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It was on the front page for about 20 minutes before it started sinking rapidly. Perhaps it was reflexively flagged by users for some reason or perhaps the mods
by dhbanes 10y ago
It was on the front page for about 20 minutes before it started sinking rapidly. Perhaps it was reflexively flagged by users for some reason or perhaps the mods buried it intentionally.
- abetusk 10y agoIs there any way to find out how many 'flags' a submission has or whether it was flagged by the mods? Does anyone know the HN algorithm?
- dhbanes 10y agoHere is extensive discussion on this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13857086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13857086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13867739 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13867739
- Zancarius 10y agoDoesn't HN automatically flag/throttle articles if its heuristics detect a possible flamewar or potentially hot button issue? I might be misremembering this.
- dhbanes 10y agoPerhaps, but if you look at the comments from the original submission, there is little evidence of a flame war brewing.
- Zancarius 10y agoTrue. I do wonder if it may auto-flag rapidly rising submissions as part of astroturfing prevention or similar? (Flamewar was a bad example, I admit. Sorry about that.)
- 3131s 10y agoI remember hearing that too. If the algorithm works that way, it would be easy to manipulate. Start a flame war and watch the subject of your choosing receive only limited coverage and commentary (e.g. a competitor's product, bad news about your company, the US war machine, etc.).