Proposed CS Superstar System
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| Image:400px-Unbalanced scales.svg.png | Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
Contents |
Read Me First
A reward system has long been a controversial suggestion. This document is not a place to debate the need for such a system. The place for that debate is on this thread in the Brainstorm group. Since more CS members use groups, that is probably the best place to debate the system as well. But if you prefer, you can also leave comments on the talk page.
The guidelines below are open to critique. Since everything else is based on them, please critique them first before critiquing the detail.
Objectives
We need to create a culture of participation. This is a positive reenforcement system that recognizes that some people like to receive recognition for their participation. It suggests a 5-star community designation system, where members earn stars from the community through participation. Any such system must meet two simple requirements:
- It gives some kind of visible praise for the many different types of participation on CouchSurfing to members who wish to receive praise.
- It raises the visibility of participation in general, and makes easier to find out what good work members are doing.
Guidelines
Members start with no stars and can quickly earn their first star. However, each successive star is twice as hard to earn as the previous. This system conforms to the following guidelines:
- Completely optional: Members can choose not to display their rewards.
- 3 Types of Participation: Participation is defined as direct or indirect community building. It can be in the form of either donating, volunteering or hosting/surfing. Some members don't have the financial capability to donate, but can volunteer, while some don't have the time to volunteer but can donate. Surfing is as valued as hosting. The system must reward them all equally.
- High visibility: In order to make rewards desirable and well understood, they must be highly visible throughout the site. Whether viewing a member's profile, a couchsearch result, a message from a member, or anywhere else a member appears on the site, the rewards must be visible at a glance.
- Easy to understand and apply: Members must be able to easily understand how rewards are granted and how they can achieve them. Similarly those who are granting awards must be able to do so easily and to easily understand who should get.
- Distributed and self-maintaining: We recognize that a centralized reward system is not workable because we will always have too many participating members and to few "rewards managers". Therefore management of rewards must be distributed amongst participants.
- Rewards come from the community: Rewards cannot be self-applied because they wouldn't feel like an achievement. Similarly, rewards shouldn't seem to come from a central authority but from the entire community in order to communicate that we're all in this together as equals and that rewards aren't based on favoritism.
- Compatibility with existing designations: The system must not conflict with member designations such as ambassador, verification or donor status. However, it's most likely that having any of those designations will be rewarded by this system.
Where to Display Star Level
Stars must be highly visible, and visible throughout the site, not just on member profiles.
Profile Icon
Firstly, a community designation icon will indicating star level with a color coded star containing a number (1 through 5). The star will be clickable and lead to the participate main page. The participation page will then display the user name and photo of the clicked member along with an explanation of how the star system works.
Profile Image
The star level is also be indicated above the member's main photo. The reason for this location is that it is the most visible location on the page. The eye is immediately drawn to the photo. The other advantage of this location is that it works throughout the site. The star level will be indicated here by a thin color coded bar matching the width of the photo. The bar should also be clickable and lead to the participate page.
Other Locations
The star level is indicated anywhere that a member's photo appears including emails, group messages, and couchsearch results. The bar will scale to match the width of the photo so that on small thumbnails, the bar will be only a few pixels high.
But Not CouchSearch Results
Star level will be omitted from CouchSearch results because it could be confused with trust level.
Star Level Profile
The star level profile shows when, how and by whom a member received each star level increase (or decrease under rare circumstances).
Earning Stars Through Donation
Donation stars are awarded automatically and immediately by the system once a donation is made.
Rules
- Donations are private: The specific donation amount is not visible.
- All currencies are equal: Donations are converted to US currency so that donors from countries with a less valuable currency are treated the same as US donors.
- Awards are recorded: Star level increases are recorded in the database in a section of each member's profile referred to as the star level profile. The award includes the following information:
- star awarded by system
- the date when the star level was increased
- the reason for award will be listed as "Automatically awarded because of donations."
