Take a Look at the Greatest Page...

[rucky]

and tell me you don't see a vast improvement in the quality of posts. All the cream and none of the fat. It's working - because it's self-correcting. All the concerns of abuse are countered by the same people who voiced them.

StarStarStarStarStar

General Discussion
Congratulations Free Republic! Your antics made the front page of my Canadian newspaper!
+541 votes : By JBoy

General Discussion
BREAKING: NYT reports Cheney told CIA to hide info from Congress
+147 votes : By kevinbgoode

General Discussion
"Your politics are some of the meanest politics I have ever heard"
+131 votes : By unapatriciated

Latest Breaking News
NYT: Cheney is Linked to Concealment of CIA Program
+90 votes : By The Blue Flower
StarStarStarStar

General Discussion: Presidential
PHOTOS Ghana. (Warning: 45 pics!)
+67 votes : By Jackeens

Political Videos
Insurance Companies Game-Plan To Attack Sicko and Michael Moore (Video)
+65 votes : By lame54

General Discussion: Presidential
Newsweek: AG Holder leaning towards special prosecutor for torture!
+59 votes : By NewJeffCT

General Discussion: Presidential
Obama Surprises Russia
+56 votes : By babylonsister

Latest Breaking News
New Evidence Surfaces in Post-Katrina Crimes
+50 votes : By sabra

General Discussion: Presidential
Obama: Stimulus Designed To Work Over Two Years -- Not Four Months
+49 votes : By ProSense

General Discussion: Presidential
An Emotional President Obama Tours Former Slave Port with Family
+49 votes : By rvablue

General Discussion
I hope Skinner sticks with the new "unrecommend" function.
+48 votes : By kentuck

General Discussion
HOLY CRAP! Ford's pardon of Nixon was engineered by The Family!!
+40 votes : By nashville_brook
StarStarStar

General Discussion
Regarding Dick Cheney
+35 votes : By H2O Man

General Discussion
Un-Rec This If You Dare
+35 votes : By lame54

General Discussion
A response to Jim Robinson's most recent rant
+33 votes : By AllentownJake

General Discussion
Judge Sentences Marijuana Advocate to Shut Up
+33 votes : By Flaneur

General Discussion
I would bet my marbles the health insurance companies are posting here.
+32 votes : By wroberts189

General Discussion
Former CIGNA executive says Michael Moore was right all along
+32 votes : By Mari333

[Warren Stupidity]

1. I agree.

I think there are valid concerns that this could devolve into something else, but for now the new system appears to be working quite well.

[Laelth]

2. It's an excellent, happy, liberal news feed.

With little, if any, discussion.

And that's fine, but I thought this was a "discussion" board.

:dem:

-Laelth

[rucky]

6. There's no shortage of spirited discussion around here.

They're not hard to find if you check post counts. I don't think it's necessary to showcase it, because they always end up near the top of the forum pages anyways.

[Laelth]

9. True. The spirited discussion just isn't on the Greatest Page.

And I am glad you're willing to admit that. As I said to Skinner in response to another post, I think that my concerns can be entirely eliminated with the addition of a "Hottest" page (a page like the Greatest Page that ranks threads by the sum of recommends and unrecommends with, perhaps, a 30 total vote minimum, and with an aggregate sum of less than +5--because threads that are +5 or higher appear on the Greatest Page). If there were a nice little icon at the top of the forum, say between Greatest and Lobby, it would address my concerns perfectly. With such a page, minority opinion OPs that generate lots of responses would still appear in an easy to access place and would get significant attention, but they would not "poison" the Greatest Page and would not project from DU's home page an opinion that the majority did not share. That addition, I think, would satisfy both camps in this particular debate.

Thanks for the response.

:dem:

-Laelth

Edit:Laelth--sloppy proofreading.

[FlyingSquirrel]

46. Nice idea. Try PM'ing Skinner with it.

eom

[lumberjack_jeff]

36. Discussion?

No one wants to see that shit.

[truedelphi]

40. Funny how the notion

That we need the Un rec feature occurred less than fourteen days after Obama asked that us wanker progressives stop jabbering away so much.

