Guide Roles on Dooyoo

This is a quick question, but will probably require a bit of thought and a few in-depth answers. Actually, it's two questions...

1. What do you think the Guides currently do for Dooyoo/members?

2. What do you think the guides should do for Dooyoo/members?

Some people, for example, expect guides to be holier than thou on the site. Are they expecting too much or should guides be that kind of role model?

They should be union shop stewards not tyrants.

Perhaps some examples of what you mean would be good?

Well, in order to get this ball rolling, I think the guides should be more member-focussed. I have seen a few guides who think they're an arm of Dooyoo, whereas they should be helping and encouraging members. It's worth nothing that I think the guides are criminally under-used though.

As a guide I do think I'm underused.

At the moment I rather view my role as an unpaid reported of abuse or problems for the site, a function that is important but, I think, ultimately a function of the greater community too. I do make crown nomination as I did before I was a guide. Only difference now is that I have a little box with the ability to comment on the review in question.

I have once made a "negative" nomination for a crown - a review that was well written and had received lots of "nommed" comments was, in fact, technically inaccurate. I alerted the team to that (it was a financial/legal issue that I felt qualified to comment on).

I used to get asked for advice by new members, now the only PMs I seem to get are those wishing to complain about the fact that I've downrated. I could think of a couple of members who have actually used the guide function well, in my opinion, and gone on to a better understanding of the site as a result.

The more members feed back to guides the more the guides can be member-focussed. At present, the practicality is that we are probably more dooyoo focussed simply because the membership don't use the guide function.

Unsolicited advice and encouragement is too often met with abuse or a feeling that we are being prescriptive. I'm very aware of this when commenting and try to make it patently clear that it's only my advice/thoughts and not mandatory. Often though, folks seem to think it's the guides' way or no way. That's nonsense and, with a few exceptions, probably almost universally agreed with by the guides!

I think some guides expect their role on dooyoo to be a continuation of their role at work or at home, or in some cases a place to find authoritty because they have lost it at work through a career break or families. I just dont understand why the same guides crop up with many members we speak to when it comes to abuse. Its not as if dooyoo dont know who they are.

darkspidey wrote:

I think some guides expect their role on dooyoo to be a continuation of their role at work or at home, or in some cases a place to find authoritty because they have lost it at work through a career break or families.

I can confirm that that is NOT the case where I am concerned. I started guiding whilst I was still working and it's certainly no substitute (besides, if I want power I've got a MUCH better way of getting that than dooyoo).

I don't think the guide role is about authority at all. Guides have no "power" as such. They make recommendations to dooyoo and to members and, ideally should act as a bit of a conduit. That conduit function is (or should be) in my opinion a simple passing through although I will acknowledge that there have been a few things that I haven't passed through as, following debate with the member it's been agreed that the suggestion or question is perhaps not as first perceived. We're not just unpiad message takers. Guiding is just that - guiding a member to get the most from the site whilst acknowledging the business that dooyoo is in (ie it's not all about milking for the money but about being useful to a consumer).

but certain guides do dominate the chat boards, suggesting a power trip on some level. It is a bit obvious. You seem to be ok, although you write as if you are a lawyer or something, very formal and authorative. I can imagine you staring down at me through your half moon specs.lol

darkspidey wrote:

although you write as if you are a lawyer or something, very formal and authorative. I can imagine you staring down at me through your half moon specs.lol

LOL! Now there's a thought - me a lawyer.... hang on a mo....

I rest my case your honour! I only have 54 minutes left on here so its been fun.lol

darkspidey wrote:

but certain guides do dominate the chat boards, suggesting a power trip on some level.

You already have posted more than any other members including guides, Phil. Does this mean you are on a power trip? You're certainly trying to dominate this board.

Im defintely on a power trip.lol.My names 'Wodewick', by the way!