Concerns
- Why use US currency? US currency is used for calculation simply because CS pays for things in US dollars. It's not meant as an endorsement of US currency. It only matters for internal calculations because donation amounts are not displayed publicly.
- Some members are wealthy and some are not. We recognize but can't change that fact. Designing a system that takes into account income level would be too complex and require sensitive information from members. Lower income members have the same opportunity to earn awards through volunteering or through hosting/surfing.
Decreasing Star Level
Increases in star level due to donations are for life once a certain threshold has been reached.
- One time donation stars are for life.
- Recurring donation stars are for life after 12 months of donation. For example, if a member pledges a monthly donation amount that earns them an automatic star level 1, but then stops donating after 11 months, the star would be removed.
- Any member can voluntarily decrease their star-level.
- Decreases in star level are recorded with the following information
- decrease made by system
- the date when the star level was decreased
- the reason for the decrease written by the admin who took this rare action
Earning Stars Through Volunteering
Volunteering stars will be awarded through an honor system.
Rules
- Any Members Can Participate: Any member with at least one star can award an increase in star level to any other member.
- Higher Star Level = Higher Responsibility: A member can only increase another member's star level to one less than their own. For example, a member with four stars can increase another member's star level to at most level three. Five stars can only be achieved automatically through donation or admins.
- Star Activity is Recorded: Star level increases are recorded in the database in a section of each member's profile referred to as the star level profile. The award includes the following information:
- the member who awarded the star
- the date when the star level was increased
- the reason why the star level was increased
- Members award stars to other members by use of the Star Level Administration page.
Concerns
- Why not use an automated system? An automated system is not possible due to the complexity and subjectivity of volunteering. Human judgment is needed, and moreover stars awarded by humans due to merit will be more prized by the recipient.
- Why let any member award stars? Limiting star administration to admins or even ambassadors will make the system too inefficient. Some deserving members might have to wait for too long if a limited number of administrators had to handle all star level increases. It would also raise the suspicion of elitism or favoritism. Allowing any member to award stars makes this a truly community system and empowers all members with each other's trust.
- Who will award stars? A member's volunteering stars should be awarded by the person who best understands her or his contribution. It will be important to inform all volunteers of the importance of awarding stars to deserving members they work with. Some examples:
- Moderators or departmental leaders within the org structure would award stars to their volunteers in their own department
- Country ambassadors would award stars to city ambassadors under their supervision
- Anyone else who recognizes or appreciates the significant contributions of another member.
- How will abuse of the system be avoided? Abuse of the system will merit harsh penalties. However, almost all abuse of the system will be prevented by that fact that members' names will be attached to the stars they award. Unintentional abuse such as favoritism will be prevented by the fact that no one can award more than one less star than they have themselves earned. The higher the star level, the fewer members who will have achieved it, and the more trustworthy those members will be. If a two star member unfairly awarded a single star, no serious damage will be done. A five star member will be a very serious volunteer or donor and will be unlikely to abuse the system.
Decreasing Star Level
Increases in star level due to volunteering are effectively for life. There are several reasons:
- Decreasing star level adds too much complexity to the system and invite abuse.
- A member can only earn stars through long standing dedication to CouchSurfing, and that dedication should always be recognized, even if the member can no longer keep up that dedication.
- This is a positive reinforcement system, not a negative reinforcement system. A member who has stopped donating or volunteering will not be encouraged by penalties, but will be enticed to live up to the system itself.
Star level increases due to volunteering could be decreased only under two circumstances:
- Any member can voluntarily decrease their star-level.
- Under very rare circumstances, such as confirmed abuse of CouchSurfing, admins could decrease the star level.
Decreases in star level are recorded with the following information:
- decrease made by system
- the date when the star level was decreased
- the reason for the decrease written by the admin who took this rare action
Earning Stars Through Hosting/Surfing
Hosting/Surfing stars are awarded automatically and immediately when a member reaches certain thresholds of the combined number of successful hosts and surfs.
