On 27/07/2011, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
The issue I've noted is that it is being used as a "warfare" tool on controversial articles. I've not seen it mentioned on a talk page yet; but one contentious article (on a subject with a large online following, entrenched *readers* on either side of the issue) has had the bars swinging between about 1.5 and 4 in the last week.
Not a huge issue, but I suspect that on certain articles the ratings are to be trusted less than usual :)
The average is not very trustworthy. But the bar graph of how many people have actually voted each score is a bit more interesting. If it's bimodal, with two peaks, then that often tells you something.
But the tool doesn't currently give you that, it probably should.
Tom