Not correct, for me at least. Since I did most of my reviewing before the appeals were massively increased to 4 per month, the vast majority of my agreements will match the final result after appeal.
When people on this forum mention skipping, it is almost always for submissions that they themselves feel uncomfortable with and do not want to approve, but are aware that the general community will see them as acceptable so don’t want to prevent the likely acceptance. If they were trying to game the system, they wouldn’t be skipping those but would be accepting them.
I’ll hold myself up as an example here.
I am from a dense suburban area, and outside my time on military bases I have always lived in very developed areas. I don’t tend to hike trails. I don’t know much about trail markers and it’s not a subject I am passionate enough about to learn what makes one certain one is legit in different areas of my country. I would rather skip a trail marker that I can’t be certain of on thirty seconds than spend the minutes looking into if that sticker on that pole or that plastic shape on that tree is actually a trail marker here. I have 100 skips, I don’t feel shame about using them.
It isn’t about agreement count to me. Look, I am happy to disagree with consensus if my disagreement is an honest one. I downvote memorial plaque noms that don’t tell me shit about the person memorialized all the time. I upvote restaurants that seem like great places to socialize. But trail markers, I politely recuse myself of.
I am also happy to Skip. It is there for a reason.
If I can not confirm the location quickly on a Trail Marker I will skip. I am aware that trail markers are eligible but if I can’t confirm it is in the correct location then I am going to Skip.
The same with indoor nominations, if the submitter hasn’t given proof that is there then I am happy to Skip.
I have hit the 100 skips within 24 hours limit on numerous occasions without issue.
There’s other reasons someone might do a lot of skipping though. In my case, I live about 40 km from a national border, and I don’t speak/read the language, so anything I get from the other side of the border, I skip, because I’m not capable of voting properly. (Unless it’s super obvious from ONLY the pictures.)
Ok, but apparently the static doesn’t reflect whether you match the final result after appeal, as it doesn’t update after the appeals process. Or do I have that wrong? I have seen conflicting info and would really love to see a definitive answer.
I suspect it doesn’t and it would be nice if it did. When Niantic have commented on threads with this question in it, they have neither confirmed nor denied, but I would expect them to say “yes it does” if it actually did, because the concept of agreements is public knowledge.
That’s such a valid reason for skipping a lot! The skip counter would be a critical tool in that circumstance.
Myself, I skip anything that has to do with amusement parks or splash parks as I never go to them and don’t really understand them. I skip about half the way spots in Spanish, as I’m not fluent (reviewing is defo improving my reading tho). I’ll also skip other stuff if I can’t validate it but suspect that someone with better skills could. I’ve never come close to that 100 mark, but I’m also still relatively new at this (well past 1k reviews, rating great).
When I make judgements in voting I do so on what is presented to me at that time.
Why should a wayfinder lose a credit towards an upgrade, because having had the feedback from the rejection they are able to present a stronger case perhaps linking to further evidence to the appeal reviewer.
It is also possible since there is no time limit on appeals for google Satelitte or streetview to have been updated and present a better view.
There is a case for better education and ability for reviewers to reflect. You are not provided with a way to go back and reflect on review decisions. Something that you can do with nominations. Perhaps it’s about building a supportive and educational ethos framework around reviewing.
You don’t have to necessarily wait for an appeal. If you feel strongly about a location, resubmit it.
There is a blind reward system in place for reviewers which is agreements and in order progress, others need to agree. It’s not like just one person is shooting down your submission. Multiple people are in agreement.
Now, can multiple people be wrong?! 100 percent. But it’s more likely that the nomination wasn’t the best, whether it be the photos, or the supporting information. Remember you are just nominating a location and just like in any nomination process you need to appeal to the voters.
It’s frustrating for me too and I too get nominations that I feel are slam dunks get shot down all the time. For the ones I feel the most strongly about I appeal. For others, I can retake photos and make a better case as to why something should be should be accepted. And for some, maybe they shouldn’t be accepted. No one is perfect.
I have been doing this for 13+ years. Just don’t take it personal. Half the fun is getting to explore and see some cool stuff and getting to learn more about the areas you visit. Submitting nominations is a game unto itself that only wayfarers understand, but it’s equally as fun as any of the games the data is used in.