If up/down vote data were included in the API, much needed experimentation on collaborative filtering would be made possible! This is Hacker News after all. Ri

If up/down vote data were included in the API, much needed experimentation on collaborative filtering would be made possible! This is Hacker News after all. Right now one team, Ycombinator, is trying to fix important issues in the ranking and moderation of posts and comments. Many of us are frustrated by the increasing domination of popularity (and hatred) over quality and relevance. A lot of good submissions and comments are simply buried, never to be found. There is too much muck to have to wade through. The timing of posts and comments plays a much larger role than quality. I could go on and on. Imagine a Netflix Prize-like flowering of experiments and collaboration, leveraging the hacker community's collective smarts and enthusiasm. Many of us have ideas, but right now are unable to test them. What a shame if a great idea dies on a notepad. There are two possible issues with opening up voting data: gaming and privacy. If having vote data allows someone to game the front page, then only include it with some delay (2 days?) so that it could't be used to game the front page. This will still allow experimentation with collaborative filtering algorithms and the like. My take on the privacy issue is that anonymity isn’t that important for a site like Hacker News: 1. Startup culture is about straight talk, putting your money where your mouth is, and open critical feedback, both in the giving and receiving. There are precedents for exposing voting data (e.g. Quora, Facebook, Stack Exchange). 2. HN is not aimed at political discussions or other topics where anonymity can be paramount. 3. Pseudonymity is sufficient for those who don’t want their votes and comments tied back to their actual identity. Thoughts? I would love to hear from others who yearn to experiment with alternate algorithms and strategies for improving Hacker News.