Get rid of the bot
this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2024
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Unfortunately the bot is fatally flawed as long as it's just repeating MBFC information. I would be interested in a community program but I have the same end worry. What's the risk that we create an echo chamber? It might be better than an echo chamber based on MBFC ratings but it's still an issue worth worrying about.
That said I'm down to try a community approach.
Probably not an issue with the bot itself, but just FYI, it appears the spoiler tags don't work on Boost.
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I wound up blocking your shitty bot because it spammed pretty much every post.
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Addressing the Overton window issue is the main fix I would hope for.
The proposed solution of a home-brewed open-source methodology of determining bias without the Overton influence would be a very welcome improvement in my opinion.
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Credibility isn't subjective. It should be a hard value.
Orientation is indeed subjective and unless in the extremes should (imo) not be defined
Although I do see that that bot has a very slight right wing bias I like it. It prevents the normalization of the use of literal propaganda outlets as news sources.
I have a suggestion that might be a good compromise.
The bot only comments on posts that are from less factual news sources or are from extreme ends of the spectrum.
On a post from the AP the bot would just not comment.
On a post from Alex Jones or RT the bot would post a warning.
That way there is less “spam”, but people are made aware when misinformation or propaganda is being pushed.
Also with such a system smaller biasses are less relevant and therefore become less important.
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How about just finally making the bot open source and let people comment or contribute there?
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Personally I'm in favor of the bot. One complaint I've seen that I agree with is that it doesn't need to float high up in the comments. If it was simply made to not upvote itself, it would stay nearer to the bottom naturally, which I think would be preferable.
I hate that I have to expand the section to see the rating. If that could be fixed, it'd be better.
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Bias ratings will always be biased. So aggregate or having multiple sources briefly used in a single small post would work best.