Hoover

[alwayswantedto]

<deleted>

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, I've experienced it, but I doubt we're ever going to be told why.

 

[Xelebes]

Somebody wondering about the hoover?

 

[Darkniciad]

Don't forget to check the release date of the story when you see a big one. The August monthly winners were just announced, so yet another contest sweep went through on stories from August of 2010. That's usually the source of large drops on older stories, as the monthly results are usually quite some time behind.

Beyond that, I've always suspected that once an IP has been flagged enough by sweeps, it gets blacklisted and the Hoover proceeds to eat every vote from that IP in the system, regardless of when and where it was cast. That would account for the smaller and most WTF losses of votes off stories that have seen very little movement in quite some time.

Don't forget that your popularity in the most read/voted category on the site is a likely factor, as well. I'd be willing to wager that your older stuff picks up new votes in exponentially higher numbers than the bulk of people on the site. Just because the story is old doesn't mean that the votes are.

In the same vein, the toplists are sometimes swept when suspicious activity is detected or reported. Your position on the toplists puts you in the crosshairs to lose votes due to people trying to manipulate those lists, as it's almost always the top end of the lists where most of the action takes place.

I've seen a noticeable drop in the number of votes swept from my stuff since I started a campaign a couple of years ago reminding readers "1 story, 1 vote" on a regular basis, and explaining why multi-voting might very well have the opposite effect of that intended. I added it to replies to comments, emails, added it to closing notes of stories, and posted it regularly on my website whenever a new story ( especially contest stories ) came out.

 

[alwayswantedto]

<deleted>

 

[Darkniciad]

Some interesting comments. I just checked and the stories with the biggest drops were released last August so I think you may have pegged it.

Odds are that you lost a lot of legitimate votes as well. That's the give-and-take of eliminating as much of the chicanary that an open, anonymous, internet poll introduces. Lots of throwing out the baby with the bathwater, trying to root out the people playing with their IPs to rig the voting one way or the other.

It's generally pretty even across the board, though. Up to 20-30% for contest sweeps ( montly or themed ) and everyday sweeps should be a lot less. Everybody gets screwed When you're outside the margin of error, it's time to start looking for causes.

A lot of times, that cause is your fans.

 

[scriptordelecto]

Odds are that you lost a lot of legitimate votes as well. That's the give-and-take of eliminating as much of the chicanary that an open, anonymous, internet poll introduces. Lots of throwing out the baby with the bathwater, trying to root out the people playing with their IPs to rig the voting one way or the other.

It's generally pretty even across the board, though. Up to 20-30% for contest sweeps ( montly or themed ) and everyday sweeps should be a lot less. Everybody gets screwed When you're outside the margin of error, it's time to start looking for causes.

A lot of times, that cause is your fans.

We have fans around here??