4 ms·

Name one social platform that doesn't have this issue. It's not a trivial thing to solve. I don't want to have to submit my passport to share a book review.

lostlogin 3y ago
It a bit like navel gazing, but HN? If a thread started for ‘best X of 2023’, I’d be pretty sure of the results.
caconym_ 3y ago
> I don't want to have to submit my passport to share a book review. Why is it important that you, a person apparently unwilling (hyperbole aside) to prove that you have actually read a particular book, should be able to transmit (ostensibly) your opinions about said book into the heads of other potential readers via a software platform? A small number of verified reviews is almost certainly better than a large number of unverified reviews, for exactly the reason highlighted by OP's article: when there are few or no controls on who or what can post however many reviews, the system is inevitably exploited by bad actors, and said actors often operate at scales that dwarf the impact of a single legitimate reviewer.
johnfn 3y ago
Although I know you said this in jest, it got me thinking that it would be really fun to have a system where you have to submit answers to a short quiz about the book before you can submit your review. No reviews would be removed, but you would, if you wanted, be able to filter the global average by people who scored over a certain threshold on the quiz. Probably you could even generate new questions every time with GPT, so that people couldn't cheat. This system would have a million problems, sure, but would it have more problems than the current system?
- newaccount74 3y ago
  The next step would be to just ask ChatGPT to write a couple of reviews about the book, and not bother with letting people submit potentially fake reviews at all.
- achates 3y ago
  If GPT could write the questions then surely it could also write the answers.
pembrook 3y ago
You can either have low friction reviews, or you can have high quality reviews. You can’t have both. For example, Facebook/Instagram/OpenAI/etc. requires non-VOIP phone number verification on signup. This alone would cut spam to near-zero. I’m sure if Goodreads required this on signup, the problem would solve itself.
- kart23 3y ago
  facebook and instagram still have insane amounts of bots and spam.

lostlogin 3y ago

It a bit like navel gazing, but HN? If a thread started for ‘best X of 2023’, I’d be pretty sure of the results.

caconym_ 3y ago

> I don't want to have to submit my passport to share a book review. Why is it important that you, a person apparently unwilling (hyperbole aside) to prove that you have actually read a particular book, should be able to transmit (ostensibly) your opinions about said book into the heads of other potential readers via a software platform? A small number of verified reviews is almost certainly better than a large number of unverified reviews, for exactly the reason highlighted by OP's article: when there are few or no controls on who or what can post however many reviews, the system is inevitably exploited by bad actors, and said actors often operate at scales that dwarf the impact of a single legitimate reviewer.

johnfn 3y ago

Although I know you said this in jest, it got me thinking that it would be really fun to have a system where you have to submit answers to a short quiz about the book before you can submit your review. No reviews would be removed, but you would, if you wanted, be able to filter the global average by people who scored over a certain threshold on the quiz. Probably you could even generate new questions every time with GPT, so that people couldn't cheat. This system would have a million problems, sure, but would it have more problems than the current system?

newaccount74 3y ago
The next step would be to just ask ChatGPT to write a couple of reviews about the book, and not bother with letting people submit potentially fake reviews at all.
achates 3y ago
If GPT could write the questions then surely it could also write the answers.

pembrook 3y ago

You can either have low friction reviews, or you can have high quality reviews. You can’t have both. For example, Facebook/Instagram/OpenAI/etc. requires non-VOIP phone number verification on signup. This alone would cut spam to near-zero. I’m sure if Goodreads required this on signup, the problem would solve itself.

kart23 3y ago
facebook and instagram still have insane amounts of bots and spam.