Votes disappearing

[JBEdwards]

I wonder what;s going on? Suddenly lots of votes are disappearing from my stories. I know that sometimes the Lit powers that be purge the 1* bombs from trolls, but now they seem to be purging other scores too from my stories, since the scores are decreasing, not increasing. Weird, right?

JB Edwards

 

[Blind_Justice]

The sweeps not only erase 1-bombs, but suspicious 5-bombs as well. Or so I've heard.

 

[JBEdwards]

Thanks

I guess that must be what's happening. I guess the editors at Lit are hyper suspicious! I do appreciate the 1* trolls being deleted, though.

I guess we authors communicate by rumor....Well, there are worse ways to learn things.

Thanks for the reply and the explanation, JB

 

[ElectricBlue]

The sweeps not only erase 1-bombs, but suspicious 5-bombs as well. Or so I've heard.

Yep, low troll scores and "helpful fives" are just as likely to disappear when sweeps are run. The algorithm obviously targets suspicious voting behaviour, both low and high scores.

 

[RejectReality]

If your score starts decreasing when sweeps run through, then you have fans trying to "help" you out by multi-voting, down-voting others, etc. Or people who like your stories are engaging in asshattery on other people's stories.

Once I started adding an end note to almost all of my stories ( as well as my website, etc. ) telling people I didn't want that sort of help, the score loss during sweeps more or less stopped. It's something you have to do with regularity. You pick up new readers all the time, and you'll inevitably pick up a few who are overly enthusiastic.

 

[Sonatatre]

I think it is good that the function to search out spammed votes exists. I think most of those are 1 star votes, even if sometimes the votes can come from helpful fans that want to get the stories scores up.

 

[GroverLang]

One 1-bomb on a story needs around ten or more 5 stars to equal it out. So if you have one 1 star and five 5 stars removed your score should go up. If it goes down there’s a problem.

 

[GroverLang]

Once I started adding an end note to almost all of my stories ( as well as my website, etc. ) telling people I didn't want that sort of help, the score loss during sweeps more or less stopped.

How did you get the message across to the trolls with their 1-bombs?

 

[NotWise]

One 1-bomb on a story needs around ten or more 5 stars to equal it out. So if you have one 1 star and five 5 stars removed your score should go up. If it goes down there’s a problem.

A one bomb and ten 5* votes "equal out" at a score of 4.64.

A 1* vote and five 5* votes is a rating of 4.33. If the score started out below 4.33 then it would be unchanged or go up. If it started out above 4.33 then it would be unchanged or go down.

 

[RejectReality]

I've had a couple of anonymous contacts over the years saying that they were planning to bomb my score, believing that it was being artificially inflated by rabid fans, in order to make it more 'realistic', but they changed their mind when they saw that note.

One even went into a detailed list of the research they had performed before finally deciding it wasn't just some ploy to throw people off the scent of some elaborate cheating scheme. Checking my other stories, my other pen names, my website, Twitter, Facebook, the little essay on the subject I wrote, my forum posts, the other story sites where I post, etc.

So, it at least has the potential to stop one segment of the score bombing crowd — the vigilantes. Probably a drop in the bucket, but every bomb that doesn't hit you makes a difference.

How did you get the message across to the trolls with their 1-bombs?

 

[KeithD]

I don't think notes on stories motivate trolls to not troll. Let's get real.

 

[RejectReality]

To be clear, I'm talking about my note not to multi-vote my stories, not a note saying "Please don't 1-bomb me!"

The latter is just asking for someone to scrawl your URL on the muck-covered wall of the bridge they all live under.

I don't think notes on stories motivate trolls to not troll. Let's get real.

 

[MagicFingers]

It's frustrating but they are trying to be fair

I have a couple of stories sitting at 4.49 that I think should be 4.50. A few times, the vote went to 4.50, then after a sweep?, went back to 4.49.
Maybe I just have to write 1% better!
I do like that they are watching this for us!

 

[SimonDoom]

I have a couple of stories sitting at 4.49 that I think should be 4.50. A few times, the vote went to 4.50, then after a sweep?, went back to 4.49.
Maybe I just have to write 1% better!
I do like that they are watching this for us!

I have one that's been hovering at 4.49 since last September. I keep thinking it will get over the hump but it doesn't quite do so. Patience!

 

[RetroFan]

I've always been curious how they can tell troll 1 star votes from genuine 1 star votes.

