

Ron Paul says his campaign is more than "a few spammers" - rms
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/us/politics/11paul.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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tlrobinson
Oh no, please don't let Hacker News turn into Ron Paul News... I mean Reddit.

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muriithi
Seconded. I predict this will degenerate into a flame war. I hate censorship
but I doubt if we need political posts on YC news.

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Zak
I think you took a wrong turn on your way to <http://politics.reddit.com>

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danteembermage
This is a really hard thing to bring up. I want to sugarcoat this as much as
possible, because I'm running the risk of flamebait. Maybe it's better we
don't think about this, but as a community perhaps it's something we have to
face. I don't know, but for better or worse here it goes...

Does a user voting this up become smarter or dumber in the eyes of the
algorithm?

What does the answer to this question mean?

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rms
I have the impression that Paul Graham hasn't implemented that algorithm yet
and/or turned it on because the community hasn't yet degenerated enough. I
can't find the specific post where he said that.

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pg
That's true. On the other hand, when I do turn it on, it will apply
retroactively.

As for the question of what effect this story has, that depends on what the
editors think. Probably they'd be split on it. This is arguably an Internet
story as much as a political one.

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greendestiny
Why did you post this here rms?

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rms
Ron Paul responded to Paul Graham's claim that Ron Paul will only be
remembered for gaming social news sites.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=76477>

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greendestiny
That's a little disingenuous. All the article contained was one paraphrased
quote on his campaign being more than a few spammers. It certainly has nothing
to say about the voting patterns of ron paul devotees on reddit.

For the record I think the ron paul movement on reddit has in no way been
consciously controlled. I think its a classic case of internet mob syndrome.
Its like the way people follow the righteous indignation of someone whose
camera has been stolen, people band together to right the wrongs against ron
paul. Its still a failing of the voting system of reddit though, because ron
paul articles just aren't interesting to those not caught up in the mob.

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jcwentz
Sure that open quote wasn't two words to the left?

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ereldon
i was about to say that!

the campaign need stickers like "I spammed 1000 message boards for Ron Paul,
08"

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ereldon
to whoever downvoted my comment... you really know how to make friends and
influence people!

the funny thing is, i might even vote for ron paul, i just think ron paul
supporters need to analyze their own behavior a little more carefully