After all, if we really wanted health care reform, we would quit whining about it on Du and take to the meetings offered by Wh and industry. The attendance at those meetings only requires
$400,000. And if they really, really like you, I have heard they will settle for $ 250K !!

[ensho]

3. how many people check out the greatest page? I never do

I do the Home page and then jump into the Forums

curious, how many DUers check out Greatest everyday?

[lamp_shade]

5. I never used to, but with this new feature, I can now safely go there FIRST.

[rucky]

11. Same here.

I quit looking after I realized "greatest" = most popular.

[itsrobert]

10. Same with me

All I ever seen on the Greatest page is "Rec this" and you open the thread is a link to the person's blog.

[fishwax]

24. I just jump to the forums

[inna]

26. i used to read ONLY the GP; that's the way the DU is bookmarked in my browser.

i imagine that many people - especially "part-time" DUers such as myself - read only or mainly the GP.

[noamnety]

41. I used to use it as my main entry page.

I've stopped because of this feature.

In a lot of posts - not yours here, others I mean - people seem to be saying "who cares, nobody uses the greatest page, I certainly don't - but they feel strongly about wanting the ability to keep some posts off of it. I don't understand that combo.

Seems like either you see it as having high visibility and you understand why people care one way or another, or you don't care and would be fine with the old system because you don't find the issue relevant to anyone.

[Sherman A1]

30. Same Here

I think I have been to the Greatest Page once in many years of hanging around DU. I do have a solution to the rec/unrec feature that works for me. I simply won't use either. I did rec threads in the past but no more......

[onehandle]

47. After over eight years as a member, I switched my bookmark to the Greatest Page.

Now I go to Latest second.

It's a vastly improved DU.

[donheld]

I do every single day

I work all day. It's very nice to come in at the end of the day and see what people thought were important threads. I go through the greatest page first then hit GD, GDP and LBN if something big has happened. It saves lots of time having to search for what's hot.

[donheld]

48. once was enough

[lamp_shade]

4. Really nice. A sorely needed change.

[fascisthunter]

7. how would one determine a difference without a comparison of some sort

looks fie to me, but I'm not sure this validates the point you are trying to make.

[BlooInBloo]

8. I've asked repeatedly for a screenshot from pre-unrec time. No-one seems to have one....

Also, if we were able to see the rec counts, we could figure out ourselves what *would* be on the Greatest page.

[yoyossarian]

12. Sez YOU!

I liked the way it looked before; more diversity...

I haven't seen ANY GLBT issue posts making it to the Greatest of late...
Gee, I wonder why that might be?

If you're all for the tyranny of the average, I guess it's obviously
an improvement...




Great tee-shirts, buttons and such at
Laugh City!


President Evil Online
has risen from the grave!

[Uzybone]

13. Because DUers hate teh gays of course

can you link us to one "GBLT post" that should be on the greatest page?

[yoyossarian]

16. No, I WON'T do your work for you...

But I'm reasonably sure they're out there; such threads have always been well-featured
on the Greatest in the past... I find it odd that they're ALL GONE now...

And I NEVER claimed that DUers, as a group, hate teh (sic) gays, as you put it...
there are many, many cool enlightened people on these pages...

But because it IS such a divisive issue, one that even the most brilliant people
are often ill-informed about UNLESS they actually know someone experiencing the
very common repressions, subtle and otherwise, that ALL GLBT individuals are prey to,
I repeat my claim that this may be the BEST test of the worth and efficacy of Unrec...

I've started a new thread on this subject, by the by:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6048594

I think my initial observations are valid; I've NEVER seen such a dearth of Greatest posts
on this subject, not until recently...

And btw, when you say "the" gays, it's a lot like saying "YOU people" to anyone of color...


CHENEY-DOG SAYS "I HIGHLY APPROVE OF ALL FORMS OF CENSORSHIP!"

Great tee-shirts, buttons and such at
Laugh City!


President Evil Online
has risen from the grave!

