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There are broader points to be made about the voting system on HN, and the efficiency with which we're sorting information. It bothers me how little conscious t
by tux3 5y ago
There are broader points to be made about the voting system on HN, and the efficiency with which we're sorting information. It bothers me how little conscious time we spend improving the mechanisms of the places we discuss in.
If the sorting system were a little better at avoiding good comments being downvoted, when they are pointing out something not immediately obvious and agreeable, that would elevate the efficiency of discourse.
That seems more valuable than the time that has been spent on it would seem to indicate.
- alanbernstein 5y agoI think that's what they're all trying to do. The problem isn't the sorting system, it's the fact that a "good comment" can't be an objective thing in every possible context.
- tux3 5y agoI feel like the error we have is in ranking down things that are uncertain. If it's a certainty, people will vote for it quite a lot more than if it isn't. That is a mistake. I want to look at factual posts that are new to me, but also non-obvious posts. We burry non obvious posts more easily than we should, today, I think. The current system on HN is not too bad, but it could do a slightly more subtler job of promoting ideas that take a little bit more effort before they seem obviously true, in retrospect. We're too quick to hide the subtle and the uncertain.
- systemvoltage 5y agoDownvoting on HN is poorly implemented. It creates an unstable initial condition for a new comment. Downvote from initial 1->0 cascades into a snowball effect for ganering downvotes from other users who are pursuaded by the gray text. Similarly, if is upvoted from 1->2, then you have a strongly positive comment that will most likely stay positive. Delaying the visual indicator of gray text for 1 hour would solve this problem. As it stands, it rewards pathological downvoters who continue to degrade healthy discussion on this site.
- mdp2021 5y agoIn a perfect world, we should be able to use a customized version of HN in which posts emerge according to our own algorithm. I would pay to see what happens if the rating system used dynamic weighs favouring reputation.
- atatatat 5y agoCheck out reddit.com