| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | What constitutes misuse of the Kudos feature? Thread poster: matt robinson
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matt robinson 
Spain
Local time: 05:31
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
I would like to ask my fellow translation professionals what they consider constitutes misuse regarding the Kudos feature. I ask this question because in my language pair there is, in my opinion, persistent misuse of the site by one asker in particular.
This asker states in their profile that they are not a professional translator and also claims to have very poor knowledge of both the source and target languages. This supposed lack of knowledge is not evident from the multiple bilingual ... See more I would like to ask my fellow translation professionals what they consider constitutes misuse regarding the Kudos feature. I ask this question because in my language pair there is, in my opinion, persistent misuse of the site by one asker in particular.
This asker states in their profile that they are not a professional translator and also claims to have very poor knowledge of both the source and target languages. This supposed lack of knowledge is not evident from the multiple bilingual texts posted on a daily basis. The questions asked are simple; much simpler than some of the text already "translated". The format of the questions is also very strange, although that in itself is not an issue.
Due to the fact that the text/context from which the questions are taken is of a religious nature, I suspect that this site, and specifically the Kudos feature, is being used to spread a particular religious viewpoint.
I am not objecting to the content here, but simply raising my concerns regarding the asker's motives. I would welcome any feedback regarding this question, if only to clarify in my own mind whether or not my concern is justified.
I might add that I have reported this asker to all the moderators in my language pair, but to date I have not received a reply. ▲ Collapse
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It’s very hard to know what you are talking about without seeing it. Perhaps you should ask in a Spanish forum?
I’m sure that if there is anything religious going on it will soon be dealt with.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 05:31
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
matt robinson wrote:
Due to the fact that the text/context from which the questions are taken is of a religious nature, I suspect that this site, and specifically the Kudos feature, is being used to spread a particular religious viewpoint. I am not objecting to the content here, but simply raising my concerns regarding the asker's motives.
If the asker's motive is to spread a religious viewpoint, then it is likely that from his perspective his motive is pure. (-:
Can anything be done about it? Not separately from the system, no. The system's self-policing features should take care of this. It is assumed that if a certain asker keeps asking questions that answerers find offensive or a hazard to their mental health, the answerers will eventually unsubscribe from receiving that asker's questions.
Unfortunately, this does mean that answerers are required to have sufficient intelligence to be able to tell whether an asker's questions are dangerous for them to read. But that's not something we can do anything about here: the business that runs ProZ.com is located in a area where freedom of speech is considered more important than safety from the ill effects of another person's speech.
| | | | matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 05:31
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
It's a bit delicate. I don't want to draw attention to the asker specifically, as I think that would be a breach of site rules. I am more interested in having a general debate about what would constitute misuse.
Obviously, members operating in my language pair will be able to go to the Kudos section and see the multiple questions posted, in addition to the comments made by other professional translators.
I first contacted the moderators regarding this issue about three weeks ago. It ... See more It's a bit delicate. I don't want to draw attention to the asker specifically, as I think that would be a breach of site rules. I am more interested in having a general debate about what would constitute misuse.
Obviously, members operating in my language pair will be able to go to the Kudos section and see the multiple questions posted, in addition to the comments made by other professional translators.
I first contacted the moderators regarding this issue about three weeks ago. It is the first time I have contacted the moderators, so I really don't know how long they take to respond, or indeed if they always do respond. I understand that they work on a voluntary basis, and anything I say about them should not be taken as a criticism. ▲ Collapse
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matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 05:31
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Yeah, my objection is not the content in itself, but my feeling that the site is being used to post and spread the content, rather than to ask a legitimate translation question about that content.
I understand that texts which are offensive, racist, homophobic or otherwise totally bonkers sometimes need to be translated, for a variety of reasons, but in the case of this asker I suspect motives other than those for which the Kudos feature was designed.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 04:31
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Report to site staff | Dec 28, 2020 |
Moderators can only look at the content of a question and determine whether it breaks the rules of KudoZ. In this case, it sounds as though each question is probably within the rules. Someone needs to look at everything this person is doing on the site and to determine if they're misusing the site. For that, you need site staff. They are employees of ProZ.com and should answer in a timely manner. I suggest you send them a Support Ticket. There are links in many pages or go to the Support Centre.... See more Moderators can only look at the content of a question and determine whether it breaks the rules of KudoZ. In this case, it sounds as though each question is probably within the rules. Someone needs to look at everything this person is doing on the site and to determine if they're misusing the site. For that, you need site staff. They are employees of ProZ.com and should answer in a timely manner. I suggest you send them a Support Ticket. There are links in many pages or go to the Support Centre. The request to submit a ticket is itself hiding in plain view -- in the middle of a photo. ▲ Collapse
| | | | matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 05:31
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | @Sheila WIlson | Dec 28, 2020 |
Thanks Sheila. I have now submitted a support ticket.
| | | | Jennifer White
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:31
French to English
+ ...
| Thank you Matt | Dec 28, 2020 |
I alerted the moderators to this a while ago and I believe others have also complained but nothing was done. This asker seems to post on an almost daily basis and I agree that the content is questionable. Hopefully something will now be done.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 05:31
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Sometimes hard to prove. | Dec 28, 2020 |
If the issue is delicate or subject to interpretation, it may be difficult to prove. If it's not very obvious with very clear palpable evidence, maybe the staff will drop it.
