3 ms·

1 hr + 44 points + no comments = upvote manipulation

polotics 8y ago
Nope. Casebin point: I upvoted this, but it leaves me pretty speechless.
dang 8y ago
No, that happens fairly often without upvote manipulation, and as far as I can tell this post wasn't affected by such manipulation.
- pm90 8y ago
  It seems that this article has been flagged. Dang, I have noticed this quite frequently now: criticisms of Facebook and articles critical of colonialism get flagged off of the front page. As a regular member of this community, this really undermines my trust in the objectivity of this forum
  - t1o5 8y ago
    A sizable chunk of users awake at this time of the day are descendants of the very same colonialists. What did you expect ?
    - perfmode 8y ago
      People should be able to look at their past without knee jerk dismissal. Let’s face it. The British haven’t always treated others nicely.
  - dang 8y ago
    Anti-Facebook stories certainly haven't mostly been flagged, except insofar as some users are tired of seeing so many, which would be a "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" phenomenon. Stories about colonialism sometimes get flagged, presumably because they give rise to ideological and (worse) racial and national flamewar. But there have been many on Hacker News' front page over the years, as well. The thing to watch out for with such perceptions, besides sample bias, is that we're all more likely to notice what we dislike than what we agree with. If a story I like gets flagged, that registers probably 100x as strongly as a story I like not getting flagged. So even a perfectly even-handed forum will seem unfair and biased in any area you feel strongly about. Not that HN is a perfectly even-handed forum—but what's going on is a lot more stochastic than these perceptions seem. Edit: having looked at the story, I think probably what tipped the balance for flags over upvotes was the obviously baity title. Threads are sensitive to initial conditions, and a title like that guarantees a bad thread, regardless of how justified it might be. I've edited the title and turned off the flags.

Nope. Casebin point: I upvoted this, but it leaves me pretty speechless.

dang 8y ago

No, that happens fairly often without upvote manipulation, and as far as I can tell this post wasn't affected by such manipulation.

pm90 8y ago
It seems that this article has been flagged. Dang, I have noticed this quite frequently now: criticisms of Facebook and articles critical of colonialism get flagged off of the front page. As a regular member of this community, this really undermines my trust in the objectivity of this forum
- t1o5 8y ago
  A sizable chunk of users awake at this time of the day are descendants of the very same colonialists. What did you expect ?
  - perfmode 8y ago
    People should be able to look at their past without knee jerk dismissal. Let’s face it. The British haven’t always treated others nicely.
- dang 8y ago
  Anti-Facebook stories certainly haven't mostly been flagged, except insofar as some users are tired of seeing so many, which would be a "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" phenomenon. Stories about colonialism sometimes get flagged, presumably because they give rise to ideological and (worse) racial and national flamewar. But there have been many on Hacker News' front page over the years, as well. The thing to watch out for with such perceptions, besides sample bias, is that we're all more likely to notice what we dislike than what we agree with. If a story I like gets flagged, that registers probably 100x as strongly as a story I like not getting flagged. So even a perfectly even-handed forum will seem unfair and biased in any area you feel strongly about. Not that HN is a perfectly even-handed forum—but what's going on is a lot more stochastic than these perceptions seem. Edit: having looked at the story, I think probably what tipped the balance for flags over upvotes was the obviously baity title. Threads are sensitive to initial conditions, and a title like that guarantees a bad thread, regardless of how justified it might be. I've edited the title and turned off the flags.