Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 258 posts

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#181

Post by brilliantcode »

The real urgent problem is sockpuppeteers using purchased accounts which makes it difficult to see who is legit or not.

They can influence and censor people they don't like. You see a lot of this going on over at /r/ethereum, where certain submissions receive high number of upvotes but little to no comment activity apart from obvious sock puppetry creating fake conversations. Comments pointing this out are quickly downvoted to oblivion or flagged.

The anxiety from Reddit is obviously clear. Their user base premium is losing it's value from an investors point of view. Mindless banters you see on Youtube are what makes up Reddit's audience with occassional anecdotal experiences that show up.

Pornhub has ton of users but are they valuable as Facebook users?

I feel like there's going to be a market correction in the quantity over quality type of social network websites who've ramped up userbase but have not extracted tangible value apart from delivering shaky metrics that advertisers are now beginning to raise questions.

It seems like the only ad platform that stood test of time is Adwords but as a small advertiser I'm turned off by the prospect of paying $1+ per click.

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#182

Post by kbenson »

> Admin KeyserSosa

Is it me, or is it weird to see what are likely a names chosen when someone is adolescent or at least interacting in a non-professional capacity making their way into professional contexts, especially when they refer to another person, real or fictional (even if slightly changed)?

Are the corporate executives of the next generation going to go by the aliases the likes of BillGaytes and BarackOsama?

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#183

Post by VLM »

ue_ wrote: post #153
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even without moderation, anonymous imageboards have their own way to derail civilized discussion. Someone could post a thread with an interesting premise, and the first response could be $racial_slur, and then the hivemind would repeat the process and spam $racial_slur indefinitely without any kind of real discussion going on. For the lulz.

This is certainly a problem, but I find it happening less on "special interest" boards. I don't think it's too far from Reddit in this respect. On /r/funny you might expect something like this to happen, with the top 2 comment threads being puns, or unenlightened comments. But on /r/EngineeringStudents or /r/compsci or /r/lisp ... (subs I vaguely remember) that's less likely to happen. Right now on /leftypol/ there a…

I hang out a lot on /diy/ and /out/ and some on /pol/ and behavior is definitely driven by board culture not technology, as the underlying technology is obviously the same. The worst I see is on /out/ is the mora knives nuts, sure I get that you like that knife for outdoor work thanks for telling us the 10000th time now go away. The worst I see on /diy/ is, well, nothing, maybe some half-baked electrical advice sometimes, well intentioned maybe but if you're doing something weird maybe wiring your own subpanel if you have to ask /diy/ how to ground it you should probably give the job to an electrician. The worst I see on /pol/, well no point going there here on HN, but you can guess.

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#184

Post by drzaiusapelord »

bpchaps wrote: post #105
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't want another filter bubble that only shows me what it thinks I want to read (like Facebook). Some of the most interesting commentary on reddit are buried at -5 votes because almost all voting is an emotional reaction or treated as a "disagree/agree" button. I think its bad enough as-is. I don't want to see reddit build out a 'safe space' for me by analyzing my views and what subs I visit. If anything, I real…

I once had to raise a huge security risk to Comcast and resorted to a reddit post after very little luck raising it through official channels. It was a pretty sobering experience to how reddit users use downvotes for things they didn't understand or disagreed with. A lot of the downvotes came from folks who angrily commented that I was too vague. Giving specifics is just reckless, and if anything, I probably gave way…

I'm near expert level in one or two categories. Its difficult to post about my views because they're academic and involve history, the debate, popular consensus, etc. My comments just get downvoted because the hivemind just wants simple answers. Those simple answers are easier to digest, easy to know if you agree or disagree, etc.

This is also why /r/askhistorians is so heavily moderated. If you just let it run itself the top comments would be low-effort junk like "Tesla god; Edison devil" and other nonsense with almost no discussions that go counter to the grain or discussion of the many shades of gray between "good and bad" and "right and wrong."

>Afterwords, there were posts about how "reddit saved the day again".

I feel sorry for the people who post incredible things, especially some of the short story writers, but the press narrative becomes "Reddit did it again!" It wasn't "reddit" it was a single author. I really wish there was more of an emphasis on individual contributions there and the people behind the usernames.

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#185

Post by xnull2guest »

eli wrote: post #161
talmand wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I am absolutely shocked at how many simply do not get the ramifications of that simple action. In some countries you can go to jail for your post history.

I'm shocked at how many people are so upset. Maybe you should be PGP signing your posts if their integrity is your top concern.

So you're a media dsitribution contractor in Washington, DC and you don't see how covert editing of social media posts is upsetting, overreach, abuse, or illegitimate? And you're making fun of expectations of the integrity of social media posts?