Quote :

I used to get asked for advice by new members

I think that part of the problem is that many new members aren't sure what guides are. I know I spent ages thinking that guides were part of the dooyoo staff and I had a PM from a newbie (shockingly some newbies have messaged me for advice in the past, no idea why) who asked me what a guide was. I'm not sure if this is due to not reading around the site properly or because of the way that information is presented but I'm sure guides would be asked for more help if people actually knew what guides do.
I think the other part of the problem is that when members join just for the money they don't care about how good their reviews are and so are unlikely to ask for help.

I think that guides should be there to help the community. helping people to find their way around dooyoo, encouraging honest rating, reporting abusive comments, perhaps helping people to improve their reviews (although I'm unsure on this one). I do think guides should be leading by example, but not that they have to act like saints.

Its like those bloody chuggers on the high street. They give you the speil and how you should give give give and yet the are being paid £8 an hour! Guides should be invisible and not so condesending!

I wish dooyoo paid me anything close to £8 and hour.. in fact, I wish they paid me....

go back to work and get £50 an hour See ya. The faschist win again..

only £50 an hour... dream on!!

Kind of agree with what others have said (except philip, obviously), so won't just list the same things.

It's not possible for guides to read everything in the busier categories, so maybe more guides in those categories are a good idea. Guides' ratings should be honest and they should have the guts to rate lower than the majority if that's what they think the review deserves.

They should also be available to help members out by answering queries etc. I suspect a lot of people don't really need to use guides for this. I don't remember having to ask a guide for advice before I was one myself. I got quite a few queries when I was guiding recently, mostly about suggestions.

Not sure if guides should be advertised more prominently on dooyoo. They're mentioned in the help page and get a community page to themselves. Anything more extravagant could give the impression guides are more important than they are. They're volunteers who give up their time to help the members and administrators of a site they're fond of. They're not employees, and shouldn't get privileges.

Nor should guides be penalised. The tinfoil-hat brigade and the ranters - people who have never volunteered to help anyone - always moan about guides, and some of the suspicion and bad-feeling rubs off on other members. Some have suggested this should mean guides have to be handicapped in some way. I think there used to be a rule that made it three times more difficult for guides to win crowns - I certainly wouldn't be a guide under circumstances like that. The disadvantages of guiding outweigh the advantages as it is.

Most members probably just see guides in terms of their crown-nominating role. I know some guides don't like this, but I don't think it can be avoided. It's a shame if dooyoo is over-reliant on guides for crown nominations. But that isn't the fault of the guides, it's the fault of the members who started using the nominate link as an extra VU button, and of dooyoo for choosing not to do anything about that. I have no idea if the crown nominations I make now even go anywhere.

That's ridiculous about it being more difficult to get a crown if you're a guide. First of all it isn't fair to target people who are volunteering to make your site better and surely the point of a crown is that consumers can find the better reviews.

I like to think that my crown nominations count and recently I've found that reviews that I've nominated have been crowned (there was a point when nothing I nominated ever seemed to get crowned) but this could coincidental, maybe there are guides nominating those reviews too.

Well I do know it is perfectly possible for Guides not to read a review and it still get crowned (has happened to me plenty of times) although I think dooyoo do perhaps look at Guides nominations favourably but then in the vast majority of cases I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

I've only ever contacted Guides on a couple of occasions, but have found them on the whole to be friendly and responsive when I have. I look on Guides a bit like Tesco 24 hour opening. It's useful to know they are available if you need them, but I rarely feel the need to use them (incidentally, for any of you Guides reading, that's meany in a complimentary way, althought it might not quite come across as intended when written!)

I have considered applying to be a Guide myself a couple of times, but to be honest, the two films I could probably contribute most to (films and books) are two of the bigger categories. In the end, I've always come to the conclusion that I just don't have the time to do the role properly which wouldn't be fair on Dooyoo or its members.

I tend to have contact with members when I suggest that a review be moved - one really nice exchange I had was about safety pins - a girl had published a very funny essay on the benefits of safety pins, but had done so as a health product review for Boots (or whatever) safety pins - she was lovely when i suggested it were moved.

Yes, like Matty, I have had similar experiences with members, most contact has been regarding reviews which require to be moved. No real grief from members other than the generic criticisms on some About Me profiles.