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Dislike function hijacking

By Dan8267   Follow   Fri, 9 Mar 2012, 2:46pm   2,937 views   31 comments
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The dislike function is definitely not representative of the community opinion. It clearly is being hijacked for political purposes by trolls like Cloud. For example, the following three posts were disliked:

http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1209884#comment-806217
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1209609#comment-806001
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1209849#comment-805918

Two of them are just YouTube clips and one is merely stating that Nelson Mandela shouldn't have been put on a terrorist list. What kind of person would dislike those? Clearly, the dislike function is being used primarily for personal and political disputes. Perhaps that is a fundamental flaw with the Dislike function all together.

However, I think we can tweak the Dislike function to make it more honest. If one person, Bob, is disliking everything another person, Joe, says, then clearly Bob dislikes Joe. OK, count that, but count it once not a hundred times.

More specifically, don't report the count of dislikes on a person like below
select count(Disliked.VoterUserId)
from Thread.Disliked
join Thread.Post on Post.Id = Disliked.PostId
where Post.PosterUserId = @PosterUserId;

Instead, count the weighted dislike of that person's postings like so
select log(2, count(Disliked.VoterUserId))
from Thread.Disliked
join Thread.Post on Post.Id = Disliked.PostId
where Post.PosterUserId = @PosterUserId
group by Disliked.VoterUserId;

The idea is that with the second query, you are giving everyone a more equal vote instead of favoring vocal minorities.

Most Liked Comments

1. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   1   2:42pm Sun 11 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   Vicente says I just disliked you. Am I your first? Be honest. Yes, you're my first (blush). If you forget about the 489 other people before you... http://patrick.net/users.php

2. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   2   6:25pm Sun 11 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   I'm the one that "liked" the last post... I love candy, especially from strangers.

3. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   3   9:18am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   Some people dislike everything I say, I think. I'm crushed.

4. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   4   12:56am Fri 16 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   Dan8267 says Both points true, but if a dislike feature could be used without being abused, it might actually be useful. only if you give a shit about people liking you. Otherwise, it's just noise.

5. Vicente Follow Befriend (8) 203 threads 4,403 comments Davis, CA

   5   9:35pm Sun 18 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   You Like me, you really like me!

6. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   6   11:13pm Sun 18 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   Vicente says You Like me, you really like me! Yea, right now, I really do.

7. Vicente Follow Befriend (8) 203 threads 4,403 comments Davis, CA

   7   2:33pm Sun 11 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   elliemae says It's ok to hate me, but not my horse. He's kinda awesome. I just disliked you. Am I your first? Be honest.

8. Vicente Follow Befriend (8) 203 threads 4,403 comments Davis, CA

   8   5:08pm Sun 11 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   elliemae says Yes, you're my first (blush). If you forget about the 489 other people before you... Baby, you only have to be "LIKE a virgin"..... Now I'm really bummed. My post only generated one dislike, I wanted a gangbang. *sigh* Now that you remind me of this "user" page I am startled to find I've generated 241 dislikes to 185 likes. Perhaps I can pump up my likes by offering free candy. Or I could offer promiscous LIKE to anyone who will like me back. Hey there poster, me like you long time....

9. EightBall Follow Befriend 12 threads 495 comments

   9   8:16am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike (1)   Dan8267 says 9 out of the 10 most liked users have more dislikes than likes. Shocking - perhaps more people dislike what you have to say than you thought? Or does me stating the obvious hurt your self esteem? Go ahead Dan - click the dislike button on me again.

10. uomo_senza_nome Follow Befriend (13) 787 threads 1,542 comments

    10   10:49am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   elliemae says Some people dislike everything I say, I think. I'm crushed. Ellie, ignore it-- these dislikes have no meaning anyway if the system is getting abused. Vicente says Someone really dislikes you they will start stalking you and hitting dislike on any message with your username even if they don't read or do anything else in that thread. This is what I suspect is happening.

11. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    11   6:52pm Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   EightBall says Nuanced insults are still insulting. yea. this was a pissing match about a non-issue. I really don't care if someone dislikes everything I say, and until this thread I didn't realize someone was keeping score. There are some people that I have on "ignore" for the same reason - I'm not thrilled with everything that they post to the point that I blocked them completely. However childish it might be to "dislike" me, I don't give a rat's ass what they think. uomo_senza_nome says Ellie, ignore it-- these dislikes have no meaning anyway if the system is getting abused. My family, friends & critters love me. US Bank wants me back, even after a bad breakup. DirecTV misses me, and they have an awesome Sports package... I can live with an anonymous troll on the interwebs hitting a "dislike" button.

12. uomo_senza_nome Follow Befriend (13) 787 threads 1,542 comments

    12   11:54am Fri 16 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   elliemae says only if you give a shit about people liking you. Otherwise, it's just noise. Right on the money Ellie.

13. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    13   10:29am Sun 11 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (1)   Vicente says I HATE YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON TOO! Please "Dislike" this post. It's ok to hate me, but not my horse. He's kinda awesome.

14. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 761 threads 7,688 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    14   10:27am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike (2)   elliemae says Some people dislike everything I say, I think. I'm crushed. Eschew Obfuscation It's not you, it's them. I mean, how could anyone with a sense of humor dislike what APOCALYPSEFUCK says. He's half the reason to visit this site.

15. Vicente Follow Befriend (8) 203 threads 4,403 comments Davis, CA

    15   10:39am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   I am reminded of EBay, which decided the negative feedback on certain customers was hurting their bottom line. So they removed it. Even NYTimes comments only has "recommend" button. Hatred versus love for a bunch of faceless strangers is a difficult thing to grok, but it's plain that the hatred wins out. Someone really dislikes you they will start stalking you and hitting dislike on any message with your username even if they don't read or do anything else in that thread.

16. EightBall Follow Befriend 12 threads 495 comments

    16   12:36pm Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Dan8267 says I'd explain why this is an interesting subject matter in Information Technology, but I doubt that you would understand it. Nuanced insults are still insulting. What Patrick should really fix is being able to like your own comments. Dan8267 says So you should be supporting me instead of making a childish personal attack. I'm just yanking your chain dude. From all appearances (to me at least) you are offended that people would dislike your comments and you have gotten touchy to the point that you started a whole thread about it.

17. Vicente Follow Befriend (8) 203 threads 4,403 comments Davis, CA

    17   9:52am Wed 21 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   So, seems odd to me I can click both Like and Dislike for the same post. Does it register both votes?

18. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    18   6:06pm Wed 21 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (1)   Vicente says So, seems odd to me I can click both Like and Dislike for the same post. Does it register both votes? Which post was it? try it with this one and then see. Dan8267 says What, no opinions about the proposed solution? He lost me at "hello."

19. Vicente Follow Befriend (8) 203 threads 4,403 comments Davis, CA

    19   10:06pm Wed 21 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   I Like you. I Dislike you. Feels like grade school.

20. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,978 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    20   6:15am Thu 22 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   If that was you, it worked. The sad part is, I thought we had a future for a second there...