Is poetry being over rated?

I'm not sure about you but somtimes when i rate a poem i feel like i am giving it more then it should be and that others do to. Most poems i read are good and i enjoy them but few are truly exelent yet many get marked 5/5. Maybe it is just me but i feel that people could be a bit more critical, people with a rating of 3 seems low but it is really average and i admit on this site many poems are better then average which is why people post them on this site, or for personal reasons. But do you think that you may be giving a poem a higher rating then what you really think it deserves?

So many factors lol It depends on the person reading, what might seem mediorce to one will be brilliant to another. If I find a piece I might give a low rating, I will bypass rating and just leave a comment. Most people just 5/5 in hopes of getting one back.

I think some do get over rated but than again i dont see really how the rating system helps. but i too believe it depends on the person reading since everyone thinks differently some might appreciate something in a poem that u may have not so again it depends on the reader...

I would rather have a good, well thought out comment than a rating anyway.

Maybe. Because You may see a poem that you think is amazong, rate it 5/5, and then a poem you think is even greater than that comes along.

But you really dont know how that poem made the person who read it feel because for all you know it could have changed their life or it could have pushed them over the edge you really don't know but i do admit people can use a little more creative criticism.

I think that you have the wrong reasons to be here if you are so concerned about the rating. I write poetry to feel better...to release the tension from the trials of life...not for you to come by and rate my heart. I care not about the votes because I write for myselfnot for people I don't even know to "like" my poem or to edit it in any way. I love when something I write touches someone else but at the same time I'm not writing for them.

I think we should worry less about the rating and concentrate on WHY we write poetry...were are not professional critics so we should act like it. Let enjoy the gift that has been bestowed upon us and share it with the world without thought of who is better.

With every good thing you say about the poems, try to add something they could work on to help them be better at writing. If you always just tell them how great it is without pointing out some faults, they will never get better. But I do agree that everyone likes to hand out 5/5 hoping to get one in return...

Yeah,.i think your right,.Ratings Are Pointless. Comments are what matter,.

Yeah I care more about what they think in writing than by a number
but sometimes its nice to see that too
I dont know :P
xx

I honestly dont think i've ever overrated (granted ive been tempted) but im just one of those weird members that likes to comment & rate so i usually just instinctivley pick the rating (from my first impression of the poem) & the comment is actually thought out *shrugs* i think the ratings just a filter in that way ^_^

Umm guys plz comment on ma poems... bt dnt expect anything good coz i kinda suck :)

I dont think poems are overrated..

Well, i don't think poems are overrated either, i think everyone just has different opinions on what a poem should be rated as

Tbh i rarely rate a poem, i normally add a comment saying why i liked/disliked about it.

i only rate the ones i truley enjoy and relate too.
and even then i can be quite harsh

Poems move me and im sure everyone who has subbmitted poems on here has/will do

feelings on paper
glorious things!

I know my poems dont deserve the 5 they get but its hard to tell someone their poem about their dad passing away isnt properly written. i say the people that judge you be judged honestly.

I agree with sluvious. So little poetry is even worth reading but we all have in our minds that poems and poets are somehow better (Thank you Ancient Greeks and Petrarchan poets of the renaissance). Hugely overrated. Most poetry is drab, boring, repetitive, unoriginal, focused on love, and nether instructs nor delights. Hugely overrated, unless we include songs.

I gauge where the writer is in terms of ability or age or how long they've been writing poetry or facility with English (meaning those from other countries)and rank accordingly. Someone whos ewriting may not truly be "excellent" may still garner a 5 from me for various reasons. And someone whose writing is usually stellar, but a particular poem is not, may get a lower score, even if the poem is still world's better than most work I read here.

I guess everyones preferences are diff .. and I guess they're really just there for the author to see what peole think. And 3/5 is already fine anyway.

I myself have a desire to be a poet, and believe I am one. If I do not appeal to others as that figure, I would at least hope to be a symbol of the one subject I wish to remind people of. That single and most beautiful presence empathy.

I think its partly to encourage the writter as well as coment them on good work. and rating less than 5 can arrise the question, wht was wrong with it to mean it gets less.

Of course poems are overrated. My poems are 3s. Maybe 1 or 2 4s and 2s... ;-)

But the point is not that the poems are rated, but that they're viewed. Because I have a feeling that the majority of people who view a poem read to the end, and that's good enough for me. If they vote, that's fine. If they comment, that's even better - good or bad. But I put my stuff here because I'd like it to be READ. Nothing more.