Based on what you said: In my opinion, to spread certain belief, they will have to use complex sentences and paragraphs. Are they posting full sentences as questions? I am not sure how they can do it using 1 word terms, then gluing them together to spread a belief. I mean that topic in itself usually involves ... See more If the issue is delicate or subject to interpretation, it may be difficult to prove. If it's not very obvious with very clear palpable evidence, maybe the staff will drop it.
Based on what you said: In my opinion, to spread certain belief, they will have to use complex sentences and paragraphs. Are they posting full sentences as questions? I am not sure how they can do it using 1 word terms, then gluing them together to spread a belief. I mean that topic in itself usually involves complex language, so I am not sure how they can do it with the help of KudoZ only.
Posting full sentences and paragraphs as questions is not in line with KudoZ rules (I think). ▲ Collapse
| | | | matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 05:31
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
The terms are single words, but the question is always put as a sentence. This is always accompanied by two paragraphs (4 to 5 lines each) provided as "context"; one in the Source language and one in the Target. This is also always followed by 4 or 5 possible translations of the sentence in which the term appears.
The language used in the two texts provided, which are way longer than would be required to provide adequate context, is invariably of a higher level that the term asked about i... See more The terms are single words, but the question is always put as a sentence. This is always accompanied by two paragraphs (4 to 5 lines each) provided as "context"; one in the Source language and one in the Target. This is also always followed by 4 or 5 possible translations of the sentence in which the term appears.
The language used in the two texts provided, which are way longer than would be required to provide adequate context, is invariably of a higher level that the term asked about in the question. Take my previous sentence, for example. A typical question would be to ask about the meaning of "provide" after apparently having been able to translate the rest of the paragraph. The questions are almost always ones that could be resolved using a dictionary.
I understand that any misuse is hard to prove, but I feel that the behaviour exhibited must be in breach of site rules, without even taking the content into consideration.
Here is an example:
Spanish term or phrase: ellos se supone que sirvan al Señor Dios
Hi. I don't understand how to translate se supone here. My English & Spanish are really bad. Thanks in advance for your help. I suppose that se supone here means something like they have to do this, God wants them to do this. They're not supposed to be like non Christians, behave as if they weren't his children. I never knew how to say se supone que in English. I always wondered.
el líder actual de los estados unidos < barack respetará a Dios . así que congresistas, representantes, hagan la enmienda lo antes posible . no saben a lo que se van a enfrentar . el Padre le hizo un cerco de protección a elíseo . cuando los sirios querían atacar al Pueblo del Señor, cuando el Señor le abrió los ojos a su siervo , vio un ejercito de angeles, de carruajes del Cielo, a la redonda del profeta . estarán también a la redonda de los hijos de Dios . ** porque ellos se supone que sirvan al Señor Dios y que sean sirvientes del Señor Dios . ** el presidente barack hizo errar a la nación . los hijos de Dios tienen que comenzar el rescate tan pronto comience el juicio . tendrán que hablarles a todos los que no lo sepan .
the present leader of the united states < barack ,will respect God . so congressmen, representatives, make the amendment as soon as possible . they don't know what they will face . the Father made a hedge of protection for elisha . when the syrians wanted to attack the People of the Lord , when the Lord opened the eyes of his servant , he saw an army of angels, chariots of Heaven, around the prophet . they will be also around the children of God . ** because they are supposed to serve the Lord God and to be servants of the Lord God . ** president barack made the nation err. the children of God have to start the rescue as soon as the judgement begins . they will have to speak to all those who do not know .
porque ellos se supone que sirvan al Señor Dios
because they are supposed to serve the Lord God
because they are supposed that serve the Lord God
because one supposes that they serve the Lord God
because they are meant to serve the Lord
Opinions would be welcome.
[Edited at 2020-12-28 13:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 05:31
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Sneaky suspicion... | Dec 28, 2020 |
Could this be ProZ.com staff running a surreptitious SEO experiment?
[Edited at 2020-12-28 16:34 GMT]
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The poster concerned does not only post in the SPAN-ENG pair. I have seen posts in FR-ENG and ENG-FR.
My first impression was that someone was running a whole text through the site to get a job in slices done by others. I then noticed that the content was always religious but didn't not think that the motives were to broadcast a particular message, although I only skip-read the texts and steered a wide berth.
I must confess I was surprised that nobody blew the whistle on what seemed ... See more The poster concerned does not only post in the SPAN-ENG pair. I have seen posts in FR-ENG and ENG-FR.
My first impression was that someone was running a whole text through the site to get a job in slices done by others. I then noticed that the content was always religious but didn't not think that the motives were to broadcast a particular message, although I only skip-read the texts and steered a wide berth.
I must confess I was surprised that nobody blew the whistle on what seemed like abuse of the site's functions. Traffic has been slow for a while. Perhaps people are prepared to be extra tolerant under the circumstances but it is truly odd. ▲ Collapse
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If I wanted to convert the world, I’m not sure ProZ is where I’d start...
Have you asked the asker about this?
| | | | | | matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 05:31
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | Just an example | Dec 28, 2020 |
Yeah, that was just a taste, and by no means the most extreme example. I know for a fact that some people have found some of the content highly offensive. We have had three or four questions posted in exactly the same format almost every day for months.
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