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It would be cool if Reddit's karma and upvoting worked more like Netflix's DVD recommendations: tailored to each person. Rather than the surfaced comments bein

by cxseven 11y ago

It would be cool if Reddit's karma and upvoting worked more like Netflix's DVD recommendations: tailored to each person. Rather than the surfaced comments being a function of raw upvote count, the upvotes could count for or against you seeing the comment based on whether they came from someone who tends to deliver you read-worthy content. Racists would see all the racist comments they want; others not so much. This could also decrease the influence of voting brigades and others trying to game the system.

ameister14 11y ago
Yeah, but that doesn't solve the problem inherent in karma anyway, that all you end up getting is a bunch of people posting and upvoting comments with the same or similar viewpoints and patting eachother on the back.
- cxseven 11y ago
  Instead of spending energy on preventing people from patting each other on their back, I think it'd be more efficient to spend it on not having to watch them do it. Those who are patting backs in order for others to watch would wind up losing out in this scheme, anyway.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
mc32 11y ago
The downside of this is that it becomes self reinforcing. So people don't get to see what the wider society thinks. They only get to experience what like-minded people have to say. Despite the ugliness one is likely to come across, I think it's better for society if individuals get to experience the full spectrum of society. Else we're walling ourselves off.
- johnnyo 11y ago
  If we are talking about current events or politics, that is a problem. But I use reddit mostly to follow news about my favorite sports teams and a few of my hobbies. For that, I don't care what the rest of reddit is saying.
- cxseven 11y ago
  Groupthink takes hold on Reddit even without tailored sorting. In fact, I suspect allowing more isolation between factions would allow for a diversity of opinions to brew in those pockets, with the good ideas inevitably metastasizing to the whole network.
fab13n 11y ago
A long, long time ago, that's how it tried to work. Long before they introduced subreddits, and before the signal/noise ratio made PG want to create HN. Getting better recommendations was even presented as the reason why you should upvote/downvote posts. But recommendation engines are very hard. Just look how poorly Amazon's work, despite its central role in corralling gigantic amounts of cash, the manpower and the raw talent that Amazon possesses. Reddit's smart customized home page wasn't better than the generic one. Eventually, multiplying subreddits and letting people [un]subscribe to them solved the problem better than going all AI. As for fighting voting brigades, I believe they continuously work very hard on this, but rely on secrecy to keep their measures effective.
- cxseven 11y ago
  That's too bad. I'd especially like to see how it'd work on comments, where I'd try to teach reddit to avoid in-jokes. As for Amazon, maybe its recommendations are intentionally unrefined, like how Target discovered it needed to obscure its direct mail campaigns aimed at newly pregnant women ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=9&_r=1&hp http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.h... ). Granted, it's plausible Amazon just hasn't cracked the code yet.

by cxseven 11y ago

ameister14 11y ago

Yeah, but that doesn't solve the problem inherent in karma anyway, that all you end up getting is a bunch of people posting and upvoting comments with the same or similar viewpoints and patting eachother on the back.

cxseven 11y ago
Instead of spending energy on preventing people from patting each other on their back, I think it'd be more efficient to spend it on not having to watch them do it. Those who are patting backs in order for others to watch would wind up losing out in this scheme, anyway.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

mc32 11y ago

The downside of this is that it becomes self reinforcing. So people don't get to see what the wider society thinks. They only get to experience what like-minded people have to say. Despite the ugliness one is likely to come across, I think it's better for society if individuals get to experience the full spectrum of society. Else we're walling ourselves off.

johnnyo 11y ago
If we are talking about current events or politics, that is a problem. But I use reddit mostly to follow news about my favorite sports teams and a few of my hobbies. For that, I don't care what the rest of reddit is saying.
cxseven 11y ago
Groupthink takes hold on Reddit even without tailored sorting. In fact, I suspect allowing more isolation between factions would allow for a diversity of opinions to brew in those pockets, with the good ideas inevitably metastasizing to the whole network.

fab13n 11y ago

A long, long time ago, that's how it tried to work. Long before they introduced subreddits, and before the signal/noise ratio made PG want to create HN. Getting better recommendations was even presented as the reason why you should upvote/downvote posts. But recommendation engines are very hard. Just look how poorly Amazon's work, despite its central role in corralling gigantic amounts of cash, the manpower and the raw talent that Amazon possesses. Reddit's smart customized home page wasn't better than the generic one. Eventually, multiplying subreddits and letting people [un]subscribe to them solved the problem better than going all AI. As for fighting voting brigades, I believe they continuously work very hard on this, but rely on secrecy to keep their measures effective.

cxseven 11y ago
That's too bad. I'd especially like to see how it'd work on comments, where I'd try to teach reddit to avoid in-jokes. As for Amazon, maybe its recommendations are intentionally unrefined, like how Target discovered it needed to obscure its direct mail campaigns aimed at newly pregnant women ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=9&_r=1&hp http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.h... ). Granted, it's plausible Amazon just hasn't cracked the code yet.