HN Explorer

Ask HN: Is "Ask HN" broken?

19 points by dgunn ↗ HN
I thought item ranking was based on a combination of votes (both up & down) and time. A quick look at the "Ask HN" page shows that this can't be the case. I keep seeing posts from months ago show up. This doesn't appear to be happening on the main page. Does anyone know what is going on?

8 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 34.0 ms ] thread
revorad
There's definitely something strange going on. I often see really old posts with few points show up. Sometimes it's nice to see an old post, but it's at the cost of pushing out new posts.
dgunn
I commonly refresh the page and get a nearly brand new list of items. Most of which I read weeks ago. I'm just wondering if it isn't some sort of feature meant to give a second (third, fourth, nth?) chance to items which may have been pushed down prematurely. I think this because the front page works fine and I imagine they use the same sorting algorithm if not the exact same code.
noodle
I think it is broken, yes. Sunday, I submitted a weekend project, and despite having 6 votes and 8 comments, its weighted super low and comparing it to similar submissions, I see no correlation.

It got those first points quickly when it was top of the new queue, and once it fell off the first page of new, it disappeared into a black hole. Not a big deal, I would've just loved to get more feedback/ideas/comments.

edit: I went ahead and checked. Its showing up as #519 right now for me in the ask queue, behind things like 1 point submissions from 30+ days ago, and other stuff like that.

ColinWright
Don't forget that the invisible flags affect the rankings. People seem to have become more aggressive lately about flagging things they think don't belong, and some have - to mind mind - rather odd views in that regard. A few flags from a minority of zealots with a misplaced enthusiasm and an item will sink like a stone, never to be seen again. I've generally found that that explains most of the otherwise apparently odd behavior, but I don't usually watch the "Ask" page.

Can you point out anything on the "Ask" page that you consider odd?

dgunn
[edit: actual explaination and not just an example]The following is an example of what doesn't make sense to me. Although, I realize that this could be explained by flags that I'm not aware of.

47. Ask HN: Does anyone use Opera browser? 3pts/54days

56. Ask HN: Media Temple 3pts/796days

60. Ask HN: What is your impression about new friend list feature in Facebook? 5pts/2days

ColinWright
OK, I have no idea why the "Media Temple" item is ranked so high.

Fer reference, reports of unexpected behavior are best received when they contain really, really specific examples, rather than just generic "I don't understand this" type comments.

I now leave you to people who might actually know how the system works.

dgunn
Yea, that one is particularly bazaar. It's probably gone now. They just crop up and vanish randomly from what I can tell.

Duly noted on the best practices advice. I should have initiated with an example.

ig1
Yeh, it sometimes breaks and shows you posts from years ago. Normally fixes itself after a while though.