RE: Reddit drama
August 1, 2014 at 9:16 am
(This post was last modified: August 1, 2014 at 9:19 am by Napoléon.)
Napo here!
Heh, didn't think this thread would get that much interest so I can't say I'm surprised, I just thought there might be some other peeps who frequent reddit and follow this shit.
For those who might be faintly interested:
The basic gist is, the most 'famous' redditor (a biologist known as Unidan who posts in a lot of threads about biology, often speaking as the ultimate voice of authority in a sickeningly happy and pleasant manner) has been banned for using multiple accounts to boost his own posts with upvotes and downvote others that dare post an opposing viewpoint. From my understanding he would basically downvote any posts competing with his own, even if they agreed with him. He was basically using a shit ton of sockpuppets to give his popularity a boost, and give himself a false headstart. The way commenting and posting in general works on reddit, the first few upvotes/downvotes are crucial as to whether the 'reddit consensus' sides with you. He was essentially rigging the initial phase of voting so that he would always have positive votes when starting out with his comments, this is often enough to get hundreds more upvotes as people just assume what you're saying is right if it has upvotes.
The thing is, he's got quite a big fan club on reddit. And one innocent redditor in particular has had their comment scores (hell, her whole account) completely destroyed by downvotes from his fanbase, just because she got into an argument with him on the same day he was banned (people assumed it was due to this argument and not because he was sockpuppeting that he got banned). Also, a lot of other biologists and people who know their shit ended up getting ignored because everyone bums off of Unidan so much, they say things like "can we get Unidan to clarify" or "you're not Unidan". So much so that genuine biologists who have been in the field for 40+ years (when Unidan is just a grad student) are completely overlooked in favour of this asshat Unidan.
Now he's made another account, UnidanX and is trying to worm his way back into favour by apologising and making excuses. Having multiple accounts on reddit isn't against the rules, but vote rigging is, and the mods of the various subreddits can often see when you're doing it. Unidan got caught out and now his reputation is in tatters, it may even affect his ability to get a job once he graduates funnily enough.
Heh, didn't think this thread would get that much interest so I can't say I'm surprised, I just thought there might be some other peeps who frequent reddit and follow this shit.
For those who might be faintly interested:
The basic gist is, the most 'famous' redditor (a biologist known as Unidan who posts in a lot of threads about biology, often speaking as the ultimate voice of authority in a sickeningly happy and pleasant manner) has been banned for using multiple accounts to boost his own posts with upvotes and downvote others that dare post an opposing viewpoint. From my understanding he would basically downvote any posts competing with his own, even if they agreed with him. He was basically using a shit ton of sockpuppets to give his popularity a boost, and give himself a false headstart. The way commenting and posting in general works on reddit, the first few upvotes/downvotes are crucial as to whether the 'reddit consensus' sides with you. He was essentially rigging the initial phase of voting so that he would always have positive votes when starting out with his comments, this is often enough to get hundreds more upvotes as people just assume what you're saying is right if it has upvotes.
The thing is, he's got quite a big fan club on reddit. And one innocent redditor in particular has had their comment scores (hell, her whole account) completely destroyed by downvotes from his fanbase, just because she got into an argument with him on the same day he was banned (people assumed it was due to this argument and not because he was sockpuppeting that he got banned). Also, a lot of other biologists and people who know their shit ended up getting ignored because everyone bums off of Unidan so much, they say things like "can we get Unidan to clarify" or "you're not Unidan". So much so that genuine biologists who have been in the field for 40+ years (when Unidan is just a grad student) are completely overlooked in favour of this asshat Unidan.
Now he's made another account, UnidanX and is trying to worm his way back into favour by apologising and making excuses. Having multiple accounts on reddit isn't against the rules, but vote rigging is, and the mods of the various subreddits can often see when you're doing it. Unidan got caught out and now his reputation is in tatters, it may even affect his ability to get a job once he graduates funnily enough.