[lindisfarne]

39. 8 out of 24 threads in GLBT forum started since July 8 have been on GP. n/t

[scheming daemons]

50. What? You're using *FACTS* to counter an irrational rant?

How oppressive of you.


;-)

[rucky]

14. Do you have a particular post in mind?

That should've made it, but didn't. I haven't seen many GLBT issues in the past couple days, so I'm not sure if there's enough time to make that call. I hope you're wrong about that, because I'd hate to think we'd have more malicious un-reccers than defenders of GLBT.

[BlooInBloo]

21. It's just false.

[earth mom]

15. Yet there is nothing critical of Obama or anything that shows how he is under corporate control.

But there is a groupie thread of photos. :eyes:

UNREC and happy to do so.

[Incitatus]

51. Mission accomplished!

:patriot:

[blondeatlast]

17. For a new visitor to DU, that opening page is a vast improvement. I don't care one way

or another about the new feature--but those stories are compelling; it's nice to see the internet-literary version of McDonald's wrappers gone from it. (opinion--that's what this place is about, gang, right?).

[earth mom]

18. How is there anything literary about hiding half of the truth?

:wtf:

You guys are delusional. :crazy:

[rucky]

19. Now look at page 1 of general discussion...

and tell me if anything's being sanitized.

Controversial posts always rise to the top of the forum pages. They don't need to be showcased on the greatest, as well. The features work fine, we just need to know how to use them.

[earth mom]

20. Look at GD-P and see all the negative zeros on threads that are critical of Obama.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's happening around here.

This place is now marching in lockstep to the DLC tune.

[inna]

23. agreed. the "greatest" page might as well be renamed as the "groupthink" page. nt

[earth mom]

31. Yep, but because there are some legitimate threads on the greatest page they can pretend

that they are all pure as the driven snow.

I wasn't born yesterday.

[ohheckyeah]

33. People do have the ability to go to the forums

and read what they want. That's what I do. I don't really need someone else to recommend to me what I should read.

[MineralMan]

37. Like you, I'm drawn to threads that are very active, so

it sounds like the ones you mention have been pushed to the top through activity. Apparently, lots of people are reading them and commenting. That's a good thing.

[rucky]

29. Yes, They're all kicked up to the first page.

and available for discussion. And I'll probably gravitiate to those posts, because politically I think we're in the same camp.

[Forkboy]

45. Who says you have to believe something based on the number of recs?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

49. Yes, but most of those threads suck. n/t

[LWolf]

22. As a frequent user of "the greatest,"

I don't see any improvement, let alone a "vast" improvement.

For example, the post that has the most recs, an astounding 541, is all about Free Republic. Unfortunately, the tone of many of the posts on that thread is a mirror image of what you can find at FR. It's kind of embarrassing to me when DUers act like the very people they are putting down. Reflects poorly, and there it is at the top of the greatest.

If I wanted to give FR any attention, I'd go over there.

No Jackson posts, but of course, since Tuesday, there haven't been that many on the site.

There is a post about the unrec feature; how does that rate as "greatest?" And the "unrec if you dare;" mocking the whole process.

+32 for someone accusing DUers of being health insurance lobbyists.

+ 67 for a photo album that amounts to, in my opinion, cheerleading pr.

There's substantive stuff there, too, of course. But then, there always was.

Meanwhile, there are some posts with potential for substantive discussion that have <0 posts:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6047373

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8524548

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8520551

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8524077

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8518616

There's an interesting pattern in all of those <0 threads, but not one that reflects well on DU. Perhaps some of those topics were substantive enough to be worthy of the "greatest." :shrug:

[inna]

34. extraordinary! i checked the links, and i really would like to know...

... what the agenda of the "unreccers" is! why, for example, sink an article by Robert Reich (in the first link)??

wtf? :shrug:

[LWolf]

44. I can only offer my suppositions,

based on what a few posters have said openly, and the evidence.

Some threads are automatically "unrecked" by some because of who the OP is. A way to attack someone who stands on the other side of the party divide.

Anything that is critical of Obama, his administration, or his plans gets hit automatically, whether the criticism is valid or not. The rest of the links, after the first, offer some evidence of that.

