How do ratings work?

[Gummysaur]

I've been wondering this for a while.

Sometimes I see a post with a 1-star rating and I'm like "eeeesh this post must have flames and trolls" and I enter the post, only to find that it's perfectly normal with nothing bad in it. Now do these ratings even work? :/

 

[Cariad]

Some people vote on how good a thread is. Most of the time, people don't use it, but if there is a really good thread they will vote 5 stars. It also boosts popularity on threads, because it has 5 glistening stars next to the title.

 

[Hot]

There also may be only one who rated the thread 1-star, and if they're the only voter, that's what'll appear. Meaning that it's not always accurate.

Why am I even posting here like?