
How to create a digg/reddit popularity algorithm - domp
http://www.igglo.co.uk/4/writing-a-digg-style-popularity-algorithm/
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mauricecheeks
We have had some late night white boarding sessions formulating both
incredibly simplistic and overly complex algorithms. The middle of those two
is the hard thing to get to.

The most recent white board session ended in me deciding I need to write a
letter to my 9th grade math teacher. I think i gave her crap about how
algorithm homework was a big waste of time, but she made me do it anyway.

The idea of considering replies is interesting. On digg however, I find the
comments tend to be 98% worthless. I miss /. comments.

Probably the best/easiest thing to do is plan to be adaptive to how the
community uses your site. Your algorithm will likely need to change over time.

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BrandonM
I would also include the number of replies, although I must admit that I've
never implemented such a system myself. Typically, the best articles have the
most replies, and quite often, the most interesting content is the replies
themselves.

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domp
True. I never knew the way these news sites actually worked. There was this
post on reddit that made me search out this article. He was an upset new user
who kept submitting stories and they immediately were knocked down.

<http://reddit.com/info/1dk74/comments>

My concern is when Karma has an impact in your ability to contribute.

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whacked_new
Gut feeling says it does have an impact. I recall reading that reddit takes
into account how long a user has been registered.

The karma system is pretty interesting... there are definitely many variables
to play with in calculating "karma," but the end goal should be largely the
same -- measure a user's contribution to a community and also how trustworthy
the user.

While I am not familiar with current systems, it does look possible to
accumulate the same number of karma points by say, submitting a few very
popular articles, or by submitting many less-popular articles. So are these
two users treated equally when their scores are the same? If yes, then the
system is ignoring some valuable information! If no, then karma becomes a
rather meaningless measure.

