Ratings: given?

Wondering what "given" means in the ratings in a resident's profile. Behavior, appearance, building are clear enough, but what does "given" mean?

They are ratings that player has given to others (as opposed to those received)

Wow thanks, I was wonderin about that too. Ratings don't mean nothin really now though right? Somebody told me they used ta get you extra points for your Stipend or somethin, but not anymore?

When somebody has high Ratings, it usually just lets me know they have been on SL for a while

At one time in what now seems like a distant past, ratings cost L$1 to give. Combine that with SL's then budding social envornment in 2004, and a 'culture of rating' formed as folks rated each other as casually as a greeting. To raise the incentive even more, one's weekly stipend was based directly upon the amount of ratings received. With a premium account, at one time it was possible to acheive a weekly stipend of L$2000 with the help of ratings. The peer pressure to 'rate back' in social environments was immense.

This all was well & good for a while, but it quickly watered down the original spirit behind the ratings system, and they eventually lost much of their meaning. Those who received high ratings based upon their building skill, or visual attractiveness felt cheated as they watched the ratings they worked hard to receive become meaningless.

Later in 2005, Linden raised the price to rate someone else to L$25, which effectively ended this custom; although many older residents are so turned off by the whole ratings fiasco, that they hardly use them to this day.

For more information, search the forum archives for the phrase "Rate Whore".