5 ms·

Ok, so here is my 5 minute solution: I just flagged every piece of content that I think does not belong on the homepage, now I'll scan the first 3 pages of the

by 0x12 15y ago

Ok, so here is my 5 minute solution: I just flagged every piece of content that I think does not belong on the homepage, now I'll scan the first 3 pages of the 'new' section and upvote all those articles that I think should be there. If everybody else does the same thing then this should correct itself. I'm betting that it won't make a bit of a difference. Want to try?

wccrawford 15y ago
Some of us already do that, either from the 'new' page or from the RSS feeds. It doesn't seem to be helping much, as you predicted. The people submitting those kinds of stories have an agenda, and they're using every tool they have to promote it.
peteretep 15y ago
What exactly is this meant to be the solution to? That some random blogger missed the transition from Startup News to Hacker News? What do you think flagging does? Why are you so special that the current voting system should be changed to fit your preferences?
- 0x12 15y ago
  Flags will push content down on the homepage, early flags on the new page stop content from getting on the homepage at all. In other words, flags are a crude mechanism that you can use to modify the rankings, effectively they are downvotes. It won't take many flags to clear the homepage of the political and mainstream content. My guess is that it won't matter because that same strategy can be used against content that is on topic. And I've seen that happen, plenty of times.
mattmanser 15y ago
Please don't, I'm sure moderators have enough to do already without people trying to game the site to fit with their world view. To be honest r/startups doesn't look very appealing to me: 'Hey r/startups, I'd love your feedback - I'm running a deal site for small businesses. What deals do you want to see? ' 'Had what I thought was a great idea, turns out it there is already a startup with MASSIVE funding working on basically the exact idea.' 'I'm joining a start-up, getting paid with "equity" - Is it worth anything?' 'Another what to do/how to tread after finding a first to market competitor question...' '[In SF] Can anyone tell me where to find local start-up events and hackathons?' Whoopie. Loads of self posts by clueless people. The Ask HN posts that appear on the front page here are much better and nearly always worth reading.
- 0x12 15y ago
  Ask HN posts are so shortlived on the homepage that they might as well not be there. The penalty on an 'Ask HN' reinforces that. They do have their own section but it is far less popular than the homepage. This effect is so strong that it prompted someone to ask if the 'Ask HN' mechanism is broken somehow: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3018343 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3018343
  - mattmanser 15y ago
    Did you figure this all out in the 24 days you've been registered? Maybe they have been broken recently, but the actually interesting ones still get through.
    - 0x12 15y ago
      > Did you figure this all out in the 24 days you've been registered? No, I did that over the last couple of years.
  - Hyena 15y ago
    Which is sad. My favorite items here are Ask HN and Show HN.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

by 0x12 15y ago

wccrawford 15y ago

Some of us already do that, either from the 'new' page or from the RSS feeds. It doesn't seem to be helping much, as you predicted. The people submitting those kinds of stories have an agenda, and they're using every tool they have to promote it.

peteretep 15y ago

What exactly is this meant to be the solution to? That some random blogger missed the transition from Startup News to Hacker News? What do you think flagging does? Why are you so special that the current voting system should be changed to fit your preferences?

0x12 15y ago
Flags will push content down on the homepage, early flags on the new page stop content from getting on the homepage at all. In other words, flags are a crude mechanism that you can use to modify the rankings, effectively they are downvotes. It won't take many flags to clear the homepage of the political and mainstream content. My guess is that it won't matter because that same strategy can be used against content that is on topic. And I've seen that happen, plenty of times.

mattmanser 15y ago

Please don't, I'm sure moderators have enough to do already without people trying to game the site to fit with their world view. To be honest r/startups doesn't look very appealing to me: 'Hey r/startups, I'd love your feedback - I'm running a deal site for small businesses. What deals do you want to see? ' 'Had what I thought was a great idea, turns out it there is already a startup with MASSIVE funding working on basically the exact idea.' 'I'm joining a start-up, getting paid with "equity" - Is it worth anything?' 'Another what to do/how to tread after finding a first to market competitor question...' '[In SF] Can anyone tell me where to find local start-up events and hackathons?' Whoopie. Loads of self posts by clueless people. The Ask HN posts that appear on the front page here are much better and nearly always worth reading.

0x12 15y ago
Ask HN posts are so shortlived on the homepage that they might as well not be there. The penalty on an 'Ask HN' reinforces that. They do have their own section but it is far less popular than the homepage. This effect is so strong that it prompted someone to ask if the 'Ask HN' mechanism is broken somehow: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3018343 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3018343
- mattmanser 15y ago
  Did you figure this all out in the 24 days you've been registered? Maybe they have been broken recently, but the actually interesting ones still get through.
  - 0x12 15y ago
    > Did you figure this all out in the 24 days you've been registered? No, I did that over the last couple of years.
- Hyena 15y ago
  Which is sad. My favorite items here are Ask HN and Show HN.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]