Like/Dislike counts whack on my profile

nolamacguy · January 11, 2016 6:39PM

the other week i had some Dislikes, but not many of them (my Likes outweighed by a 4:1 ratio). last week i noticed my Dislikes count skyrocketed into the hundreds, outweighing my Likes by 2:1...:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/profile/204038/nolamacguy

....i suspect this is incorrect. there are no 100 pages of supposed Disliked comments, but i think those were actually Likes, not Dislikes.

hard to say, tho -- since AI still has a glaring bug where you cannot see the Like/Dislike tallies on your own posts.

gatorguy · January 11, 2016 7:00PM

nolamacguy said:

the other week i had some Dislikes, but not many of them (my Likes outweighed by a 4:1 ratio). last week i noticed my Dislikes count skyrocketed into the hundreds, outweighing my Likes by 2:1...:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/profile/204038/nolamacguy

....i suspect this is incorrect. there are no 100 pages of supposed Disliked comments, but i think those were actually Likes, not Dislikes.

hard to say, tho -- since AI still has a glaring bug where you cannot see the Like/Dislike tallies on your own posts.

Looks like in the "2016 will be a rough year" theard you have slightly more likes than dislikes, but not by a lot. Why worry about it tho is my attitude. If you're writing what you believe, and have good supporting reasons, and most importantly were polite is stating it then why worry if someone doesn't like what you said? Heck there's folks that will "dislike" even a politely worded factually accurate post simply because they don't like the thing that was mentioned. Then you see "likes" on an already shown to be untrue piece of FUD simply because it's a piece of FUD they would like to be true, facts be damned.

So it's not terribly important what the like/dislike ratio is. More important is the why. If you go back and re-read some of them and realize after the fact you were being rude or disrespectful then its an indicator to change your ways. If instead the posts were accurate, on-topic and respectful who cares who didn't like'em.

nolamacguy · January 11, 2016 9:06PM

gatorguy said:

nolamacguy said:

the other week i had some Dislikes, but not many of them (my Likes outweighed by a 4:1 ratio). last week i noticed my Dislikes count skyrocketed into the hundreds, outweighing my Likes by 2:1...:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/profile/204038/nolamacguy

....i suspect this is incorrect. there are no 100 pages of supposed Disliked comments, but i think those were actually Likes, not Dislikes.

hard to say, tho -- since AI still has a glaring bug where you cannot see the Like/Dislike tallies on your own posts.

Looks like in the "2016 will be a rough year" theard you have slightly more likes than dislikes, but not by a lot. Why worry about it tho is my attitude. If you're writing what you believe, and have good supporting reasons, and most importantly were polite is stating it then why worry if someone doesn't like what you said? Heck there's folks that will "dislike" even a politely worded factually accurate post simply because they don't like the thing that was mentioned. Then you see "likes" on an already shown to be untrue piece of FUD simply because it's a piece of FUD they would like to be true, facts be damned.

So it's not terribly important what the like/dislike ratio is. More important is the why. If you go back and re-read some of them and realize after the fact you were being rude or disrespectful then its an indicator to change your ways. If instead the posts were accurate, on-topic and respectful who cares who didn't like'em.

you've missed the point. my count jumped by hundreds in a week, beginning last week before that article was written. even were it after that publish date, while it may be appealing to believe my anti-troll comments on that article generated hundreds of impressions w/ the haters & trolls, i doubt that very much based on what i observed in the thread -- before the troll was banned and his posts removed. no, I've tracked my activity on this site and this is non-normal. considering other things got messed up in the new forum conversion, this could be another.

for instance -- theres no way on earth that i have nearly FIVE HUNDRED MORE dislikes on this site than you, and more than than extreme banned-troll sog35... not. possible.

