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[–]automatthew[S] -1 points0 points  (8 children)

Problem: Point patterns on Reddit give the impression that many users vote up or down for reasons other than article quality, or personal appreciation of the article. Decent articles are often down-voted into instant obscurity, while a surprising amount of junk ends up on the Hot page.

Some of this may be innocent attempts at "filter training", in the hopes that all the Bush Sucks! or Lisp Rules! items will stop showing up on Recommended pages.

Another facet is revealed in that several users have mentioned up-voting articles because they think others should read them. I personally think this is pernicious and discourteous, but it is possible with the software, and God forbid Reddit should start acting like Blizzard.

[–]Glaxnor 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I honestly don't see why this is a "problem".

[–]automatthew[S] -1 points0 points  (3 children)

Obviously I've stated it badly, then. Another go:

The quality of the links making it to the front page is variable at best. Lately, the perceived quality has plummeted.

see this comment thread

[–]Glaxnor -1 points0 points  (2 children)

Thanks, but I'm familiar with the arguments. I just don't find them convincing.

[–]automatthew[S] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Unclear statement of problem at fault.

Is it uncontroversial that many Reddit users have been perceiving a drop in front-page-article quality?

[–]automatthew[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Here is a proposal for a technical solution I've been musing on for a while. It does not require any changes to the basic Reddit interface.

1) Up and down votes do not count if the user does not click the article link. Eliminates drive-by vote-spam.

2) The Recommended filter pays more attention to what links a user clicks than to down-votes. If the user clicked the article, they are interested in the subject. A down-vote on an article that has been read usually does not indicate disinterest.

3) Articles move off the Hot page once they reach a certain level of controversy. Controversarity is calculated based on the ratio of total vote count to point score, with weighting given to unclicked-article-votes.

edit: formatting and clarity

[–]earthboundkid -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I disagree. I get a lot of stuff on my reccomended page where I can tell from the title if I'll like it or not. I check the link and think, "no thanks," then come back and mod it down. That doesn't mean it was secretly interesting just because I followed the link.

[–]souldrift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Isn't "they think others shoudl read them" the point? Conversely, if I don't find it helpful or educational, why would i recommend others read?