The fact that "For A Friend" has been viewed over a thousand times is considerably more pleasing to me than its 4.8 rating.

Isn't this talking about the curse of a poet. We are emotional by nature, so we don't want to hurt other delicate hearts because in turn we hurt ourselves. I find my self having to not rate a poem at all if I can't read it. If I can get through it, I give it a 5. On the other end of the spectrum, people have given me lower rating when I give them constructive criticism, even when I give them a 5.

I do believe that a lot of poems can be over rated,
thats nothing new.

But to add to this other discussion that seems to be happening..

Isnt poetry being able to express your feelings and emotions? To me, being a poet, isnt being on the top of the charts, having the most comments or rates, its writing for the love of it. and for putting your heart on paper.
Some poets arent as great as others, but theyre still poets, because they put what they feel into a piece of writing. Isnt that what its all about?
A lot of people think of it as lifting a weight off their shoulders when they write. I know I do. Its not about being the next Dr.Zeuss, its about telling the world a secret of how you feel, without them knowing it. It makes them feel ... free.
You can't tell someone they arent a basketball player, because they cant play very well, just like you cant tell a poet, they're not a poet, because they arent amazing.

Thats just my opinion, though.

I know that I've written some real pieces of sh_t that have been rated 5.
But it does come down to the reader and how much the poem touches them.

Poetry is being overrated yeah.
I do rate some poems that I think they don't deserve a complete 5 !
there are lots of people here that do poetry just for fun, not because it's their life.
Anyway we still should encourage them, amazing poets start young and little =]

One Guy, I was told that if you write poetry, you're a poet.
Not that I actually believe that.
I always thought you had to be published in some form (That makes you money) to be called a poet.
Good question.

I 100% disagree with Cyr. There are many poets on the site, but that isn't the question at hand.

Do I believe poems are being up voted? Yes, very much so. Most of them are ramblings that are terrible and shouldn't be linked with a lot of poets.

No one can say "Yes, he is a poet. No, he isn't a poet" as there is no high council to decide the poets of the world.

Do I believe myself to be a poet? Yes, I do.

What makes a poet a poet? not the quality of his work....that is for sure. You can look at some of the worst people in history and they are considered writers because certain people believe them to be writers.

What makes a poet a Poet, challenging himself and always striving to improve. Those who are happy just writing the same type of 'poem' over and over again and interchanging the words aren't poets.

Just to put the nail in the coffin' Rappers/R&B artists are considered modern day poets, some agree some disagree.

back to the subject at hand. Yes 'poems' are being given too high of a vote and they aren't even poems.

People write for themselves and everyone is talented in their own way. i think its actually really discouraging to say that people are over rated.

i think that it is totally based on opinion!!!! i mean maybe someone doesn't like the poems other people write (maybe its even out of jealousy because they know they could never write something so amazing and can only wish to achieve such amazing pieces which have huge impacts on many people)

everyone is talented and deserves credit. writing comes from the heart (or at least it should) i mean poems shouldn't be judged on how many comments they get but what went into them. when people write they really put their hearts in to it and if writing helps someone to release their emotions then that deserves a 5 right there.

everyone has their own unique style and just because some people might not like that of others doesn't mean that everyone agrees with that!!!!

Poems poets and endless rhyme. In the end poetry is just another way for most to express their feelings ideas and imagination. As for the over rating question, who cares I just wander around enjoying the occasional gem.

I agree with Cyrano, from what I have read.

Poems are being incredibly overrated on this
site, a thing which perhaps has been (and should
be?) overlooked, as this is a squawking website
of amateur "poets" that anyone, anywhere can
join! If you are so worried about unearthing
the vicious truth of your work, maybe this is
not the place to find it. Not saying that there
aren't many very talented people here who
really do dish out constructive criticism where
needed, because there are.

The technicality behind poetry is what I see
falling through the cracks the most. Many people
say that the "rules/guidelines" of poetry are not
important, and do not define the work. In my
opinion, that is the most enjoyable and important part! It is one thing to write beautiful prose, that expresses your emotions to a tee, but the art of poetry is behind coaxing 'round' language peg to fit in a 'square' hole, if you will. To manipulate your words, ideas, etc in ways that feel perhaps unnatural. The struggle behind writing while following "rules," and still sticking true to what feeling/story you want to portray, is the part that I treasure the most -- and what I think defines true poets.

The ratings system is useless.

And yes, poetry is overrated. "At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet", so, no it doesn't make you "special" or deserving of praise.