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Rev

25

This. This is why the discussion is important. Pet velociraptors aside, this is what trips up new users, every time. Y U NO LIKE MY QUESTION? U LIEK THAT ONE!
– user102937
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:03
30

To be honest, this sounds like an argument for dropping the hot list entirely.
– Shog9
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:03
23

@Shog9: Works for me.
– user102937
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:04
@Shog9 well if you ever decide to drop the hot list (or, which is essentially the same, switch to Mysticial' formula), I for one would be quite interested to first learn what will happen if we just fix that apparent bug in the formula
– gnat
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:15
4

I already know what would happen, @gnat: folks would complain about some other aspect of popular questions. Y'know - like they've been doing here for most of this discussion. You hit the nail on the head: this isn't an inherently problematic question, but it serves as a symbol for every lazy/unclear/overrated post that frustrates and infuriates each day: the hot list as a sacrificial alter.
– Shog9
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:24
4

@Shog9 well I agree that it won't likely stop at this bugfix. We just seem to perceive what will happen next a bit differently. The way you describe it, sounds like oh that'll be yet another (useless?) complaint in that endless stream. To me, it rather feels like that'll be a next step to improve site quality
– gnat
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:34
1

@Shog9 split-polish -- oh but I tried that, and it doesn't work. Or, more precisely, it doesn't work in hot questions. "What is especially depressing is that regular ways to deal with this kind of issues just don't work. It's typically not difficult to edit the question to repel garbage answers, I can easily name a handful of active regulars who can and do just that. Thing is though..."
– gnat
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:42
15

@Shog9 To be fair, I rarely see complaints about in-depth technical stuff getting too many votes. So if the multicollider can be biased in favor of those, I'd say there will be fewer people complaining. My only real complaint about the current formula is not that it brings out the wrong types of questions, but that it buries the quality stuff. That said, it's not completely broken so I haven't been speaking out much. It's still possible for a technical question to get popular - but it usually requires the help of Reddit or Hacker news. (IOW, an external force to override the multicollider.)
– Mysticial
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 18:47
3

Thanks @gnat - this quite comprehensively explained my biggest problem with this question.
– Mark Booth
Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 20:53
8

FWIW it's a very common problem on skeptics where 1. we get sudden spikes in traffic because we handle some very google friendly topics and 2. our site admits questions that everyone has an opinion on and feel that they can contribute. We have two strict rules about this which ensure quality of questions (notability) and answers (references). These rules allow us to aggressively close or delete poor quality questions and answers as mods or experienced users. Personally, I'd never go back to the sea of "meh" that ensues otherwise.
– Sklivvz
Commented Jul 26, 2013 at 11:30
1

@Sklivvz yeah I heard about that. I think rules allowing mods to unilaterally delete meh answers do a good job of taming the problem, be it concrete-programming at SO or famous back-it-up at Skeptics. At sites I am active though (Programmers and Workplace), such formal rules are hard to impossible to establish. I for one would not want to rely on mod discretion splitting meh and okay answers neither at Programmers nor at Workplace (with all due respect).
– gnat
Commented Jul 26, 2013 at 11:52
4

The topics accepted by Programmers and TWP are... problematic when it comes to objective evaluations of answers. But then, that's why these sites exist...
– Shog9
Commented Jul 26, 2013 at 15:10
4

@Shog9 As long as we're dropping the HotList, can we also drop the /questions?sort=votes tab that makes it too easy to find a given sites all time most upvoted questions? Those are almost without always bad examples for newcomers and its' almost invariably where they end up starting from.
– Caleb
Commented Jul 26, 2013 at 17:52
3

On the topic of the HotList - I never look at it. I kinda didn't know it was there until reading this. I use that dropdown only to look at my Inbox and Notifications.
– KatieK
Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 23:20
3

@KatieK: I discovered it by accident when my inbox or notifications would fail to load ;)
– BoltClock's a Unicorn
Commented Jul 30, 2013 at 6:09

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