How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet • Hacker News Board

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#91

Post by samstave » Wed, May 30, 2012, 9:48 PM UTC

kn0thing wrote: post #25

tylermenezes wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can log in and customize it. The default set of subreddits is bound to be low-quality.

I cannot upvote this enough. Thanks. edit, with bonus explanation! We need to do a better job helping new(and old) redditors realize the thousands of communities they could be joining for a diverse blend of content that interests them. When Steve and I started reddit, we had no categories because it was simple -- and Steve loves simple. Now that we've got scores of vibrant communities discussing links about things ra…

I think that reddit needs SUPER-REDDITS - sub-reddit grouping.

I want to be able to categorize large swaths of reddit into variou buckets and see that page.

e.g. have a technology super-reddit, which includes /r/technology, /r/gadgets, /r/programming, etc.. etc.. etc..

And things like F712U, aww, pics, etc can be in other categories and I can ignore them.

Right now there are so many /r/ that we need some larger buckets to be able to consume them better.

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#92

Post by lmkg » Wed, May 30, 2012, 10:15 PM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #7

tylermenezes wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can log in and customize it. The default set of subreddits is bound to be low-quality.

The idea that the default is supposed to be low-quality is depressing.

Causation is the other way around. The default(s) will become lower quality, as a direct result of the additional, unfiltered attention. They will get firehosed with a larger audience, and the number of participants will grow in a way not compatible with maintaining a consistent community or personality. Additionally, the switch in community growth from a "pull" model (I'm interested enough in X to actively search for communities about X on the internet) to a "push" model (X was pushed in my face, and I care enough to respond) will tend to dilute the focus and quality of the community.

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#93

Post by RockyMcNuts » Wed, May 30, 2012, 10:20 PM UTC

Adaptive wrote: post #18

We are doomed to reinvent Usenet until we finally break the cycle and improve upon it. This has all happened before and will happen again.

Exactly! Reddit is Usenet, except good stuff flows to the top and spam is eliminated through community voting and moderation, which is an improvement and no small one either. Plus it's easier for the non-techies to create/customize subreddits with their own subculture, so it can evolve and keep people engaged. So far, Reddit has scaled far better than Usenet did.

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#94

Post by voltagex_ » Wed, May 30, 2012, 10:25 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #91

kn0thing wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot upvote this enough. Thanks. edit, with bonus explanation! We need to do a better job helping new(and old) redditors realize the thousands of communities they could be joining for a diverse blend of content that interests them. When Steve and I started reddit, we had no categories because it was simple -- and Steve loves simple. Now that we've got scores of vibrant communities discussing links about things ra…

I think that reddit needs SUPER-REDDITS - sub-reddit grouping. I want to be able to categorize large swaths of reddit into variou buckets and see that page. e.g. have a technology super-reddit, which includes /r/technology, /r/gadgets, /r/programming, etc.. etc.. etc.. And things like F712U, aww, pics, etc can be in other categories and I can ignore them. Right now there are so many /r/ that we need some larger bucke…

You can group subreddits together with a + symbol between them - e.g. reddit.com/r/technology+gadgets+programming

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#95

Post by petitmiam » Wed, May 30, 2012, 10:37 PM UTC

planetguy wrote: post #42

Adaptive wrote: post #18

We are doomed to reinvent Usenet until we finally break the cycle and improve upon it. This has all happened before and will happen again.

One day we'll discover that arguing about random crap with complete strangers via our keyboards actually isn't all that interesting, and rediscover the world outside.

no we won't, stranger!

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#96

Post by samstave » Wed, May 30, 2012, 10:40 PM UTC

voltagex_ wrote: post #94

samstave wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that reddit needs SUPER-REDDITS - sub-reddit grouping. I want to be able to categorize large swaths of reddit into variou buckets and see that page. e.g. have a technology super-reddit, which includes /r/technology, /r/gadgets, /r/programming, etc.. etc.. etc.. And things like F712U, aww, pics, etc can be in other categories and I can ignore them. Right now there are so many /r/ that we need some larger bucke…

You can group subreddits together with a + symbol between them - e.g. reddit.com/r/technology+gadgets+programming

I know, but I think that reddit still needs an actual super-reddit bucket rather than a cumbersome URL hack.

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#97

Post by novalis » Thu, May 31, 2012, 12:02 AM UTC

kn0thing wrote: post #25

tylermenezes wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can log in and customize it. The default set of subreddits is bound to be low-quality.

