Hello MartyJames,

Even though I agree with you; there is nothing we (volunteer contributors) can do about it.

I can only suggest to submit feedback, using this link :

https://qsurvey.mozilla.com/s3/FirefoxInput/

Specifically, which "badges" at which websites are you referring to?

Perhaps by "badges" you are referring to "social media" images & links that open Social Media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, etc.

If so, "Ad Blocker" extensions for Firefox like uBlock Origin and Adblock Plus can be effective at hiding those "social media" images / "buttons" on web pages by the addition of "Social Media filtersets".

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ or https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

Thank you for the answers!

McCoy said

I can only suggest to submit feedback, using this link : https://qsurvey.mozilla.com/s3/FirefoxInput/

Thank you once again McCoy! You're a darling.

the-edmeister said

Specifically, which "badges" at which websites are you referring to?

I just went to my settings here and in the "My profile" section there's a "badges" heading. I've noticed this on the eBay forums and others.

I haven't seen any social media elements around here, but I do block ads. I absolutely hate advertising!

The "badges" section shown on this page - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/user/MartyJames - only appear in this forum software, when you view that page.

the-edmeister said

The "badges" section shown on this page - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/user/MartyJames - only appear in this forum software, when you view that page.

Oh OK then. That doesn't seem too bad. I saw 'badges' and feared it was going to be like other forums where silly badges are everywhere as well as constant notifications about them, as though the badges are somehow relevant to anything!

Thanks for your help, folks!

MartyJames, I'm pretty sure that you'll also agree with the topic of this thread on the contributor forums :

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/712385?last=75987&page=1

Indeed! Thanks for the link dear :-)

MartyJames said

Indeed! Thanks for the link dear :-)

My pleasure !

I bet you know who "Happy112" (who started that thread) is .....

McCoy said

I bet you know who "Happy112" (who started that thread) is .....

Oh, I see. Some lovely NL person, I suspect!

As for the actual issue raised in that thread, I have mixed feelings… (This is my humble perspective as a question-asker.)

I don't like systems which encourage showing off, arrogance, a mentality of "I'm the best", competition, leaderboards, and the associated stress of users worrying about their ranking. Systems involving badges and medals seem geared toward creating this kind of environment.

On the other hand, I don't have a problem with mere statistics being given, like number of answers/solutions. That is very helpful information.

Technically, the "Top 25 Contributor" status is just a statistic, and it's useful to know if the person you're speaking to is a prolific contributor, because you can generally trust his/her answer to be backed by some degree of expertise and experience. I think it's only right that such people have a status/flag to designate that they are committed to regular contribution on the forum.

Having said that, I do have three problems with "Top 25 Contributor" statuses:

1. Presentation style If it looks like some kind of 'badge of honor' for showing off then that is a problem. The current ALL CAPS styling seems a bit showy.

2. Ambiguous meaning When I see the words "Top 25 Contributor" I automatically assume this is based on some kind of rating of quality. But I now know that it's just based on the number of contributions, which isn't what "top" means to me.

3. Too many categories My third and final problem is that you have two different categories: "Top 25" and a "Top 10". (Perhaps others?) These categories carry a false sense of rank, with the implication that one is "better" than the other, when in fact any prolific contributor is equally worthy.

Taking all the above into account, if it were up to me, I would ditch "Top 25" and "Top 10 Contributor" and create a single status for all prolific/regular contributors. I would use lower-case and make it a friendly colour such as green.

Numbers .......

All about quantity and not about quality - but I've said it all in that
thread and I'm done trying to talk some sense into people (heavy sigh).

Besides : this forum is not the right place for this kind of discussion(s). This is a support forum for people who have Firefox related problems.

Sorry, didn't mean to go off-topic. I hadn't realised the thread you linked to was a different forum with a different core purpose.

MartyJames said

Sorry, didn't mean to go off-topic. I hadn't realised the thread you linked to was a different forum with a different core purpose.

Don't worry about it - besides you and I there is only "the-edmeister" in this thread, and I'm sure that he won't mind.

I absolutely hate badges. They serve no point whatsoever other than appealing to arrogance and displays of pride, and they are extremely childish. I am NOT a child, I am an adult. What is with this phenomenon of 'baby adults' who want to bring 'play toys' into a serious discussion forum? Here Is your question answer [spam link]