I just woke up this morning, and when I looked at my profile I had a little orange "top contributor" badge under my name. O_o
I don't even have 1000 points yet and I haven't even asked more than 50 questions; any ideas on how I might have gotten the badge?
Oh, and uh.....who was the oldest living man recorded in the Bible, and how long did he live? =)
2008-06-30T15:50:43Z
I was also kind of wondering too, how easy is it to lose the cute little orange TC badge?
2008-06-30T19:29:53Z
Awww....Tears wants some chocolate too Vot and Ella, but I think you're holding out on me...T__T
Don't I deserve it after getting my nice shiny new TC badge? @_@
Anonymous2008-06-30T16:02:57Z
Favorite Answer
Well, there's only one concrete criteria for recieving a TC badge that I know of, and that's having a BA percentage of 10% or more. Yours is at 21%, so that certainly fits.
The other ways that Y!A decides to hand out TC badges are a bit more vague. Generally, they give them to people that just contribute heavily, give fairly good answers, and don't get too many violations, or generally piss off the community. Most people don't get a badge until they reach at LEAST level 3, and they can have their badges stripped or returned on a whim. I just lost mine yesterday, as a matter of fact.
However, there are rare cases where people get a TC while only being level 2. I've only seen it once before, actually. One of my contacts, Jeff D, an atheist, lawyer, and incredibly scholarly guy who gave consistent, well reaserched, thought out answers. I remember when he first showed up, and I was impressed with his responses, so I added him, and he was a TC in just over two weeks as a new member, and he kept it for his entire tenure on this board(he decided to stop coming to Y!A). The only conclusion I can come to is that his answers were so good, and on topic, that the Y!A Gods decided to give him one, despite the lack of volume of his answers. Quality beat quantity. And, after browsing through your Q&A, I feel pretty confident in saying that you also fit into this criteria. You give outstanding answers, and show a level of civility that we don't encounter around here much.
Give yourself a pat on the back, sir. You are an asset to the Y!A community, and I'm glad to have you here. Congratulations on being one of the few people with a TC badge that actually means something. You earned it.
Oh, yes. And the answer is, of course, Methuselah - 969 years ;)
<edit> Oh, as far as losing the badge, that really all depends as well. You can lose it after just a couple of days of being off the board, or if you decide not to behave yourself and earn too many VNs, but sometimes they let you slide for quite a while if they like you. About two months ago, I was deployed(I'm in the Navy) for training for a month, and couldn't contribute, since Yahoo! is banned on Navy ships. But, I was on a pretty good streak before I left, giving some good answers(not to brag), and my badge was still intact when I got back 5 weeks later. Also, you don't necessarily have to have a lot of "Best Answers," only quality ones, so don't change what you're doing.
I wish there was an easy answer to your question. Many people have speculated on how you get them and how you lose them.
I went inactive once for two weeks just to see what would happen. I remained a top contributor. I still don't know what got me on the list. I have seen many people with percentages as high as mine who don't have the badge.
On the other hand, I was top contributor and went on line later that afternoon and my badge was gone. There was no notice of violation, etc. Just no badge. I had gotten two ba's that day and my percentage was where it was.
On thing for sure, YA hasn't told us how or the rules. They never seem to be helpful that way.
edit: You can lose your badge if you don't keep on contributing. Like for me, I lost both of my Society&Culture badges today because I haven't been contributing as much as I used to.
edit again: Vot! I know how you feel! I've been demoted on this account and my other account today :(. I'm eating chocolate right now :).
edit again again: Vot, it's dark chocolate! I feel really cheated! Mounds came out with a Dark Chocolate version...and you know what?! There's no freaking almond on top of the chocolate bar!