No whining, just expressing a legitimate concern shared by other YourHub users.

How many of you are frustrated by anonymous drive-by raters? You've seen them flash through YourHub, clicking one star, seemingly at random, without leaving a comment. Maybe they want to make a statement about the article, but fear being identified. They hit and run other writers, providing no reason for leaving a poor score. Now, I don't expect openly rude criticism. Who wants that? But if you have something to say, please be more considerate.

If I've written something that offends you, please give me a helpful clue about it. If you think my writing stinks, kindly tell me. If you're a writer and you find my style, grammar, construction, flow or mechanics poorly prepared, I expect you to have the class and skills to articulate your professional opinion publicly.

I have read several YourHub postings which are either incomprehensible, or full of misspellings and grammatical errors. Even then, it's not polite to leave a low score without an explanation for the benefit of the author. Personally, I ignore the problem. In fact, I might still give it five stars because the topic is heartwarming or thought-provoking. I've given lots of five stars for blogs and stories without leaving a comment. An anonymous low score, however, is like a random sniper who leaves the victim looking over her shoulder, asking, "Where'd that shot come from?"

Don't like what I wrote?Just click out and move on. We don't have to be friends.

Here are some of my stories and blogs, with links for you to view them. These have all been hit by anonymous drive by raters:

· Maybe you don't like my homely picture, or you don't like dachshunds: Massive task for a miniature dog.

· Do you dislike Christians? Mother-Daughter Banquet.

· Perhaps it's the subject of my story that bothers you: Kids at work.

· It could be you don't like my opinion. I've had low scores for political stories: Evangelicals for Mitt. At least I can give credit to most of them for including a comment.

This problem has made me do something I don't really want to do. I've rated my own stories. While I think it's an unspoken taboo or something among regular YourHub users, I gave them five stars because I felt I needed to offset the low averages created by hit and run readers.

My question to YourHub:
Is there a way you can set up the system so people can't rate a story without leaving a comment? I know we can't rate them without signing in, and only registered users can write or rate stories. If it's possible to fix this, then I ask you to do so. I hope I didn't get my panties all twisted because of this today for no reason. Do I hear some amens from others out there?

Now that I've revealed my concern and shared some links, watch my ratings suddenly drop.

Thanks for reading, and for commenting.

Gail