And that's one of the ways to identify which OP's posts are likely to be hit the hardest; those who have been more vocal in criticism.

[TorchTheWitch]

38. Did you read these threads?

I noticed you mentioned the "Unrec if You Dare" thread with the description that it mocked the whole rec/urec process and can't see why that should be on the greatest page... BUT if you ACTUALLY READ IT you would have discovered that the thread has nothing to do with the rec/unrec debate and only linked a full length video of Michael Moore's "Sicko".

The greatest page is not going to be and CAN'T be everyone's perfect filter that shows all of us those posts we personally think should be there and nothing that we think shouldn't. There's going to be stuff there that you won't think should be there and there's going to be good threads not there that you think should be. You now have the option to BOTH rec threads you think should be there AND unrec those you think shouldn't... and you've got a problem with that?

Why in the world are you complaining that there's threads on the greatest page that you don't think should be there AND complaining about the new unrec feature??? With the unrec feature you should be HAPPY that you can now actually DO something to get those threads off the greatest page that you don't think should be there. :crazy:

[LWolf]

43. Yes, I read it.

I think that thread titles should accurately reflect content. If I wanted to link to "Sicko," then I would click on that thread. If I didn't, then I wouldn't click on it.

Effective use of my time.

I don't expect "the greatest" to be a list of my personal favorites, and I never suggested any such thing.

I just pointed out that, contrary to the OP, I don't see an improvement ushered in by "unrecommend." Then I referenced some of the posts the OP provided as evidence.

I also didn't "complain." I disagreed. I hope you can see the difference and tone the hyperbole down a bit.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. Anti minority bull shit

[bvar22]

27. Thats really great....

...IF you like Vanilla Ice Cream.

[inna]

35. ... and GroupThink. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

28. The top 11 (with one exception: a photo thread) are hotlinked articles.

The 12th is a thread thanking the admins for providing a "you suck" button.

I frankly not only don't see any improvement in the quality of posts, in fact I see no posts (in the sense of original writing) whatsoever. Further, the top 10 collectively have attracted about as many comments (if you ignore the hell yeah's) at #12 has by itself.

Are we a discussion board or a news aggregator?

[orleans]

32. link?

lol.

[muriel_volestrangler]

42. An analysis of GDP posts since the system change, and the equivalent time a week before

If you sort a forum by thread start time, you can see what happened to threads in the time period since the 'unrec' choice started.

I've done this for GDP - it's relatively unaffected by threads about the rec system itself, and, a week ago was unaffected by Michael Jackson threads (though Sarah Palin threads were notable - more were started, but the proportion of recommendations seemed to go down - I would guess that many said the same thing, and so found less interesting). It's also one of the forums on which criticism of the mainstream Democratic line, in the form of the President, is most likely to turn up.

I reckon the last 4 pages cover the rough time period that people have been able to unrec threads (when it became available, you could unrec threads less than 25 hours old, but ones close to 24 hours would be less likely to be voted on than newer ones at the time, I reckon, so there isn't an exact starting time). The equivalent period a week ago, roughly, is pages 9 to 12. (Of course, that was a holiday weekend, and what's in the news is always going to change. But if anyone's inspired to pick a different time period, go ahead).

The count of threads that got a rec value of +5 or more was done by eye so I'll likely be a few out, but anyone can check this (or you could start and finish a count halfway down the pages, if you want, to get a closer match between the time of day for start and finish). Since this is an equal number of pages, it's an equal total number of threads.

Pages 1-4 (after 'unrec'): 90 hours, 100 GDP threads made the Greatest Page
Pages 9-12: (before 'unrec'): 86 hours, 67 GDP threads made the Greatest Page

So, it seems more is making it to the Greatest Page. Perhaps Palin dominated the political discussion a bit too much last weekend, and so there wasn't so much to discuss that people found 'great'. Perhaps people have been reminded of the recommendation system, and are now using it a bit more?

[TexasObserver]

52. I just looked at the GP again, and it still looks great!

Nice clean up job with unrecommend in action.