Image: http://forums.appleinsider.com/uploads/editor/4v/7ou7oobbagoc.png

as for netiquette, I've likely been online longer than you (FidoNet for me), but regardless dont need advice from a resident FUDder, however polite. thanks tho.

muppetry · January 11, 2016 9:39PM

Looking at your posting history, all your posts, back as far as September, have at least one dislike. Almost certainly, someone recently went through and disliked every post - hence the jump.

gatorguy · January 12, 2016 1:16AM

nolamacguy said:

gatorguy said:

nolamacguy said:

the other week i had some Dislikes, but not many of them (my Likes outweighed by a 4:1 ratio). last week i noticed my Dislikes count skyrocketed into the hundreds, outweighing my Likes by 2:1...:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/profile/204038/nolamacguy

....i suspect this is incorrect. there are no 100 pages of supposed Disliked comments, but i think those were actually Likes, not Dislikes.

hard to say, tho -- since AI still has a glaring bug where you cannot see the Like/Dislike tallies on your own posts.

Looks like in the "2016 will be a rough year" theard you have slightly more likes than dislikes, but not by a lot. Why worry about it tho is my attitude. If you're writing what you believe, and have good supporting reasons, and most importantly were polite is stating it then why worry if someone doesn't like what you said? Heck there's folks that will "dislike" even a politely worded factually accurate post simply because they don't like the thing that was mentioned. Then you see "likes" on an already shown to be untrue piece of FUD simply because it's a piece of FUD they would like to be true, facts be damned.

So it's not terribly important what the like/dislike ratio is. More important is the why. If you go back and re-read some of them and realize after the fact you were being rude or disrespectful then its an indicator to change your ways. If instead the posts were accurate, on-topic and respectful who cares who didn't like'em.

as for netiquette, I've likely been online longer than you (FidoNet for me), but regardless dont need advice from a resident FUDder, however polite. thanks tho.

It's VERY unlikely you've been participating in on-line discussion forums longer than I have.

FYI: Using terms like "resident FUDder" might explain why some folks might, perhaps erroneously, believe you're being disrespectful/discourteous towards them. That might lead to a "dislike" or two if those are concerning to you.

gatorguy · January 12, 2016 1:21AM

muppetry said:

Looking at your posting history, all your posts, back as far as September, have at least one dislike. Almost certainly, someone recently went through and disliked every post - hence the jump.

Excellent catch sir. That would explain it.

muppetry · January 12, 2016 1:46AM

gatorguy said:

muppetry said:

Looking at your posting history, all your posts, back as far as September, have at least one dislike. Almost certainly, someone recently went through and disliked every post - hence the jump.

Excellent catch sir. That would explain it.

A very strange and immature thing to have done, and must have been quite time consuming. I wonder what could have driven such behavior?

gatorguy · January 12, 2016 2:01AM

muppetry said:

gatorguy said:

muppetry said:

Looking at your posting history, all your posts, back as far as September, have at least one dislike. Almost certainly, someone recently went through and disliked every post - hence the jump.

Excellent catch sir. That would explain it.

A very strange and immature thing to have done, and must have been quite time consuming. I wonder what could have driven such behavior?

Yup, very strange. Obviously rubbed someone the wrong way. Seems like something a bored teenager would do.

nolamacguy · January 12, 2016 5:31PM

gatorguy said:

nolamacguy said:

as for netiquette, I've likely been online longer than you (FidoNet for me), but regardless dont need advice from a resident FUDder, however polite. thanks tho.

FYI: Using terms like "resident FUDder" might explain why some folks might, perhaps erroneously, believe you're being disrespectful/discourteous towards them. That might lead to a "dislike" or two if those are concerning to you.

identifying agendas plainly in no way accounts for 500+ negs in a week. you're getting hung up on it, but i dont mind that the trolls and FUD-spreaders get their feathers ruffled, and i needn't dress my posts up to protect their feelings. some negs are normal.

there is definitely something whack w/ the count...either a technical one, or a misuse of the system (tho I'm more skeptical that anybody clicked thru 500+ of my posts or had the chops to write a script). i was hoping to hear back from AI staff, but nothing yet. surely they log the tallies even if theyre presented as anonymous.

tallest skil · January 12, 2016 5:45PM

nolamacguy said:
for instance -- theres no way on earth that i have nearly FIVE HUNDRED MORE dislikes

Maybe someone just ran a bot on your old posts?

