How far back do sweeps for?

[GroverLang]

I recently had a story that, when it came off the first page, had nine 1-bombs and a rating of 3.98. A couple of weeks later it was up to 4.76 so obviously a sweep had taken place, for which I’m very grateful. But it set me wondering how far back do sweeps go? Obviously, I wouldn’t think, one would cover all stories submitted in the last twenty years but I wondered if anyone had any ideas?

I thought perhaps about three months after coming off the first page taking into account the sheer volume of stories over all categories. Also by that time the story would be settling down to around what it’s lifetime rating is going to be. If that’s the case then any low stars beyond that period will always remain.

I think, hope, my story was a one-off because although I’ve had 1’s before never such a proliferation. But I can see it putting some writers off submitting anything more.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I’ve seen corrections happen to older stories. As to the how and why and when of it, Laurel discourages discussion of the sweeps, feeling it might give clues as to how to defeat them.

One-bombing trolls are the thistles in the Garden of Lit. The sweeps happen from time to time, often during contests. If you feel you have been seriously trolled, use the Report Story icon and ask for a sweep.

God luck.

 

[NotWise]

I think, hope, my story was a one-off because although I’ve had 1’s before never such a proliferation. But I can see it putting some writers off submitting anything more.

My oldest stories sometimes have votes swept. The old stories don't get many votes, and so they don't get trolled all that much, either. But don't think your old stories are safe, even if they have hundreds of votes. Anyone can, at any time, take it upon themselves to "correct" your score(s), so the sweeps have a place even for older stories.

 

[lovecraft68]

They recently announced monthly winners, generally they do a pretty deep sweep when they determine those. Same for the final contest sweeps.

That's usually when you'll see some older work get cleaned up

Its funny to note the changes on top lists where fluffed stories take a hit and bombed stories rise.

Then...check back in a couple days when the trolls and cheerleaders have gone back and affected them again.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

I can't believe have the kind of time or hate to keep 1 bombing stories over and over again.

 

[KeithD]

I can't believe have the kind of time or hate to keep 1 bombing stories over and over again.

I can.

 

[GroverLang]

I can't believe have the kind of time or hate to keep 1 bombing stories over and over again.

I roam around several categories to see if I can find a story which attracts me and I’ve noticed over recent weeks very few new stories are getting above the magic 4.5. Is this because stories, from new or existing writers, are poor or is it because the trolls need their hunger satisfying more than in the past? It seemed to start at the beginning of the year. Why do they do it?

Everyone who wouldn’t do it can’t get inside the mind of these morons. Perhaps they’re just armchair benefits trolls or set aside thirty minutes each day to hurt someone they don’t know and will never know.

 

[lovecraft68]

I roam around several categories to see if I can find a story which attracts me and I’ve noticed over recent weeks very few new stories are getting above the magic 4.5. Is this because stories, from new or existing writers, are poor or is it because the trolls need their hunger satisfying more than in the past? It seemed to start at the beginning of the year. Why do they do it?

Everyone who wouldn’t do it can’t get inside the mind of these morons. Perhaps they’re just armchair benefits trolls or set aside thirty minutes each day to hurt someone they don’t know and will never know.

I'm not stat obsessed, but I noticed going back even a couple years ago stories in most categories on new lists do seem to have fewer H's. Could be trolls, could be less people voting, but it can definitively be seen

Authors who have been around a long time or are very popular in a certain category seem to be immune to it though from what I can tell. Personally I haven't seen much decline and at this point I've only posted 4 stores in the last 2+ years, but I built a good following before that.

 

[NotWise]

I roam around several categories to see if I can find a story which attracts me and I’ve noticed over recent weeks very few new stories are getting above the magic 4.5. Is this because stories, from new or existing writers, are poor or is it because the trolls need their hunger satisfying more than in the past? It seemed to start at the beginning of the year. Why do they do it?

Everyone who wouldn’t do it can’t get inside the mind of these morons. Perhaps they’re just armchair benefits trolls or set aside thirty minutes each day to hurt someone they don’t know and will never know.

Not all sub-5* votes come from trolls.

I'm also not sure there's any site-wide trend to fewer scores over 4.5. I just checked the number of red-H stories in several hubs (that's something I do now-and-then), and they don't seem unusual to me. Voters in a few hubs awarded red H's to 50% of the stories on the hub, and 8-10 red H's out of 25 stories weren't unusual.

I do think that EC has become a tougher crowd than it used to be, but that isn't a recent trend.

There's also the possibility that the glut of stories we've had recently includes some that aren't very good, and a possibility that the shut-in voters are grumpy.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Another possibility is that the trolls are becoming more active. That might make sense, given the time they must now have on their hands, what with CV19 cutting down on the job opportunities for purse-snatchers, body snatchers and night soil collectors.

Another possibility is that many more self-isolating individuals are trying their hand at writing for the first time, ones lacking the skill that comes with experience.

I wouldn't worry, GL. These things have a way of righting themselves.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I thought perhaps about three months after coming off the first page taking into account the sheer volume of stories over all categories. Also by that time the story would be settling down to around what it’s lifetime rating is going to be. If that’s the case then any low stars beyond that period will always remain.

Generally speaking you'd be right, your scores will settle over time and the effect of sweeps declines.

But people continue reading and voting on old content all the time, so the likelihood of a fucktard is always there. I've got content that's five years old now, and every now and then I'll spot an odd shift in the score and view count that has to be a sweep go through.

The thing that makes me curious, though, is how the top quartile of my stories slowly moves around. It makes sense that readers of my back catalogue will gravitate to the highest scored stories, but the way they do so is intriguing - it's mostly the same stories in my top twenty, but they change order over time. It's almost like they take turns to move up and down the ranking.