But quantifiable karma and leaderboards that result from the addition of numerical values serve as incentives for users to contribute to the community.
For the site owner, 'the game' is in his/her interest because it pulls people in to participate. It gives recognition to the efforts of site users.
I'm not sure how effective 'good', 'very good' or 'poor' will perform as a substitute.
As long as cost is manageable and the number of free accounts limited, why not?
How about free accounts for a set period of time (3 mths)? And maybe setup a special referral program to give kickbacks (commission) to students who refer people who sign up for paid accounts. This can be credited to each students account. Don't know your audience though so these are just some general suggestions..
Automated DMs to new followers can be a little off-putting. Because most of the ones I've received are self-promotional messages, some are even affiliate links. But I think it can be good way to say 'hello', some people don't like it though.
From what I've heard, some people schedule tweets for followers in another time-zone. I don't consider it spam at all. Twitter is opt-in anyway and scheduled tweeting is no different from 'normal' tweeting. As a user, you usually can't tell the difference.
First of all, I don't have a 'cause' or agenda. I found some tips in this article useful and hence submitted it. That's all. Content quality is subjective, some hate it and some like it. I have no control over this and neither do I have a problem with negative comments ON the article itself. What I dislike are personal attacks like this.
I don't even know who you are so I'm not sure why you are targeting me. Had a bad day?
Are you suggesting that top ten lists are inherently flawed? Should all list posts NOT ever be submitted to Hacker News? Or are you suggesting that I shouldn't be allowed to participate in this community because everything I share is more or less rubbish?
I joined this community 602 days ago. That's 1 year and eight months ago. I'm not a fly-by-night spammer. Everyone can see the stories I submit to verify this.
Your obvious condescension is quite unnecessary. And frankly, I find it quite insulting. I don't have a devious plan to destroy Hacker News so maybe you should chill out a bit.
Sorry, I wasn't trying to be insulting. I just noticed that you've had other run ins submitting digg like stuff. But the other readers have spoken, you win; I lose.
I'm not looking to 'win'. It doesn't give me any satisfaction. Just trying to understand your antagonism towards me, a stranger who just happens to ALSO be a digg user (something you seem to consider as an inherently inferior sub-species of internet people).
Hacker News is not Digg and therein lies its appeal. I love the intelligent comments here and the stories are terrific. So don't think for a second that I'm trying to 'ruin' the community by submitting digg-like content (whatever that is).
In any case, its a SOCIAL news site. Let the community sort it out with editorial votes. Wisdom of the crowds, yes?
There's no way I'm going to make everyone happy with my submissions. It's impossible. As long as its really interesting to me, doesn't violate TOS, isn't spam and falls within the general topical focus/interest of Hacker News readers, I'm going to make use of my right to contribute to the community.
I wish something like this won't happen again. If you want to continue this off-topic discussion and thoroughly exhaust your frustration, feel free to rant at me in private. My email is in my profile. Cheers.
Anyways...no frustration on my part (what about you?). I was just too trigger happy from the recent spam HN has been getting. That's all. Apologies man.
Condescending, much? You make it seem as if all Digg users are retards and Hacker News readers are inherently superior in both intellect and manners. Well, yeah maybe in some cases.. but come on. I find it insulting that you seem to suggest that I'm of an inferior breed ('oh look he's a digg user') and I shouldn't be allowed to infiltrate this community.
And I've been here for a while, didn't just sign up last month to submit spam. See my user history and join dates.
Quality is really subjective. The frontpage of any social news site will never be 'perfect' for everyone. But if you close off the site, you limit submission variety...you tend to see the same sources from the same people.
Opening it to the public allows more diversity in content/discussions. Honestly, I think Hacker News is doing great, the quality is terrific...at least compared to other sites that I visit often (digg/reddit).
The thing with Drudgeretort.com is that it is just a knock off trying to attack the original. How often is the knock off as successful as the original. For those that would say that Google wasn't the first search engine, miss the point. Google created something different and better, Drudereport just tried to copy and paste their way to success, I however do think that Drudgeretort likely makes a descent bit of money, just not as much.
I however, do think that it is more the name, and the fact that he has always tried to show something different to the Main stream media that have lead to his success. He also knows his audience very well. I really don't think the design is the biggest element to his success, it is just a help to his success.
I hadn't visited the DrudgeReport in many years. The DrudgeRetort actually looks like (from what I remember) what the original used to look like. Interesting that www.drudge.com points to the retort, not to the original.
I think the main issue for these sites is reliability. I still remember many URL shortening services that sprung up in the last few years, before quietly going offline...URLtea is an example.
People use tinyurl because they know the links will stay active, at least for a long time after they are posted.
For the site owner, 'the game' is in his/her interest because it pulls people in to participate. It gives recognition to the efforts of site users.
I'm not sure how effective 'good', 'very good' or 'poor' will perform as a substitute.