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replaced http://askubuntu.com/ with https://askubuntu.com/

edited Apr 13, 2017 at 12:25

Reputation policy needs to be revised

Please read the whole body before just clicking downvote button.I am sure there are more people who would just vote down without reading whole body.

What is reputation?

According to the help page, Reputation is a rough measurement of how much the community trusts you

The Issues

Now when reputation is a measure of trust, it should be given concisely.But the truth is not the same.Below is why I think so.

More repo means user has answered more easy questions.
Consider an example question,"how to install ubuntu?".Now this question is very simple to answer and anyone who has installed ubuntu(even if blindly selecting all defaults) can answer this question.So answering this question does not mean the answerer is an expert.But the contrast is that, this would be the very question which will be viewed most and consequently voted above 100 +ve votes.So both asker and answerer will have thousands of reputation.

On the contrary, consider a complex question which needs expert answerer.Such an question will be viewed only by very few expert people, and won't be upvoted more than 4 or 5 times.

As an result, now you have one user with 500 rep by answering just one noobish question, and another with 25 rep, by answering an expert question.Now who is more trustworthy? one with 25 rep or 500 rep?
Easier question, More views
For the very reason mentioned above, askubuntu encourages there user to answer more easier questions than those who take more time and expertise.So the harder questions go unnoticed(unless an bounty is assigned).This is also proved by the fact that "easier to solve" questions have more views than "harder to solve" questions.
Reputation increase without contribution
Once you are on the site for long enough and have answered enough questions, your reputation begins to climb mountains even if you watch by far away.What I mean is that your reputation will go on increasing even if you are inactive for years or even dead.