

Ask HN: Is "Ask HN" broken? - dgunn

I thought item ranking was based on a combination of votes (both up &#38; down) and time. A quick look at the "Ask HN" page shows that this can't be the case. I keep seeing posts from months ago show up. This doesn't appear to be happening on the main page. Does anyone know what is going on?
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noodle
I think it is broken, yes. Sunday, I submitted a weekend project, and despite
having 6 votes and 8 comments, its weighted super low and comparing it to
similar submissions, I see no correlation.

It got those first points quickly when it was top of the new queue, and once
it fell off the first page of new, it disappeared into a black hole. Not a
_big_ deal, I would've just loved to get more feedback/ideas/comments.

edit: I went ahead and checked. Its showing up as #519 right now for me in the
ask queue, behind things like 1 point submissions from 30+ days ago, and other
stuff like that.

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ColinWright
Don't forget that the invisible flags affect the rankings. People seem to have
become more aggressive lately about flagging things they think don't belong,
and some have - to mind mind - rather odd views in that regard. A few flags
from a minority of zealots with a misplaced enthusiasm and an item will sink
like a stone, never to be seen again. I've generally found that that explains
most of the otherwise apparently odd behavior, but I don't usually watch the
"Ask" page.

Can you point out anything on the "Ask" page that you consider odd?

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dgunn
[edit: actual explaination and not just an example]The following is an example
of what doesn't make sense to me. Although, I realize that this could be
explained by flags that I'm not aware of.

47\. Ask HN: Does anyone use Opera browser? 3pts/54days

56\. Ask HN: Media Temple 3pts/796days

60\. Ask HN: What is your impression about new friend list feature in
Facebook? 5pts/2days

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ColinWright
OK, I have no idea why the "Media Temple" item is ranked so high.

Fer reference, reports of unexpected behavior are best received when they
contain really, really specific examples, rather than just generic "I don't
understand this" type comments.

I now leave you to people who might actually know how the system works.

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dgunn
Yea, that one is particularly bazaar. It's probably gone now. They just crop
up and vanish randomly from what I can tell.

Duly noted on the best practices advice. I should have initiated with an
example.

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revorad
There's definitely something strange going on. I often see really old posts
with few points show up. Sometimes it's nice to see an old post, but it's at
the cost of pushing out new posts.

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dgunn
I commonly refresh the page and get a nearly brand new list of items. Most of
which I read weeks ago. I'm just wondering if it isn't some sort of feature
meant to give a second (third, fourth, nth?) chance to items which may have
been pushed down prematurely. I think this because the front page works fine
and I imagine they use the same sorting algorithm if not the exact same code.

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ig1
Yeh, it sometimes breaks and shows you posts from years ago. Normally fixes
itself after a while though.