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#186

Post by zerowellies »

ue_ wrote: post #156
MollyR wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't the chans not about your real beliefs, but simply trolling to get reactions ? http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/11/terrorist-t... This guy got articles published as radical feminist as well beyond being a fake isis terrorist, fake white nationalist, fake jewish lawyer.

I think this is a narrow position. On the boards on chans that I frequent, this isn't at all true. Yes, there are occasionally "trolls" who pretend they have positions they do not. The sarcasm may be subtle or not, depending on intention. But far more predominantly there are people who espouse their views and back them up cogently. There are also devil's advocates. But I wouldn't say that chan culture is about this,…

As a counter I think there are /leftypol/ users who sincerely hold Stalinst or Maoist views. Jokes are made about gulags, Holodomor and the Great Purge, just as /pol/ will joke about 9/11, the Holocaust and mass shootings.

How does this make it a better place of discussion?

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#187

Post by TrevorJ »

criley2 wrote: post #167
talmand wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're fine with it today because it's a group you don't like. What about tomorrow when the same thing will be applied to a group you do like?

>You're fine with it today because it's a group you don't like. What about tomorrow when the same thing will be applied to a group you do like? Then I'll leave. Simple as that. I don't want an anarchist site where malicious actors and nasty people are free to race to the bottom because we're afraid of polite society. The Founding Fathers of America differentiated between Liberty and Freedom. Freedom is anarchy, but L…

You raise a lot of good points here for sure. My main beef with reddit has been the lack of uniformity in application of the rules. It's better for everyone if there are clear rules, and the enforcement isn't capricious.

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#188

Post by koolba »

justinlaster wrote: post #162
rfrank wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The subreddit in question specifically and continually used the tool in a negative, unconstructive manner I don't think that's true, I think you just don't like the content.

The admins and a sizable portion, if not the majority, of reddit think it's true. It's also odd that you seem to forget that the content in question was specifically and continually addressed to the rest of the community in an often aggressive manner. Hardly any active and constructive discussion, political or otherwise, took place on those threads. Indeed it's hard for that to ever happen when your mods immediately…

> Indeed it's hard for that to ever happen when your mods immediately ban anyone who doesn't fit a certain mold.

That statement is false. Nobody is banned from that subreddit for being of a "certain mold". The rules for the subreddit are on the sidebar and they only ban users who speak ill of their candidate of choice.

The same is true on the /r/SandersForPresident and /r/HillaryClinton. If you went on either of those and insulted Sanders, Clinton, or their supporters, you'd get banned on there as well.

I'd argue the anti-Trump subreddits are demonstrably worse. They ban people who have never even posted in them because they've posted on /r/The_Donald.

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#189

Post by ue_ »

zerowellies wrote: post #186
ue_ wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a narrow position. On the boards on chans that I frequent, this isn't at all true. Yes, there are occasionally "trolls" who pretend they have positions they do not. The sarcasm may be subtle or not, depending on intention. But far more predominantly there are people who espouse their views and back them up cogently. There are also devil's advocates. But I wouldn't say that chan culture is about this,…

As a counter I think there are /leftypol/ users who sincerely hold Stalinst or Maoist views. Jokes are made about gulags, Holodomor and the Great Purge, just as /pol/ will joke about 9/11, the Holocaust and mass shootings. How does this make it a better place of discussion?

Because from my experience and what I have been told by users of both /pol/ and /leftypol/, people get banned less on /leftypol/ for opposing viewpoints.

I also think that there is a difference between the boards in that /leftypol/ is quick to ridicule a sincere Maoist (Jason Unruhe) but I've seen that /pol/ will jump on the bandwagon of the nearest Holocaust-denier. I think that there is a lot more of a liberal and tolerating view on /leftypol/ due to the sheer diversity of the left. This is in contrast to the very narrow brand of the right-wing (a subsection of the alt-right) that's on /pol/, from what I see.

But we should remember that it's Leftist Politically Incorrect, not Leftist Politics.

Re: Reddit overhauls upvote algorithm to thwart cheaters

#190

Post by johnbrodie »

epistasis wrote: post #116
toxican wrote: post #59

It doesn't help that the CEO admitted to editing Trump supporter comments. I mean I couldn't care less about those people, but that is censorship and suppression and I can't blame people for viewing anything reddit does from now on with a bit of skepticism. But obviously it's not that bad because they've still chosen to make reddit their home.

It wasn't trump supporter comments, it was comments that said exactly "fuck spez." Misrepresenting it as "trump supporters" gives it a decidedly different, post-truth spin.

Comments on the only big "Trump supporter" subreddit, that bans you for not being a Trump supporter. I think calling them "Trump supporters" is 100% appropriate.
Post reply on HN