to get minor strokes as about a dozen people chimed in with "agree" on my offerings.
So what happens? Well, if I discount two instances where a slightly different formulation was offered and accepted over my own, in two cases, someone who echoed my answer in later posts was "awarded" the points.
On the one hand, I have to admit I feel a bit slighted. On the other, I am seriously wondering why I feel that way... it isn't as if these responses really mean anything in real life. But I do wonder if I'm intruding into someone else's game? In any event, I've gotten it off my chest.
(Not only that, but I've just answered another question posed by the same asker. If I get blown off on this one, I'll know a bit better where I stand.)
Anyway, despite the bumps, I am finding the system of terminological help to be valuable as a "spectator," too, especially for the long-unused French-trained neurons that have remained dormant for too long inside my head.
...so much for my decision not to ramble on about ProZ. <grin>
Cheers...
ProZ institutionalizes this with their system of awarding KudoZ for answering terminology questions, so it offers a sort of souped-up, formal way of distinguishing yourself in the community (and this one appears to be by far the largest of the three I've been involved with).
But I think - I'm not sure - that I've rubbed up against something that I have never encountered before, and it has to do with the fact that - just as in the game show The Weakest Link - only one answerer gets "the points."
On Friday, one fellow posted a number of queries having to do with computer-related acronyms (ASP, CATI, EDIFACT, SAS). I answered them one after the other, and was pleased to find I was the first to respond in each case. My ego proceeded to get minor strokes as about a dozen people chimed in with "agree" on my offerings.
So what happens? Well, if I discount two instances where a slightly different formulation was offered and accepted over my own, in two cases, someone who echoed my answer in later posts was "awarded" the points.
On the one hand, I have to admit I feel a bit slighted. On the other, I am seriously wondering why I feel that way... it isn't as if these responses really mean anything in real life. But I do wonder if I'm intruding into someone else's game? In any event, I've gotten it off my chest.
(Not only that, but I've just answered another question posed by the same asker. If I get blown off on this one, I'll know a bit better where I stand.)
Anyway, despite the bumps, I am finding the system of terminological help to be valuable as a "spectator," too, especially for the long-unused French-trained neurons that have remained dormant for too long inside my head.
...so much for my decision not to ramble on about ProZ. <grin>
Cheers...
