

I'm making a website that uses HN algorithm with downvotes. What do you think? - blarglor

An 80 character title didn't leave much room for explanation.<p>I am working on a website where users can share jokes. It uses a modified version of the HN ranking algorithm that allows downvotes. Do you think the implementation is usable?<p>Here is how jokes are ranked:<p>(p-1)/(t+2)^(1.8<i>s - (s-1)</i>0.85)<p>Where:<p>p = votes_for - votes_against<p>t = time since jokes was posted, in hours<p>s = 1 if p-1 &#62; 0<p>s = 0 if p-1 = 0<p>s = -1 if p-1 &#60; 0<p>Essentially if s = 1, then it works the same way as the HN algorithm, and if s = 0, then the numerator and the final score are also 0.<p>If s = -1, then the formula changes to:
(p-1)<i>(t+2)^(0.1)<p>Which looks like this: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28-1%29</i>%28t%2B2%29^%280.1%29+from+0+to+24<p>So when p-1 is negative, the score will gradually decrease with time, with the rate of decrease slowing down.<p>Do you think this is a good approach to downvotes? Also should I be taking the ratio of upvotes to downvotes into account, or just the difference?<p>I'm also thinking that maybe the rate at which jokes with negative scores loose points should increase with time, instead of decrease. That way a joke which got downvoted right after submission will have a higher chance of being seen by people and upvoted, where as a joke that's been in the negatives for a long time should get buried further down.<p>The website by the way is www.QuickHaha.com
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xcjamie
I think the jokes with negative votes should increasingly loose points with
time to avoid it losing a chance right after submission. I've been working on
a similar upvote/downvote system and think that way will work more
efficiently.

