SaidIt Survey: Proposed layout modifications. Example images of 2 default + 2 custom CSS, with/without mods. Removed voting icons to leave only voting numbers moved with source url to right side. I would assume a hover label of "Interesting" or "Fun" would pop up. (Add "Vote" for clarity?)

submitted by JasonCarswell from infogalactic.com

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[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

I like antiques. But only classy ones. There are a lot of tacky antiques out there.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

So you think voting and the popularity game is a priority over content?

I think people are interested in the popularity of submissions, and that they'll be drawn to high voted links that are not in their typical spheres of interest.

Also, platform consistency is helpful for crossover familiarity.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

You didn't answer my question about the priority.

The votes aren't gone or disappeared. They're still there. But do they get the front seat or can they ride second fiddle?

Consistency and familiarity is nice but it's not like I'm reinventing the wheel. A car with a steering wheel on the right side is still a car. You and all visitors will get used to it faster than you realize.

The question is priorities.

If it's not already clear, I think voting is nice and can be indicative of some quality sometimes, yet at the same time is not proof or any kind of measure at all when dozens of better posts go unnoticed.

For example, right now the hottest post on SaidIt is my "Anti-Donald #HandsOffVenezuela" image I reposted from the Ryan Dawson Discord chat. I went there today to find out what he's up to after being banned. Meanwhile my another of my posts "The Many Types Of Pedophiles + War Is Worse - (Not for the faint of heart.)" around the same time has zero posts. I'm not saying it's the greatest piece of writing, but one took minimal effort and the other took a lot of thought and effort. And effort isn't the end-all measure either. I could spend a week composing my best essay and it might be shit or I might come up with something brilliant in an hour. The point is I don't think votes deserve to be top priority. But I'm not a Redditor and I'm not your average SaidIt bear.

That's why I'm curious what others think about their priorities.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

The point is I don't think votes deserve to be top priority. But I'm not a Redditor and I'm not your average SaidIt bear.

Reddit does a decent job of frontpaging high up-vote to subscribed ratios, so less popular subs can have visibility. Which is practical.

However, I don't think that a better voting alternative for popularity exists.

Popularity should drive priority in a quasi-democratic forum. The quasi isn't a criticism, as they'd be insane to turn this over to the public, and I think they're surely more even handed than I.

Can you think of a single post that they've pulled? I'm very curious about this.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

You still haven't answered the question.

Voting is part of it. It has inherent pros and cons. There is no perfect solution. And there is no way that I can see to even improve the weaknesses of the system, and I expect that if someone came up with improvements they'd be applied. So I agree, a better voting alternative doesn't exist.

Popularity does drive the priority generally speaking regardless where the buttons are placed. The hot page will always be hot and it will always be measured by votes. (Personally I'd like each page to have 3 options: list by vote, date, and alphabetically - to scan through them for differing priorities, yet still with the same content, from just that page, not the whole database.)

I agree with your quasi-mode idea. The more I think about it the more I think SaidIt needs to be centralized under their stewardship, but needs to take measures to decentralize the backups, alternatives, archives, etc. so it can be instantly resurrected or forked if taken down. Maybe there's a way to federate it but I think these trusted gatekeepers are critical to the SaidIt brand and offshoot not under their purview may taint it.

I don't know about posts, I'm not as dialed in or been here as long. I haven't witnessed or even hear rumour. Breakfast Dan was shooting his asstroll mouth off in the chat the other day and that got rebooted.

So is voting the top priority and does it NEED to be first? Or can it be shifted to the right. YouTube votes are not on the right and they're still functional.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

The votes on the right helps encourage voting, by making it noticable and easier. Voting should remain first, as it's the primary participatory option.

A simple click.
Or two...
Or three; to unclick the first one.

The stewards are clever and likely have forks, etc.
If not, then I'm sure you'll help them with that. I'm not sure how control of forks works, it is that's feasible.

Either way, their the captains of their own ship. They're as experienced as anyone at Redditing, and they know what had failed in the past.
IIRC you really didn't car for Reddit, so you could ask them for insight about specific justifications. They probably couldn't quantify much of it, as it's experience based, so you have to deal with the issues before the solutions make sense. That's a guess, but I'm an expert theorist/guesser.

Quasi mode was taken out of context. Please go read my comment for specifics. Quasi mode should be inclusive of subs, not exclusive of subs.
Free speech 100% especially for voices with messages that I despise..

Does that help?

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I think you mean votes on the left.

I'm not talking about the primary participatory option (which is actually reading the title). I'm talking about what is valued more - the article or voting?

It's not more noticeable no easier. I just happens to be in a familiar place. Where are the votes on YouTube? In the same place they always are.

Stewards? Forks?

SaidIt is not Reddit. This is one way to make that abundantly but subtly clear.

I was making a pun on Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Damme.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

YouTube mostly cares about views. Not votes.

People up-vote things that they don't read. It's a fact. That makes it the default highest priority target, if we want to increase viewership.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

YouTube mostly cares about presenting videos, not views nor votes.

I'm suggesting SaidIt care more about presenting content, not votes.

People up-vote things that they don't read. It's a fact.

If this fact is true then is their vote as legitimate a measure, and if it's not should we emphasize an illegitimate measure, or is it okay to shift it to the right because it's not entirely illegitimate?

That makes it the default highest priority target, if we want to increase viewership.

How? That's a mighty leap in logic there.

There's also the presumption that "we want to increase viewership".

What does "viewership" mean to you? Does quality count? Quality of people, quality of content, quality of votes?

And when the swarms of masses come, will the problems solve themselves or go away? I suspect they'll get exponentially worse.

The voting popularity contest is a dilemma. I've posted stuff for kicks to see what they might accrue out of curiosity. Mostly I just don't give a fuck, except when I think I've posted a gold nugget that gets overlooked.

If there was an option to get rid of the votes altogether and put a limit on say 5 quality posts a day or the current setup - I'd go with the current setup. But I honestly think my slight modification is a step in a better direction, if only ever so small.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Voting is the top, because it's the essence of the format.

Get rid of voting, and everything else is moot. It would be a random article site.

If articles were eliminate; text posts could be commented on, and voted on. And vice versa.

Voting is the primary function.

It cannot be eliminated or reduced, as it's the primary method of participation.