Why I Am Not A Fan Of The Upvote/ Downvote System (G)
Dec 27, 2015 10:48:17 GMT -8
Post by lyraalluse on Dec 27, 2015 10:48:17 GMT -8
Why I Am Not A Fan Of The Upvote/ Downvote System On Sites
© Emma Lee Downs
An article that explains the ineffectiveness of the upvote and downvote system on various sites such as Reddit, Imgur, and more.
Why I Am Not A Fan Of The Upvote/ Downvote System On Sites
I have been around the internet for a long time. I've seen sites come and go over the years. I have helped to build lots of websites as a website developer and lots of apps as an app developer. I have made lots of internet games as a game developer. And there is one thing that I have not been a fan of in all of my years working as a professional website developer, app developer, game developer, musician, artist, writer, and etc. And this is the upvote/ downvote system on sites.
My reason for this is just what I have seen happen to the communities of sites which have this system in place. Although I would prefer not to mention any names, I have coded for sites similar to Reddit, which had an upvote and downvote system. A lot of these sites have an automatic code which will kick whatever posts has the most liked to the front page or the top of a queue so it is more visible for site members.
Now, the longer I have worked for these sites, the more I started to realize that there would be a huge influx in downvotes or upvotes on certain content. When I investigated, I saw that it usually came from the same IP addresses. Around that time, I learned that people can actually pay for upvotes or downvotes on their content. And the reality is that companies will often hire people to make upvoting/ downvoting codes for Reddit, Imgur, and etc. So all the person has to do is use the bot they have developed, and all of the sudden someone will have 100 upvotes on something. This also occurs on sites with a like system like Facebook or Twitter but it isn't as common because both Twitter and Facebook have a different queuing system, which is based more on views and comments which kick a post to the top of the feed.
Anyways, the more I saw that people were paying people for upvotes/downvotes the more I started to really dislike the system. Because often what you will see is a big company pay for likes/ comments on their content to online advertisers. And that is why the big companies on Reddit, Imgur, and etc. are always queued at the top of the feed every time you log into the site. There are sites like Fiverr that sell upvotes and Downvotes at $5.00 for 10,000 likes. And if you think I'm stretching the truth, go to Fiverr now and check in 'buy likes'. You'll get 50+ sellers willing to sell you those 10,000 likes on anything you need. So needless to say, I am not a big fan of the upvote/downvote system for that reason alone.
But there is also something I have noticed about the community of sites with this system in place (and this is more talking about the big players like Reddit for example) and that is that it attracts a malicious community of people who are willing to downvote or leave a nasty comment on anything you post. Something to take note of is that a lot of these malicious comments or downvotes are probably being sponsored by people who have paid for this service. But it also encourages real site users to engage in the same negative activity. And pretty soon you get an entire community of people who will leave bad comments and downvote things because it become a cultural norm. I have seen this time and time again working as a coder and developer for various sites.
I know that when I coded for these sites, we would have to tighten the rules to try to discourage people from abusing the system. But the thing is that these companies will always find creative ways to get people to like their content. They will find someone who can get past the bots that monitor the site spam and will pay them to upvote their content and downvote everyone else's. So sites like Reddit for example will continue to tighten the rules until regular or casual site users like you and me are so bogged down by posting rules, we can't post any of our own content. The advertisers on the other hand will keep paying for those likes, and their stuff will continue to get featured on the main page.
So this is just one of many reason why I am personally not a bit fan of the upvote or downvote system on sites like Reddit, Imgur, or etc. People are free to have their own point of view on the matter. But this is just mine. I hope that my journal was informative and could open your eyes to a couple of features on sites that you might not have been aware of before. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am always happy to answers questions about website developing and coding. Cheers.
© Emma Lee Downs
An article that explains the ineffectiveness of the upvote and downvote system on various sites such as Reddit, Imgur, and more.
Why I Am Not A Fan Of The Upvote/ Downvote System On Sites
I have been around the internet for a long time. I've seen sites come and go over the years. I have helped to build lots of websites as a website developer and lots of apps as an app developer. I have made lots of internet games as a game developer. And there is one thing that I have not been a fan of in all of my years working as a professional website developer, app developer, game developer, musician, artist, writer, and etc. And this is the upvote/ downvote system on sites.
My reason for this is just what I have seen happen to the communities of sites which have this system in place. Although I would prefer not to mention any names, I have coded for sites similar to Reddit, which had an upvote and downvote system. A lot of these sites have an automatic code which will kick whatever posts has the most liked to the front page or the top of a queue so it is more visible for site members.
Now, the longer I have worked for these sites, the more I started to realize that there would be a huge influx in downvotes or upvotes on certain content. When I investigated, I saw that it usually came from the same IP addresses. Around that time, I learned that people can actually pay for upvotes or downvotes on their content. And the reality is that companies will often hire people to make upvoting/ downvoting codes for Reddit, Imgur, and etc. So all the person has to do is use the bot they have developed, and all of the sudden someone will have 100 upvotes on something. This also occurs on sites with a like system like Facebook or Twitter but it isn't as common because both Twitter and Facebook have a different queuing system, which is based more on views and comments which kick a post to the top of the feed.
Anyways, the more I saw that people were paying people for upvotes/downvotes the more I started to really dislike the system. Because often what you will see is a big company pay for likes/ comments on their content to online advertisers. And that is why the big companies on Reddit, Imgur, and etc. are always queued at the top of the feed every time you log into the site. There are sites like Fiverr that sell upvotes and Downvotes at $5.00 for 10,000 likes. And if you think I'm stretching the truth, go to Fiverr now and check in 'buy likes'. You'll get 50+ sellers willing to sell you those 10,000 likes on anything you need. So needless to say, I am not a big fan of the upvote/downvote system for that reason alone.
But there is also something I have noticed about the community of sites with this system in place (and this is more talking about the big players like Reddit for example) and that is that it attracts a malicious community of people who are willing to downvote or leave a nasty comment on anything you post. Something to take note of is that a lot of these malicious comments or downvotes are probably being sponsored by people who have paid for this service. But it also encourages real site users to engage in the same negative activity. And pretty soon you get an entire community of people who will leave bad comments and downvote things because it become a cultural norm. I have seen this time and time again working as a coder and developer for various sites.
I know that when I coded for these sites, we would have to tighten the rules to try to discourage people from abusing the system. But the thing is that these companies will always find creative ways to get people to like their content. They will find someone who can get past the bots that monitor the site spam and will pay them to upvote their content and downvote everyone else's. So sites like Reddit for example will continue to tighten the rules until regular or casual site users like you and me are so bogged down by posting rules, we can't post any of our own content. The advertisers on the other hand will keep paying for those likes, and their stuff will continue to get featured on the main page.
So this is just one of many reason why I am personally not a bit fan of the upvote or downvote system on sites like Reddit, Imgur, or etc. People are free to have their own point of view on the matter. But this is just mine. I hope that my journal was informative and could open your eyes to a couple of features on sites that you might not have been aware of before. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am always happy to answers questions about website developing and coding. Cheers.
