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Dislike function hijacking

By Dan8267   Follow   Fri, 9 Mar 2012, 2:46pm   2,938 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.

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1. TPB Follow Befriend (1) 65 threads 1,209 comments

   1   4:28pm Fri 9 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (3)   Oh wait, a "rate me" button means nothing on the internet, somebody get me an opinion!

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

   2   8:38pm Sat 10 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (2)   I HATE YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON TOO! Please "Dislike" this post.

3. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   3   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.

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

   4   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.

5. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   5   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

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

   6   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....

7. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

   7   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.

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

   8   10:51am Mon 12 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (1)   Dan8267 says no opinions about the proposed solution? I like the proposed solution. Is there a way to see what posts are disliked? My dislike count exploded over the weekend and it sits now at 155. I'd like to see the content that's been disliked in a single page so that I can see if these dislikes are genuine or just pure BS dislike for the sake of dislike.

9. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

   9   1:34pm Mon 12 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (3)   uomo_senza_nome says Is there a way to see what posts are disliked? Only if Patrick exposes such a feature. It's a pretty easy query though. Of course, to see if the dislikes are "genuine or just pure BS", you'd have to see who is disliking. In principle, you could construct a graph in which each vertex represents a user and each directed edge from user A to user B represents on a scale from -1.0 to 1.0 how much user A likes/dislikes user B. Then you could use a process similar to simulated annealing to group people by how much they like/dislike others such that people who like each other a near each other in a 2D/3D/etc. space and people who dislike each other are far away. Just use the edge weights like spring forces pulling and pushing between users. I suspect that if this were done, you'd find groups G, H in which members of G like each other and hate H and vice-versa. I'd be interested in seeing the groups. If a group is made up of people I consider idiots, then I'd like to filter out their opinions and listen to the ones from people I respect.

10. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    10   10:45pm Mon 12 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (3)   9 out of the 10 most liked users have more dislikes than likes.

11. EightBall Follow Befriend 12 threads 495 comments

    11   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.

12. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    12   8:45am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (2)   EightBall says Shocking - perhaps more people dislike what you have to say than you thought? More disliked votes have been cast for 18 of the top 20 most liked users, and the two exceptions are trending towards being disliked more than liked. Yeah, perhaps all 20 are the result of more people disliking what others have to say than liking. However, the more likely explanation is a vocal minority. In either case, my formula shown above would reveal the truth. If you're right, my formula will show a great number of dislikes for evil, little me. If you're wrong, my formula will show a great decrease in everyone's dislikes. So you should be supporting me instead of making a childish personal attack. My self-esteem is not affected by your opinion or the irrational, immature vocal minority I suspect is behind more dislikes. My interest is mainly in the asymmetry between the usage of like and dislike functionality in social media and how to counter ballot stuffing. I'd explain why this is an interesting subject matter in Information Technology, but I doubt that you would understand it. Your comment suggests that you have made up your mind and are not open to learning anything new that counters your worldview. EightBall says Go ahead Dan - click the dislike button on me again. I don't think I've ever voted dislike on one of your postings. But Patrick could confirm or list which, if any, of your postings I disliked. I don't dislike postings simply because I disagree with them. I only dislike postings that are trollish, deliberately antagonizing to distract from the real issue or to make an unprovoked childish personal attack. As a final note, whenever someone conjectures about what is going on in the head of another person (what their motive or personal values or political positions are), they are usually wrong. Human beings make terrible mind readers, especially on the Internet.

13. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    13   8:49am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (2)   Dan8267 says What, no opinions about the proposed solution? Perfect example. Two dislikes for a comment asking what people think. There's no legitimate reason to dislike that comment as for the following comments, which is exactly why I strongly suspect a vocal minority voting along political/social lines. TPB says Oh wait, a "rate me" button means nothing on the internet, somebody get me an opinion! elliemae says It's ok to hate me, but not my horse. He's kinda awesome. uomo_senza_nome says I like the proposed solution. Is there a way to see what posts are disliked? My dislike count exploded over the weekend and it sits now at 155. I'd like to see the content that's been disliked in a single page so that I can see if these dislikes are genuine or just pure BS dislike for the sake of dislike. Dan8267 says 9 out of the 10 most liked users have more dislikes than likes. And that's just on this thread.

14. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    14   9:18am Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   Some people dislike everything I say, I think. I'm crushed.

15. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    15   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.

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

    16   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.

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

    17   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.

18. EightBall Follow Befriend 12 threads 495 comments

    18   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.

19. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    19   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.

20. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    20   10:13pm Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (2)   EightBall says From all appearances (to me at least) Like I said, humans make terrible mind readers. You are no exception.

21. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    21   10:16pm Thu 15 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (2)   elliemae says I can live with an anonymous troll on the interwebs hitting a "dislike" button. Vicente says 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. Both points true, but if a dislike feature could be used without being abused, it might actually be useful. The only place I've seen a dislike feature that works is YouTube, but that site has so many different users it's unlikely two would ever meet twice. Still, even Facebook considered adding a dislike feature and decided not to.

22. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    22   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.

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

    23   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.

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

    24   9:35pm Sun 18 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   You Like me, you really like me!

25. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    25   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.

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

    26   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?

27. TPB Follow Befriend (1) 65 threads 1,209 comments

    27   10:40am Wed 21 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike (3)   That's actually how to express indifferentness.

28. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 762 threads 7,692 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    28   5:39pm Wed 21 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (4)   What, no opinions about the proposed solution?

29. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    29   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."

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

    30   10:06pm Wed 21 Mar 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   I Like you. I Dislike you. Feels like grade school.

31. elliemae Follow Befriend (25) 413 threads 6,979 comments Saint George, UT elliemae's website

    31   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...