As long as like/dislike doesn’t have an effect on the VISIBILITY of your posts, what does it matter? Fake internet points are the least of anyone sane’s worries.

I speak mainly of children here; not to disparage your question, which is valid.

nolamacguy · January 12, 2016 5:54PM

tallest skil said:

nolamacguy said:
for instance -- theres no way on earth that i have nearly FIVE HUNDRED MORE dislikes

Maybe someone just ran a bot on your old posts?

As long as like/dislike doesn’t have an effect on the VISIBILITY of your posts, what does it matter? Fake internet points are the least of anyone sane’s worries.

I speak mainly of children here; not to disparage your question, which is valid.

it's a new feature, id like it to work correctly. as it stands today, were a user/moderator/admin to review my post history, the numbers would indicate troll behavior on my part. this is inaccurate and not how the feature is designed to function.

gatorguy · January 12, 2016 9:25PM

nolamacguy said:

tallest skil said:

nolamacguy said:
for instance -- theres no way on earth that i have nearly FIVE HUNDRED MORE dislikes

Maybe someone just ran a bot on your old posts?

As long as like/dislike doesn’t have an effect on the VISIBILITY of your posts, what does it matter? Fake internet points are the least of anyone sane’s worries.

I speak mainly of children here; not to disparage your question, which is valid.

as it stands today, were a user/moderator/admin to review my post history, the numbers would indicate troll behavior on my part. this is inaccurate and not how the feature is designed to function.

Just because someone doesn't like what you had to say doesn't = Troll.

A troll would be purposefully irritating other members using name-calling, veiled accusations, and other forms of personal attack hoping to get an angry response or heated discussion out of it. Politely offering a viewpoint (particularly if backed up by fact) would not be considered trolling by any standard. Don't worry if you have a high "dislike" count if you're conducting yourself as you would like to be treated in return.

AppleInsider · January 12, 2016 9:51PM

nolamacguy said:

tallest skil said:

Maybe someone just ran a bot on your old posts?

As long as like/dislike doesn’t have an effect on the VISIBILITY of your posts, what does it matter? Fake internet points are the least of anyone sane’s worries.

I speak mainly of children here; not to disparage your question, which is valid.

it's a new feature, id like it to work correctly. as it stands today, were a user/moderator/admin to review my post history, the numbers would indicate troll behavior on my part. this is inaccurate and not how the feature is designed to function.

The feature works fine, someone really doesn't like you. We do log all likes and dislikes. We'll speak with them about abusing the system, but maybe take a minute or two to think about what you post, and why it would inspire someone to go to those lengths.

nolamacguy · January 12, 2016 10:13PM

gatorguy said:

nolamacguy said:

as it stands today, were a user/moderator/admin to review my post history, the numbers would indicate troll behavior on my part. this is inaccurate and not how the feature is designed to function.

Just because someone doesn't like what you had to say doesn't = Troll.

A troll would be purposefully irritating other members using name-calling, veiled accusations, and other forms of personal attack hoping to get an angry response or heated discussion out of it. Politely offering a viewpoint (particularly if backed up by fact) would not be considered trolling by any standard. Don't worry if you have a high "dislike" count if you're conducting yourself as you would like to be treated in return.

I'm well aware of what a troll is. you seemed to have left out that trolls needn't be verbally abusive, and can in fact operate quite civilly while spreading FUD in a routine manner. its a thing, it happens.

but back on topic -- in my opinion, having 500+ dislikes at a high neg ratio is a good sign of trollish behavior. and as i said, since its not accurate id rather not have that data attached to me. YMMV.

nolamacguy · January 12, 2016 10:17PM

AppleInsider said:

nolamacguy said:

it's a new feature, id like it to work correctly. as it stands today, were a user/moderator/admin to review my post history, the numbers would indicate troll behavior on my part. this is inaccurate and not how the feature is designed to function.