Rules
- Hosting and Surfing are equal: They both build community and involve trust and sharing. Both surfers and hosts need each other.
- Awards are recorded: Star level increases are recorded in the database in a section of each member's profile referred to as the star level profile. The award includes the following information:
- star awarded by system
- the date when the star level was increased
- the reason for award will be listed as "Automatically awarded because member has successful hosted and surfed for a combined total of X."
Concerns
Decreasing Star Level
Increases in star level due to hosting/surfing are effectively for life, except that:
- Any member can voluntarily decrease their star-level.
- Under very rare circumstances, such as confirmed abuse of CouchSurfing or confirmed extremely negative references, admins could decrease the star level.
- Decreases in star level are recorded with the following information
- decrease made by system
- the date when the star level was decreased
- the reason for the decrease written by the admin who took this rare action
Star Level Administration Page
Any member can access the star level administration page from a link on the main participate page (awarding stars is a type of participation). The administration page will take the user through following steps for awarding stars:
- Select member for award: Users will be instructed to find the recipient's profile on the site using friends links, messages, or couchsearch. They can then click on the member's star icon or the star-level bar above the main photo. This will lead the member back to the participation page, which will now display (remember) the recipients user name and image.
- Review current star level: Users must understand how the recipient has earned their current star level. This page will show the previous award descriptions entered by other members for each of the recipient's star level increases.
- Review new star level: Users can increase the recipient's star level by one, and only up to one star less than the users' own star level. This page will show the expectations for a member of this new star level (i.e. what this new star level indicates).
- Enter award description: Here users will write a description of why they have decided to award the new star. They will be encouraged to be as descriptive as possible. They will also be given a drop down menu summarizing their relationship with the recipient (e.g. "We work together in an org group", "Member works in an org group I moderate", etc.) Users will be asked to confirm submission of this permanent record.
- Final Confirmation: This page will also explain:
- The seriousness of star level increases
- The permanence of increases
- Penalties for abuse of the system.
- Users will be asked to confirm that they are sure they want to proceed.
What Star Levels Indicate
Star level one is relatively easy to earn, while star level five is extremely difficult to earn. Each star level could be achieved by any one of the bulleted reasons listed.
Star Level 1
- A recurring donation of at least US $5 per month (US $60 per year)
- A one time donation of at least US $120
- Volunteer for at least 10 hours per month (5 hours per week) as a CS promoter, translator, ambassador or org group member (with at least 2 month track record)
- 5 host/surfs (combined number of successful hostings and surfings)
Star Level 2
- A recurring donation of at least US $10 per month (US $120 per year)
- A one time donation of at least US $240
- Volunteer for at least 20 hours per month (10 hours per week) as an ambassador or org group member (with at least 3 month track record)
- Any City Ambassador would have volunteered enough to earn star level 2, however the award is not automatic
- 15 host/surfs (combined number of successful hostings and surfings)
Star Level 3
- A recurring donation of at least US $20 per month (US $240 per year)
- A one time donation of at least US $480
- Volunteer for at least 40 hours per month (20 hours per week) as an ambassador or org group member (with at least 6 month track record)
- Any Country Ambassador would have volunteered enough to earn star level 3, however the award is not automatic
- 25 host/surfs (combined number of successful hostings and surfings)
Star Level 4
- A recurring donation of at least US $35 per month (US $420 per year)
- A one time donation of at least US $840
- Volunteer for at least 80 hours per month (30 hours per week) as an ambassador or org group member (with at least 9 month track record)
- Any Global Ambassador would have volunteered enough to earn star level 4, however the award is not automatic
- 50 host/surfs (combined number of successful hostings and surfings)
Star Level 5
- A recurring donation of at least US $50 per month (US $600 per year)
- A one time donation of at least US $1,200
- Volunteer for at least 160 hours per month (40 hours per week) as an ambassador or org group member (with at least 12 month track record)
- 100 host/surfs (combined number of successful hostings and surfings)
