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@dang, do you have any solutions for Musk related articles being flagged constantly? Clearly someone is trying to abuse the flag process. Does being flagged aff

by hn1986 3y ago

@dang, do you have any solutions for Musk related articles being flagged constantly? Clearly someone is trying to abuse the flag process. Does being flagged affect it getting on the frontpage or any effect?

mariusor 3y ago
Why do you think that democratic flagging needs a solution?
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  > democratic flagging how is it "democratic" when a few people can kill an article they don't agree with? "democratic" would be upvotes & downvotes canceling each other out, which we already have.
  - greyface- 3y ago
    > "democratic" would be upvotes & downvotes canceling each other out, which we already have. Submissions can't be downvoted; we don't already have that.
  - mariusor 3y ago
    Well, if you feel a flag is underserved you can vouch for the submission/comment. I think a vastly smaller number of vouches is needed to unflag something than the number of flags it took to flag it. I know there's the downside of not being able to vouch for something until it got buried, but even so I think the end-result is reasonably democratic.
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      I searched the FAQ for the word "vouch" and got zilch. Explain to me the utility of flagging as opposed to simply downvoting (I'm talking about comments, not submissions). especially, why is there no accountability for it? Are there "frequent flaggers" who should sometimes have their flagging privileges revoked?
      - mariusor 3y ago
        I am not in any way affiliated with HN. I don't feel the need to defend their choices before you. I merely make use of the tools provided to curate the content I want to see more/less on the website. (Also this is a purely theoretical discussion on my part, I did not flag this particular submission, even though the less I see of Musk's name, the better.)
        AlbertCory 3y ago
        I didn't say you did, but after a search I found a post by dang about it, and directed a comment to him.
    - corobo 3y ago
      Can you vouch for submissions? I've never seen that option. I can vouch for comments but not submissions
- sebazzz 3y ago
  You can't unflag, can you? It is not like voting.
  - mariusor 3y ago
    You can vouch for a thing, but only once a certain threshold of flags has been met. I've encountered the complaint that when this threshold is reached it's usually much too late to bring the submission back to the attention of the people, so the process is not exactly symmetric.
throw10920 3y ago
I flag most (not all) Musk-related articles because they're flamebait that isn't intellectually thought- or curiosity-provoking. This makes them unsuitable for HN, and therefore exactly what the flagging system is for.

by hn1986 3y ago

mariusor 3y ago

Why do you think that democratic flagging needs a solution?

AlbertCory 3y ago
> democratic flagging how is it "democratic" when a few people can kill an article they don't agree with? "democratic" would be upvotes & downvotes canceling each other out, which we already have.
- greyface- 3y ago
  > "democratic" would be upvotes & downvotes canceling each other out, which we already have. Submissions can't be downvoted; we don't already have that.
- mariusor 3y ago
  Well, if you feel a flag is underserved you can vouch for the submission/comment. I think a vastly smaller number of vouches is needed to unflag something than the number of flags it took to flag it. I know there's the downside of not being able to vouch for something until it got buried, but even so I think the end-result is reasonably democratic.
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    I searched the FAQ for the word "vouch" and got zilch. Explain to me the utility of flagging as opposed to simply downvoting (I'm talking about comments, not submissions). especially, why is there no accountability for it? Are there "frequent flaggers" who should sometimes have their flagging privileges revoked?
    - mariusor 3y ago
      I am not in any way affiliated with HN. I don't feel the need to defend their choices before you. I merely make use of the tools provided to curate the content I want to see more/less on the website. (Also this is a purely theoretical discussion on my part, I did not flag this particular submission, even though the less I see of Musk's name, the better.)
      - AlbertCory 3y ago
        I didn't say you did, but after a search I found a post by dang about it, and directed a comment to him.
  - corobo 3y ago
    Can you vouch for submissions? I've never seen that option. I can vouch for comments but not submissions
sebazzz 3y ago
You can't unflag, can you? It is not like voting.
- mariusor 3y ago
  You can vouch for a thing, but only once a certain threshold of flags has been met. I've encountered the complaint that when this threshold is reached it's usually much too late to bring the submission back to the attention of the people, so the process is not exactly symmetric.

throw10920 3y ago

I flag most (not all) Musk-related articles because they're flamebait that isn't intellectually thought- or curiosity-provoking. This makes them unsuitable for HN, and therefore exactly what the flagging system is for.