The feature works fine, someone really doesn't like you. We do log all likes and dislikes. We'll speak with them about abusing the system, but maybe take a minute or two to think about what you post, and why it would inspire someone to go to those lengths.

no victim blaming, please. my posts are fine, and as i said before last week i had a 4:1 positive ratio from users of this site. the site has been inundated with many trolls lately, and several of them have been banned in the past week. if you know who ran a bot over my posting history, then id recommend you ask them to take a minute or two to think about what they've done.

thanks for looking into it and identifying the problem behavior. is it possible to undo the work of the abusive user/bot?

crowley · January 12, 2016 11:11PM

Not always a fan of nolamacguy's posts, but if someone has disliked every one of his posts then that's tantamount to harassment, and anti-social behavior on a message board. If possible, such a user should have like/dislike ability withdrawn, and if not should face a temp ban for abusing the functionality to cause insult. If personal attacks are against the rule then this kind of behavior should be too.

muppetry · January 13, 2016 1:44AM

nolamacguy said:

gatorguy said:

FYI: Using terms like "resident FUDder" might explain why some folks might, perhaps erroneously, believe you're being disrespectful/discourteous towards them. That might lead to a "dislike" or two if those are concerning to you.

identifying agendas plainly in no way accounts for 500+ negs in a week. you're getting hung up on it, but i dont mind that the trolls and FUD-spreaders get their feathers ruffled, and i needn't dress my posts up to protect their feelings. some negs are normal.

there is definitely something whack w/ the count...either a technical one, or a misuse of the system (tho I'm more skeptical that anybody clicked thru 500+ of my posts or had the chops to write a script). i was hoping to hear back from AI staff, but nothing yet. surely they log the tallies even if theyre presented as anonymous.

You may be skeptical, but it is pretty obvious that it happened.

tallest skil · January 13, 2016 2:08AM

muppetry said:
You may be skeptical, but it is pretty obvious that it happened.

I just had a brief flash as one of my working neurons swung past an obviously forgotten patch of them. This system seems similar to the old one used by 9to5Mac (hey, is that still word filtered?). A bot could easily be written for that software to downvote every comment made by a given account. Since it was trivial to make new accounts, a legitimate account could be brigaded into invisibility (because of automated shadow banning) within minutes of hurting someone’s feelings.

muppetry · January 13, 2016 2:46AM

tallest skil said:

muppetry said:
You may be skeptical, but it is pretty obvious that it happened.

I just had a brief flash as one of my working neurons swung past an obviously forgotten patch of them. This system seems similar to the old one used by 9to5Mac (hey, is that still word filtered?). A bot could easily be written for that software to downvote every comment made by a given account. Since it was trivial to make new accounts, a legitimate account could be brigaded into invisibility (because of automated shadow banning) within minutes of hurting someone’s feelings.

Interesting - the coding does look quite primitive - it's just a simple href constructed with the post number. You are probably correct.

nolamacguy · January 13, 2016 4:17PM

crowley said:

Not always a fan of nolamacguy's posts, but if someone has disliked every one of his posts then that's tantamount to harassment, and anti-social behavior on a message board. If possible, such a user should have like/dislike ability withdrawn, and if not should face a temp ban for abusing the functionality to cause insult. If personal attacks are against the rule then this kind of behavior should be too.

not every one of my posts, just every one back to September.

it would be somewhat trivial to write a SQL statement to disable/delete the feedback rows from a particular UserID to another UserID within a date range.

nolamacguy · February 5, 2016 9:18PM

despite AI identifying that an malicious user abused their new system to give me 500 downvotes, you never ran any sort of SQL query to remove them. nor have the contact people on the contact page responded to emails on the matter. uhh, thanks guys... any chance you can undo the damage by the abusive user?

Like/Dislike counts whack on my profile

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