New year, new commitment to getting our product evaluation process right!
Starting with this week’s evals, we will no longer be counting ideator comments in our “Most Comments” sorting algorithm.
We made this change after many community members expressed concerns that “comment padding” — the practice of flooding an idea with unnecessary comments to boost comment counts — was messing with our ability to bubble the best ideas to the top.
We still think that comment counts are a good way to measure buzz around an idea, but we also want to make sure it’s not used as a tool for manipulation. All comments, including those by the ideator, will still be counted, but only non-ideator comments will be factored into the “Most Comments” sort. We’re hoping this will result in a fairer, more honest product evaluation process.
This certainly isn’t the end of improvements, so please keep your feedback coming on our support forum! We’re as eager as you are to make our evaluation process the best it can be.
19 Comments
Ken Daniels | 01/03/2011 2:04 PM
Yahoooo! And big fat Thank You.
Maria | 01/03/2011 2:20 PM
Very Smart move!
Ken Somerby | 01/03/2011 2:25 PM
A step in the right direction!
justin | 01/03/2011 2:26 PM
Wooohoooo! Nice.
marc | 01/03/2011 3:21 PM
i love it.
bikr | 01/03/2011 4:17 PM
Definitely a step in the right direction!!!
Awesemo | 01/03/2011 5:21 PM
Well done
Andrew Agate | 01/03/2011 6:12 PM
Thank you again for listening to us. I think this is another step in the right direction. Something that might help improve it even further, is to add a checkbox to the comment box that allows the commentor the opportunity to indicate what kind of comment it is. This could be praise for a good idea, constructive criticism, or whatever other tags would be value added in deciphering what type of comment was given. Some sort of point value can be given in you algorithm to better sort the submissions.
Peter G | 01/04/2011 7:52 AM
For a user unfamiliar with the bad history of comment padding… Don’t you think it confusing to see the ‘Sort by: Most Comments’ NOT in fact sort by most comments???
Again I ask… wouldn’t a sort by ‘Most People Participating’ be more logical?
Ken Daniels | 01/04/2011 9:25 AM
@Pete – I see what you’re getting at and agree the sort outcome will be confusing, but if the idea is to minimize a persons ability to draw an unwarranted amount of attention to their entry by inflating the activity within their thread, wouldn’t your proposal just mean that the Ideator who can get the most folks to chime in again unfairly rises to the top? If instead there were two stats User Comments (which you sort by) and Ideator Responses you not only see where there is activity, but you also get a sense of which individuals are active in supporting their own idea. I am shocked at how many people let Comments go unaddressed for days on end. Just makes me feel as though they aren’t serious about the process, and I want to take that into account when voting.
Peter G | 01/04/2011 10:16 AM
@Ken… My argument is the added confusion the sorting title brings for new users…
Sort by: Most Comments (…but not really)
I wholeheartedly agree with the thinking behind it, just not with the chosen implementation. This is a step closer in my view, but not quite getting the product evaluation process right. There’s enough doubt and confusion going on with the Most-Popular filter, why add another non-nonsensical sorting order?
BTW, I think counting Only People Participating is equally open to abuse as the proposed not counting of ideator comments, but…
I like to think/hope that the required additional step of the Ideator blatantly and clearly requesting comments from his/her followers on facebook would be just a step too far for most folks.
uniqueideas | 01/04/2011 11:25 AM
Thanks…looking forward to this change.
jess | 01/04/2011 11:32 AM
@Peter: Get what you’re saying. Can you think of an alternative? Maybe “Most Participation”?
Tyrel | 01/04/2011 11:59 AM
This is great – thanks!
Peter G | 01/04/2011 1:13 PM
@Jess… I think ‘Most Participation’ is an excellent alternative.
Also(?)… ‘Most Discussion’ ‘Most Feedback’
I was just about to suggest that perhaps confusion can be avoided with this new sorting algorithm for Most Comments by simply omitting the total-count for Comments. (Currently to the left of ‘* Rate this Idea’)
…but as I was about to hit Post Comment I realized how useful this number is when I want to know if more comments have been added to an idea I’ve commented on. (I keep a written tab during evals with comment count for ideas I’m following)
WESLEY PARKS | 01/04/2011 1:53 PM
Make it “COMMENTS BY NUMBER OF PEOPL
wesley parks | 01/04/2011 1:56 PM
OK we need to limit ideas that are already for sale showing up in the most popular. It ridiculous to follow their example link where you can buy the item already for sale that is not a new idea.
Just a beef
elevenacres | 01/05/2011 1:43 PM
Can comments earn influence money?
gltovar | 01/05/2011 5:50 PM
Maybe you guys can consider a Disqus system for you comments, where you can count the highest most comments as unique (unless by the creator) but also allows the replies to be visible but less prominent.