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The paper is from 2009 and its full title is, "Web-Based Experiments for the Study of Collective Social Dynamics in Cultural Markets". The paper seems good (tho

by jcr 11y ago

The paper is from 2009 and its full title is, "Web-Based Experiments for the Study of Collective Social Dynamics in Cultural Markets". The paper seems good (though I've only read the first few sections of it), but title on this HN submission should be changed to something less link-baitish. I'd suggest something like: Web Experiments on Collective Social Dynamics in Cultural Markets (2009)

gwern 11y ago
I admit it is a little link-baitish, but it does one important thing: it explains why this is interesting at all. (Its actual title, "Web Experiments on Collective Social Dynamics in Cultural Markets", is so incredibly buzzwordy and opaque that anytime I want to cite or link this paper, I have to think to myself 'ah yes, those fascinating Yahoo music experiments... let's see if I can refind it in Google Scholar or not, because I certainly do not remember the title and even if I did, it would probably be buried under thousands of other papers with higher buzzword concentrations'.)
- jcr 11y ago
  Of course, don't let me get in the way of a better description, and more importantly, thanks for posting so many papers. I appreciate it. The HN mods/admins seem to hate long titles almost as much as they hate link-bait titles, so the typically long and boring "official" titles of academic papers can be a pain. Worse yet, the "official" paper titles can occasionally be nearly as misleading as link-bait. Here's a perfect recent example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9847197 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9847197 I shortened the title but the original was even worse, "Effect of monthly vitamin D3 supplementation in healthy adults on adverse effects of earthquakes: randomised controlled trial". In spite of its whimsical title, it's a great paper on some creative science.
  - gwern 11y ago
    I actually tried to submit that one as, IIRC, 'Vitamin D for Earthquakes: an RCT', and discovered you had beaten me to it.

by jcr 11y ago

gwern 11y ago

I admit it is a little link-baitish, but it does one important thing: it explains why this is interesting at all. (Its actual title, "Web Experiments on Collective Social Dynamics in Cultural Markets", is so incredibly buzzwordy and opaque that anytime I want to cite or link this paper, I have to think to myself 'ah yes, those fascinating Yahoo music experiments... let's see if I can refind it in Google Scholar or not, because I certainly do not remember the title and even if I did, it would probably be buried under thousands of other papers with higher buzzword concentrations'.)

jcr 11y ago
Of course, don't let me get in the way of a better description, and more importantly, thanks for posting so many papers. I appreciate it. The HN mods/admins seem to hate long titles almost as much as they hate link-bait titles, so the typically long and boring "official" titles of academic papers can be a pain. Worse yet, the "official" paper titles can occasionally be nearly as misleading as link-bait. Here's a perfect recent example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9847197 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9847197 I shortened the title but the original was even worse, "Effect of monthly vitamin D3 supplementation in healthy adults on adverse effects of earthquakes: randomised controlled trial". In spite of its whimsical title, it's a great paper on some creative science.
- gwern 11y ago
  I actually tried to submit that one as, IIRC, 'Vitamin D for Earthquakes: an RCT', and discovered you had beaten me to it.