prepares his needle for poking
Personally, I'm still of the mind that limited features are a bit of a crutch. If a piece of functionality is so easy to abuse that it requires a time or number limitation, it seems to me that it's either compensating for something else or it shouldn't be part of the system at all.
The problem people keep bringing up is as such:
New threads don't receive enough visibility.
In my opinion, this misses the root of the problem. I think the real issue is what I have below, and it's something you touch on in the OP:
New threads don't receive any visibility from people sorting by the default option (Hot).
Here are some of the solutions that have been proposed:
- Votes don't have any effect until x amount of time
- Random assortment of new threads in Hot sorting
- x number of available endorsements available for x amount of time
- Votes don't have any effect until x amount of time
This doesn't solve the root problem; vote timers just allow a thread to stagnate longer instead of quickly moving. It might actually make visibility worse, because it could make it take longer for threads to reach Hot sorting.
- Random assortment of new threads in Hot sorting
This is the closest I've seen to something that would actually solve this problem, but it is also not feasible. The whole point of the sorting options is that it, well, sorts effectively. If there's a random hodgepodge of different sorting options from threads in the same place, it totally negates that.
- x number of available endorsements available for x amount of time
I think this general idea has some real potential, but I don't think it addresses the core issue. The main problem is that the default sorting method doesn't see new threads, and even though endorsement would be awesome for threads that have gotten off the ground it doesn't solve the lack of initial visibility.
Let's reiterate the problem: New threads don't receive any visibility from people sorting by the default option (Hot). Assuming this, these are the only possible core solutions I can see:
- Make new threads visible outside the New/Recent categories
- Change the default option to something other than Hot
- Create a new sorting option that combines Hot/Recent and make it the default
- Make new threads visible outside the New/Recent categories
How could this be done in a compelling way, theoretically?
- Change the default option to something other than Hot
This is my least favorite option, it still kinda misses the point in my mind. I'm assuming that the most commonly used sorting options are Recent and Hot, and switching from Hot to Recent as the default might not change much.
- Create a new sorting option that combines Hot/Recent and make it the default
This one could either be amazing or crash and burn horribly. A combined sorting option could do one of three things:
- Perfectly blend things the community thinks are important and new things to look at
- Be too messy and not effective as a sorting method
- Be completely ignored by users deciding to use the "pure" alternatives of Hot and New
Anyway, super long post. Sorry about that. On the original topic, I think the idea has potential; I just don't think it would be useful to address the issue of these threads not being visible from one of the most-used sorting options.
In what situations would you want to downvote a thread but still endorse it? What benefit is there to both upvoting and endorsing a thread?
