On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 09:40:37 -0700 "Monique Y. Herman" <spam@bounceswoosh.org> wrote: > > Are you taking advantage of the filtering features? I read slashdot at > +3, waiting till there's a decent body of posts, and it's not nearly as > bad as you describe above. Blatant inaccuracies are often identified > and either modded down or commented upon by posts that are then modded > up. The moderation system at /. is, IMHO, broken. Over the years, I have routinely seen stuff modded up to +4 or +5 that's just completely wrong. Moderation doesn't work for this sort of thing. Here's the sequence: someone posts something filled with information, written in an authoritative tone, that's nonetheless wrong. Of the /. population, many fewer people are experts in that area than not; thus many fewer of the moderators are experts in that area than not. So lots of people who aren't experts see the post and go "oh!" and mod it "insightful" or "informative." People who *are* experts in that area see that it's wrong; but modding it down doesn't accomplish the objective, because there are many more people who'll be impressed and mod it up. and because modding it down doesn't communicate to other readers that "this is wrong." So, instead, experts post replies saying "sorry, but that's completely wrong" along with an explanation. Maybe moderators read that rebuttal and then go back and moderate the parent post; but usually not, for the same reason that posts get higher mods if they're near the beginning of a discussion than near the end. Pick a specific topic that you're *expert* in, compared to the general /. population. Find in the archives and read a discussion on that topic. Look at the +3, +4 and +5 posts only. Do you really find them that impressive? My bet is that the answer will be "no." -c -- Chris Metzler cmetzler@speakeasy.snip-me.net (remove "snip-me." to email) "As a child I understood how to give; I have forgotten this grace since I have become civilized." - Chief Luther Standing Bear
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