Does having a Top Contributor badge mean it was honestly "earned" with great answers..?

Heh! :)

Well... a TC Badge is awarded for participation

and CONTRIBUTION... meaning that the TC spends

a great deal of TIME in that category.

Hopefully, that means that they do that because they know

something about the topics in that section and feel they

can be helpful to the questioners there

Realistically, (alleged 'criteria' aside) it means

QUANTITY, not quality.

Many of the TC's are knowledgeable

and "here to help". YOU are, for instance.

(Once upon a time I had a couple of them )

I have some experience in this area. ;D

My experience is that when the numbers added up -

the Badge magically appeared.

When the numbers DROP , the Badge magically goes away.

So.... what do you think? ;)

It doesn't appear to be QUALITY that awards the badge,

does it ?

And then - we have the "TC" whose only "contribution" consists of

following someone else around; giving less-than-stellar replies and

being foolish and irritating to the others who observe this ... 'contribution'.

THAT ONE is definitely QUANTITY; not quality.

Here, answering this question, are a group of people

(many with TC Badges) who's partcipation I'm familiar with

and they fit the criteria of knowledgeable and "here to help"

with or without a TC Badge. That's the "point", isn't it ?

Yes it is. };>

i am giving lot of questions and answers but i never got TC badge. i am now a sanyasi regaring TC badge. chi..chi..indha pazham pulikkum. Anyway, i will try to get a TC badge in any category except Religious category. The religious category contains more politics than religious and hence it is better to choose a politics category, hhaaa.hhhaa a real politics. Anyway whether quality is there or not quantity is there. The yahoo should see whether the TC members are really worth awarding. Because a member earning merely 10 or 15 best answers, a badge is given...bad badge.

Then, what is top contributor ? yahoo answers. This is the answer.

'' A Top Contributor is a member of the Answers community who has shown that they are knowledgeable in a particular category. Each Answers user can be a top contributor in up to three categories.

The top contributor badge is dynamic —you earn it or lose it depending on your recent participation in a particular category. The more actively you contribute, the more likely you will earn a badge. Just like featured users or category leaders, it's another way to feature community members who might otherwise be overlooked. ''

Ref: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/answers/network/c...

so, the yahoo did not bother whether the answer is good or bad, meaningful or meaningless but '' The top contributor badge is dynamic —you earn it or lose it depending on your recent participation in a particular category. The more actively you contribute, the more likely you will earn a badge''.

so, lakhs and lakhs of members getting it while contributing and loosing it while not contributing it. Thats all. Matter over. why we have to see others ? Those who actively participate in a particular category will get it. if not participating, then loose it. About myself, i did not contribute to a particular category, so i did not get it. If anyone want the TC badge may contribute more and get it. what is the use of pointing others when rule is there.

@Asker, there will be no question whether they earned honestly or not honestly with great answers. The yahoo did not see whether it is a great answer or ordinary answer, a long answer or a short answer, meaningful answer or meaningless answer, but the badge will be awarded only on temporary basis based on the contribution to a particular category. All are expecting good and insightful answers from all including Top contributors. Here as i said above quantity takes place than quality. For example, an answer is given by a particular member to a question. No other answer received and the single answer alone stands for resolving. The single answer gets BA award from the asker or voting. suppose the said member gets such single BA more than 15 questions, that single member is going to get TC badge. This is the proceedure adopted by the yahoo.

@Asker, i find a good answer from the member Geyamala. the member gives super example. i like the answer and i recorded here for my use if any any questions come like this in future. i am standing in the Q. my legs paining. so, i will surely get the FIRST '' best all rounder badge '' if yahoo consider.

Tc badge means top contributor now what is dis-honest about it ...it is earned honestly or dishonestly it depends on yahoo to decide , and till now yahoo have never declared that some Tc badge are earned by making multiple ids ,by questioning and answering own questions and then giving best answer to self .

Tc badges are important for only those who are taking this forum as a place to show their supremacy other wise most of the users are not worried about TC badge because it comes and go .

Many users are here for long still they do not have this permanent badge but that doesnt mean they are fool ....they come here to learn with fun and are happy .

Actually, it's lasted a full 2 days. WOWer. That's truly whaktastic. <--Ask Billet. Anyway, whoever stole your badge stole mine. And I am not happy. I mean, I'm such a great contributor to this website, especially the B&A section! But am I a TOP contributor? Apparently Y!A doesn't think so. Well, Y!A, you can eat dirt. Or spleen. Which apparently is tasty. @ck1: CK1 YOU'RE BACK YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH WE'VE MISSED YOU I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW and now I'm going to stop typing in caps, if you don't mind, because it looks really annoying, I've decided. I'm so glad you're back :D --Also, I'm so glad you read and liked HMC! I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like HMC, though. It's such a great book. It's adorable.

Rulings, as those of man, are never absolute. There are always "exceptions". I believe the 'TC Badge' (just as Ja'aj braved) is more of "quantity for quantity". Not all who got them were "honestly earned" (Ja'aj has every detail *lol*). I "once" had it "unexpectedly" when I got into Level 2 (with a good 'number' of BA's). Surprised that I could just have it that short time. But I just took it very lightly....ALTHOUGH I noticed that some people began to seem envious and agitated about it (they started questioning me like I was one of Y/A "generous staff"?*lol*) More and more 'strange users' ridiculed and commented harshly after that. Till one day I woke up and I was 'CLEARED' of that TC badge --- along with the 'nightmare' that came with it. (*sigh of relief*)

Despite all the bogus, I still see some well deserved TC holders who, I believe, "never cheated" to the top --- "you", as a good example, and some of my friends out there (*waves with a smile*). My message to the best TC's: JUST BEAT IT!

I think I got my top contributor badge mostly just for contributing a lot of answers, but I confine myself pretty much to just a few categories, in which I really do possess some expertise. That's one of the reasons that I get many "best answers" for my responses. So, I'd like to think that in my case, quality has at least been a reasonably significant factor.

It seems to vary from category to category. In philosophy when I see a Top Contributor answer, I usually stop to read it. In some of the other categories, it is terrible, and I ignore the tag completely.

Does quantity equal quality: Well, do you shop at Wal-Mart for quality?

I expect good and insightful answers from anyone who has a reasonable screen name. I may be overly optimistic, but I like being that way.

Intention by Yahoo in awarding TC badge is honest in honouring a knowledgeable contributor. But nowadays smart people can earn by fooling Yahoo!

Yahoo is unable to test the quality of answers in deciding to award the badge, but go by the number of BAs. It does not mean the BA is really BA. So the honest intention of Yahoo is probably now defeated!

I think it is high time, yahoo can withdraw this awards.

Edit:

When I have given my own assessment in ranking the R&S contributors according to my understanding and in my personal view, many people have abused me. You can find those abuses here!

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ao...

To earn TC badge depends on quantity rather than quality.

Dear Breezey,

I feel that being a top contributor means that the person gets a lot of best answers. Hopefully the help provided is meaningful to the person asking the question. My Girlfriend is a top contributor. She is very good at reading people and a contact of yours.

Anthony