Unfortunately there's no way this site or Slashdot or any of the tech sites will be free of similar problems. There may be far less seen with conservative/libe

Unfortunately there's no way this site or Slashdot or any of the tech sites will be free of similar problems. There may be far less seen with conservative/liberal issues, but there will be others biasing the rankings for stories/comments about OSes, phones, and other things. Politics isn't just about elections. It's the science of influencing people. That definition doesn't exclude unethical means. There are a lot of lies and distortion thrown around in political ads through regulated media outlets. Obviously the potential for abuse on the net is much greater, and cheaper too... Anybody can bias what's out there. Sometimes it'll happen directly, sometime people are paid to do it. It reminds me of the propositions that get on the ballot in California. Some interests used paid signature gatherers (in some cases using criminals to do the work) to get something on the ballot, then follow up with a heavily funded misleading ad campaign. Here's an example of even a relatively small company abusing what appeared to be posts from average people: http://thedailybackground.com/2009/01/16/exclusive-belkins-development-rep-is-hiring-people-to-write-fake-positive-amazon-reviews/ http://thedailybackground.com/2009/01/16/exclusive-belkins-d... [thedailybackground.com] http://www.thedailybackground.com/2009/01/21/flash-second-high-level-belkin-employee-implicated-in-wide-ranging-review-fraud/ http://www.thedailybackground.com/2009/01/21/flash-second-hi... [thedailybackground.com] http://i.gizmodo.com/5134652/belkin-employee-sheds-light-on-belkins-supposedly-dirty-practices http://i.gizmodo.com/5134652/belkin-employee-sheds-light-on-... [gizmodo.com]