What 'silences' a post is if nobody responds to it.

[denem]

A controversial, contrarian or inflammatory post will usually attract lively discussion and stay high on the forum list. Hard dissent, if anything, benefits from DU's default ranking by last reply. Moreover it is not possible to rank a forum by recommendations. I do not agree that the recommend/unrecommend options stifles much, if anything. What it does do it allow DU'ers to express their opinion, yea or nay.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. What you say is true

I have had many a post sink like a stone, and I consider that more of a failure than one where all the answers disagree with my opening opinion (though I much prefer having people agree and add to what I have had to say).

[PretzelWarrior]

3. I've just hidden this thread and you are on ignore.

j/k. :)

[denem]

8. Fine with me.

[PretzelWarrior]

13. it's a joke. i forgot to put the in the title

or a little ;)

[denem]

15. Very glad to see you're still here.

I didn't recognize the j/k. Thanks again for hanging tough.

[rucky]

2. Yep. Half of DU lives for that shit.

and they'll gravitate to the un-reced posts.

[kenfrequed]

4. Well

There are PR firms and lobbyist groups that do a tiny amount of web influence that they will contract out. If I were such a company I would probably have about a dozen puppets or whatever to drop topics numbers by unrecommending before anyone can post on them.

If it takes 10 posts just to crawl out of the basement it probably won't see the 'Greatest posts'

[denem]

5. The dozen puppets are better placed if it's recommend only.

A thinly veiled homophobic post can rise right through the rankings on freep support.

[kenfrequed]

17. Not really.

You see if it is an obvious bit of evil like homophobia it will be either struck down by a choir of 'nays' (thankfully), or people will keep it aloft long enough to tear the poster and his backers to shreds, or the moderators will consign it to the pits of hades.

In any case this kind of evil is easily thwarted and easily dispatched.


The real trouble again is the ability to kill or squelch pro-progressive posts silently and anonymously.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

11. If that were true, what is to stop someone from hiring someone to sign up and post flattering stuff

and rec it?

[kenfrequed]

18. Well...

Pro-posts are going to be a lot more suspicious. Particularly if they are advocating something that is not democratic or progressive. Things seen as off are going to be attacked and reported if they end up being offensive.

It is far better to prune ideas away and far easier using the unrecommend feature than it is to try to put up and keep up a believable artificial pro-x post.

Moreover if it is artifically inflated in terms of just recommendations it does not offer the artificial inflation agent an opportunity to control the discussion or its direction.

[tekisui]

6. It allows for anonymous votes to keep issues off the greatest

and the front page. Even those with lively debate could be kept off the greatest page.

That is fine for those who use GD, GDP or MyDU to read and converse. But, many use the greatest or front page to check in with what important issues are being discussion. They will likely miss out on much.

[zorahopkins]

9. Anonymous? I Think Not

I think I am correct when I say that people who "recommend" or "unrecommend" are not really anonymous.

I think I am correct when I say that the owners of DU are able to see who "recommends" or "unrecommends" a given thread.

[tekisui]

10. Sure, the owners can see. But, none of us can. It is anonymous to

the OP and any others in the thread.

[Luminous Animal]

20. So, it's a top down secrecy feature.

I like Kos feature where one can see who is doing the judging.

[Spazito]

7. I agree, it has no affect on which threads I choose to read/respond to...

and the recommend/unrecommend option only affects the Greatest page, one that, frankly, I rarely look at anyway. It is the header and content of the OP that determines, to me anyway, whether I recommend it or not.

[Life Long Dem]

12. Lately I haven't found many threads I want to read.

Lately, DU members have been dropping memberships, and say the same thing. I doubt it will go back to that.

[11 Bravo]

14. Then if you fail to respond to my post you are silencing me!

Censorship! The founding fathers are pissed! To the barricades!

[denem]

16. When good people do nothing ...

:)

[denem]

19. See?

QED

[RoyGBiv]

21. I never even use the Greatest page ...

And one of the main reasons is that I have found it useless given how easily utter garbage ends up there.

I might actually check it now.

[Greyskye]

22. Exactly the point I've been trying to make in another thread

It's an anti-unrec thread, with hundreds of replies and over 2000 views. And currently <0 recs. :shrug:

Rec'd. :evilgrin:

[Uzybone]

23. Everything stifles dissent according to crybabies and internet matyrs

[Laelth]

24. Some people only read the Greatest Page.

They don't peruse the forums. That's what I do, in any event, when I am busy. For those folks, all controversial topics will be gone. That is the stated purpose of this feature, for us to focus on the things upon which we all agree.

To that I say ... BORING, and a bad idea.

just my 2 cents.

:dem:

-Laelth

[glitch]

25. Yay :) nt

[denem]

26. ...