I cannot upvote this enough. Thanks. edit, with bonus explanation! We need to do a better job helping new(and old) redditors realize the thousands of communities they could be joining for a diverse blend of content that interests them. When Steve and I started reddit, we had no categories because it was simple -- and Steve loves simple. Now that we've got scores of vibrant communities discussing links about things ra…

This is very true, by some odd fate of chance... google searches... I ended up finding a great source of information for three.js on Reddit and that made me look to it for other stuff that I am also interested in. That little treasure made me look more in depth, wish I had found what is "beneath" sooner actually. So, congrats on your great content linker site, hope you keep improving it and long live.

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#98

Post by dchest » Thu, May 31, 2012, 12:23 AM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #5

What the front page of the internet looks like today: * Image with overlayed snarky text * Another image * Another image... * The Daily Show clip * Another image * Another image * News article about Julian Assange * Another image * News article about guy doing something strange (which is actually really old) * Reddit question thread about Tarantino films * Youtube clip * "Ask Me Anything" request thread * Story on mo…

You're looking at r/all. For comparison, here's what my reddit front page looks like:

  * Ketamine Improves Bipolar Depression Within Minutes
  * -2000 Lines of Code
  * Fedora 17 Boot Optimization (from 15 to 2.5 seconds)
  * Awesome cut away showing the inner working of a Sauber
  * lcamtuf: Yes, you can have fun with downloads
  * Favorite CS related quotes from professors (or coworkers)?
  * Scrivener and Building a Better Book
  * ECMAScript 5.1 Specification Now Officially Available in HTML
  * Want to help make Linux Tycoon and Illumination Software Creator (and more) go GPL? Now's your chance.
  * org-mode and exporting to html
  * Calligra 2.4.2 Released
  * With your help, we're hoping to revive /r/promptoftheday - show your support!
  * New release of fortune_vimtips plugin.
  * Why GNU/Linux for Android is the most important Linux project today
  * Installing Postgresql for use with Rails 3.x using Homebrew on Mac OS X Lion
  * Best way to learn Scheme?
  * 10 Reasons You Should Skip the Traditional Publishers and Self-Publish Ebooks Instead
  * What's new in Fedora 17
  * Simple example: Haskell vs. Go
  * centos 6.2 stuck on boot with gray bar at bottom of screen.
  * System Programming: CreateRemoteThread. Bypass Windows 7 Session Separation
  * [Access]Query does not update all rows
  * Astronomers have found the best evidence yet that gamma-ray
    jets recently streamed from the supermassive black hole at the
     heart of the Milky Way.
  * Can we talk about editors?

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#99

Post by dekz » Thu, May 31, 2012, 1:14 AM UTC

kn0thing wrote: post #25

tylermenezes wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can log in and customize it. The default set of subreddits is bound to be low-quality.

I cannot upvote this enough. Thanks. edit, with bonus explanation! We need to do a better job helping new(and old) redditors realize the thousands of communities they could be joining for a diverse blend of content that interests them. When Steve and I started reddit, we had no categories because it was simple -- and Steve loves simple. Now that we've got scores of vibrant communities discussing links about things ra…

Does weighting of posts (only in hot?) take into account the amount of 'spent' upvotes vs the size of the overall subreddit?

I do notice that a the 'top' ranking seems to fail when I am subscribed to a number of small subreddits and a few bigger ones. The smaller subreddits then are drowned out by the bigger ones which is the exact opposite of what I want.

I also think grouping can be taken further (/r/a+b+c) as it is a great but lesser known feature.

Re: How Alexis Ohanian Built a Front Page of the Internet

#100

Post by mehrzad » Thu, May 31, 2012, 3:18 AM UTC

moultano wrote: post #84

kn0thing wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot upvote this enough. Thanks. edit, with bonus explanation! We need to do a better job helping new(and old) redditors realize the thousands of communities they could be joining for a diverse blend of content that interests them. When Steve and I started reddit, we had no categories because it was simple -- and Steve loves simple. Now that we've got scores of vibrant communities discussing links about things ra…

Communities are a great start, but I feel like reddit is missing out on central observations about how things get upvoted: Things that you can upvote quickly get upvoted more. Suppose there are two links of equal quality. (Whatever that means.) One is a photograph that I can digest in 10 seconds of wow. One is an article that I can read in half an hour of wow. The photograph I upvote immediately because I'm done and…

Actually high effort posts don't get upvotes because most redditors don't give a shit.