Ernest just posted some comments clarifying recent changes to Votes, Boosts, Favorites, and Reputation Points:
- Upvotes & Downvotes function akin to Reddit
- Boosts count as two Upvotes (link)
- Favorites are added to https://kbin.social/fav if you Upvote (link)
- Reputation Points have been updated
In addition to that, Ernest stated that “there is no connection between reputation points and sorting algorithms. It’s just info in the profile” (link)
this just makes it a 2 step hassle to properly upvote something, and skews everything upward since you can either give something +3 or -1. Scores will reflect popularity more than general quality consensus.
I think that’s just an unavoidable consequence of having a forum that allows for voting like this. Even on Reddit, very few people upvoted/downvoted according to the “official” guidelines (based on whether or not a post was of quality/contributed to the discussion) and instead just upvoted what they thought was funny or downvoted what they disagreed with.
That’s a people issue more than it is a UI/UX issue.
Im not talking about any guidelines, just barebones I like this or I dislike this. With this setup most people could dislike something and it still have a very positive score.
This is an interesting point - controversial posts could rank highly if people keep boosting as flippantly as they have.
The algorithm can always be refined later if needed. The idea at the moment is an upvote is an upvote, then if you really like something and want to republish it onto your own profile you boost it. If people understand that and use it this way it does makes sense that boosts have a greater significance than an upvote.
I think many here don’t realise a boost is fediverse equivalent of a retweet.
You can either vote 3 times or 1 time for something, which are you picking? Its not flippant, its how its designed right now.
…or 2, or -1. But if you boost it becomes part of your profile. It is broadcast to everybody who follows you. It can be seen on your profile indefinitely (…you’ve boosted some weird stuff!)
I make some weird stuff