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There was a bot on FB that posted random submissions from Hacker News. I think that was a good study of no downvotes. Comments get loaded with unpopular opinio
by muzani 4y ago
There was a bot on FB that posted random submissions from Hacker News. I think that was a good study of no downvotes.
Comments get loaded with unpopular opinions, which is often things like the ineffectiveness of masks in stopping pandemics, or people who post evidence on how dangerous vaccines are. When someone dies, someone will post all kinds of slander about them. Because there are only upvotes and no downvotes, these float to the top, and the comments are usually counted as engagement, further boosting the comment.
A lot of the most commented on submissions were actually flagged/killed on HN.
- jrumbut 4y agoThere would still be the flag mechanism, the same community, and the same rules would apply, so I'm not sure if I would draw any particular conclusion from that natural experiment. It's certainly possible it would turn out the same way though.
- muzani 4y agoCommunities are self-selective too. I moved far away from the HN Facebook, haha. dang also described downvotes as white blood cells - they can backfire, but are powerful and necessary ways for the community to moderate itself.