For example, say I wrote a Loving Wives story set in the late 1960s about a young recently married couple where the husband is conscripted to fight in Vietnam, and instead of being concerned about her husband serving overseas the wife goes around screwing every draft dodger and anti-war activist hippie she can jump into bed with. When the husband returns from Vietnam he is in a bad way both physically and mentally, but the wife - now pregnant to another man as a result of her promiscuity - kicks him out, files for divorce and gets everything courtesy of a good lawyer, leaving the returned soldier alone, devastated and with nothing, while the wife thrives and has only good fortune despite her behavior.

Such a story (I don't intend to write it BTW) would be hated by the Loving Wives crowd and get plenty of 1 votes and angry comments, so how could these votes from people who hated the story be differentiated from votes by trolls?

 

[KeithD]

They'll never tell us. Because then the trolls would know what they have to work around.

 

[Bramblethorn]

They'll never tell us. Because then the trolls would know what they have to work around.

Also, for this reason, Laurel has requested that we don't speculate on those methods here.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I have a couple of stories sitting at 4.49 that I think should be 4.50. A few times, the vote went to 4.50, then after a sweep?, went back to 4.49.
Maybe I just have to write 1% better!
I do like that they are watching this for us!

In my experience, the best way to push your old stories up is to write new stories. People who like the new stories will check out your other stuff, and if they liked the one they'll probably like the other.

 

[Jada59]

I don't think notes on stories motivate trolls to not troll. Let's get real.

Hehehe. Oh please sir, don't!

 

[LupusDei]

I've always been curious how they can tell troll 1 star votes from genuine 1 star votes.

In one word: metadata.
IP, cookies, browser signature, heuristics like timing data, event sequencing etc.

Just like Google captcha can tell you are likely a human just by the way how you check the "I'm not a robot" checkbox and click a button. That "how" can be easily analysed and will differ quite sharply, rather necessarily.

Well most one-bombers here are likely human, but sorting actions by intent and spotting bad behavior is still possible. The real battlefield those technologies are studied and weapons honed are multi-accounting and macro-scripting prevention in online gaming. One can use different browsers (even fully purpose-written dedicated clients) and any number of proxies, but one glance at the statistical data will show with accounts are likely linked. And even on the cutting edge of technology with real money on the stakes the hard proof will likely be human error. Our one-bombers are unlikely ambitious hackers out of work, so actually, that's easy chore.

 

[KeithD]

In my experience, the best way to push your old stories up is to write new stories. People who like the new stories will check out your other stuff, and if they liked the one they'll probably like the other.

Bingo.

 

[SimonDoom]

In my experience, the best way to push your old stories up is to write new stories. People who like the new stories will check out your other stuff, and if they liked the one they'll probably like the other.

True. And especially true if you publish more stories in the same category as the old ones you want to boost.

Plus, I don't get too worked up about old stories. I'd be happy if my two year old 4.49 story got over the 4.5 hump, but I spend more time trying to figure out how my next story will be better than the old ones.

 

[GroverLang]

In my experience, the best way to push your old stories up is to write new stories. People who like the new stories will check out your other stuff, and if they liked the one they'll probably like the other.

I think you have something there. There are writers who submit a story every few days and, although on the whole the stories aren’t much to write home about, they do very (but not always) well as do other stories by those writers. No one really knows the answer so we just plod on, but I think sticking to the same category and formula may have much to do with it.

 

[yukonnights]

I think you have something there. There are writers who submit a story every few days and, although on the whole the stories aren’t much to write home about, they do very (but not always) well as do other stories by those writers. No one really knows the answer so we just plod on, but I think sticking to the same category and formula may have much to do with it.

But sticking to the same category and formula would become soooo boring, wouldn't it? As has been said for years here, it's silly to write just for a perfect reception by the readership. I think the increase in followers from just publishing stories frequently would be significant—and adequate— in and of itself. And in my case, I get bored with authors who do fall into a routine to the point their stories are the same with just a few character and setting changes. So it can backfire too. (disclaimer: I publish rarely and in spurts. So 'followers' and large audiences don't even play into my plans...so what do I know )

 

[GroverLang]

But sticking to the same category and formula would become soooo boring, wouldn't it? As has been said for years here, it's silly to write just for a perfect reception by the readership.

Judging by a great proportion of the stories on here a lot of readers like the boring crap many writers come out with. But for myself, writing in the same category until infinity would make me want to commit suicide because it would be so boring.