Slashdot spam
Posted on February 18, 2008
I came across this article via Tech Dispenser and it got me briefly wondering about Slashdot’s moderation system. The author there apparently hasn’t been around Slashdot that long, otherwise she would know a bit more about how it’s evolved over the years.
Mainly, she writes about Firehose, which is a new feature for /. that shows the submission queue to logged in members and allows them to vote articles up or down (sort of like Digg, now that I think about it). Articles that are rated high enough get sent to the main page where everybody can see them.
The author, who is a PR person, insinuates that it is inevitable that Slashdot’s queue will be taken over by PR people. She writes,
“Slashdot is a valuable public square, and it is inevitable to flacks will be attracted ot it. Somehow Slashdot’s proprietors will have to find ways to prevent us from taking over.”
[typos included- MPH.]
While I’ve seen a lot of press releases and all-out ads in Slashdot’s Firehose, none of those end up on the main page. I think the Firehose is just the queue and the users have their say, but in the end it is up to the site moderators to send stories to the main page. The mods presumably know their audience and know what will interest them. Regardless of how a story is rated in Firehose, it is up to a mod to send it to the main page.
Related posts:
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
I have been reading Slashdot on and off for a few years. Whether or not I understand it, readers can judge for themselves. Putting a client press release in the queue for the firehose is just one way a flack could use Slashdot. There are many other ways, mostly involving comments, that PR could drive Slashdot.
We are as much a part of the tech community as anyone, and have a place on Slashdot, so long as we treat the community with respect. I simply observe that one of the challenges of running a successful online community is making sure the pros don’t over run the place.
I have seen some pretty blatant ads in Slashdot’s Firehose. I was just checking a little bit ago and saw an ad for some hotel in Dallas, complete with the phone number in the title. I wonder about the effectiveness of it. Something like that is not likely to get sent to the main page. I don’t think bots from the search engines will crawl the Firehose, though I could be wrong.
I would worry about Slashdot if something like that did get to the main page.
To get an idea of how the moderation system developed for comments, they have a handy FAQ. It’s pretty interesting.
As long as a comment is on topic, it is not likely to get modded down. However, if a person keeps submitting stuff that gets modded down, it will karma. When a person with good karma posts, they get a bonus, and their posts automatically start a bit higher, but if a person with bad karma posts, the posts will start below zero. I think someone in public relations would have to strike a balance. A blatant ad would get modded down, but a persuasive argument might get modded up.
I’m a bit cynical and jaded when it comes to public relations, but I am optimistic about Slashdot’s moderation system. It’s not foolproof, but it’s pretty good.