Sweeps: How Common is Losing 5s?

[MrHereWriting]

Sweeps: How Common is Losing 5s?

How well liked are you by the administration?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Sweeps: How Common is Losing 5s?​

It’s a common misconception that sweeps only target low votes. They don’t discriminate by value, any of 5️, 4️, 3️, 2️, and 1️ can be swept. It is how the vote is cast (and characteristics of the ‘person’ casting it) that selects for deletion [insert standard text about not divulging how sweeps work]. I’ve done my own research and confirmed my speculations about the broad nature of the selection process [you can take the girl out of science, but… ].

Recall that even a 4️ vote is a negative the way things are set up here. It seems typical that whatever is going on with the toplists can be effected sometimes with a string of 4️s in a row - but not always. I’ve also seen things like 5 x 4️s on a competition entry toward the end of voting. And seen other authors report this.

If 5️ votes are swept it’s either a) something weird but innocent about how the vote is recorded [I can’t say more], b) ‘over enthusiastic’ fans lodging multiple votes, or - the horror - c) authors inflating their own ratings.

I’m not for a moment suggesting that c) applies to you, but it’s not exactly uncommon for people to be competitive by giving their own work the rating it ‘deserves.’

 

[pink_silk_glove]

@EmilyMiller, will you stfu! already contemplating how sweep work and educating trolls and wannabe trolls on how to evade them? You are the one super pissed off and crusading about troll-evading votes. FFS! Smarten up.

 

[SmilingLez]

It will be curious to see if my ratings increase for my April Fools entry Under the Sea story once a sweep happens.

I also wonder if the lower rating is due to the ending (not the happily ever after because I also submitted it to the Tainted Love Erotic Horror challenge) and is more subjective.

 

[LargoKitt]

Join the club.



They have not, and they will not. Some posters claim they have inferred how sweeps work. Those people are generally careful not to talk about it here.



We are heavily discouraged from speculating about how the sweeps work. It's a VERY longstanding AH policy.

How do we even know that such a thing exists? I know that counts and ratings change is something other than a pure accumulative way. But where did anyone who talks about how it works get their info?

 

[RejectReality]

The website has laid out the basics long ago. Stories are swept for illegitimate votes. The one and only criteria they have ever revealed is that multiple votes from the same IP/ID are removed. Everything else comes from experimentation and observation, which is imperfect at best.

 

[BeechLeaf]

The most basic information is from the pairing of score and number of votes. If a story is on 4.5/2 you know what the two votes were; likewise 4.33/3. I vaguely considered writing a quick program to see how far you could keep doing this, but by then I'd read enough here to know vote tallies weren't worth pursuing, and I haven't looked at mine since. Other people have pursued it more obsessively, but it apparently requires frequent monitoring so you catch each update.

But if you can do this - track each vote - then certain patterns emerge. A really good writer provided evidence that they had lots of 5's and some 4's, which is what most people would agree is what they deserve. The odd 3 is okay, but frequent consecutive pairs of 1's is ridiculous for a writer of such quality. And as a contest deadline approached, the sneaky buggers were bombing the story with 4's - just enough to subtly lower it. The ingenuity of both parties was impressive.

 

[EmilyMiller]

How do we even know that such a thing exists? I know that counts and ratings change is something other than a pure accumulative way. But where did anyone who talks about how it works get their info?

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/thank-you-🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏.1651290/

 

[alohadave]

How do we even know that such a thing exists? I know that counts and ratings change is something other than a pure accumulative way. But where did anyone who talks about how it works get their info?

https://www.literotica.com/faq/publishing/suspicious-votes

 

[IWroteThis]

How do you know?
I guess there must be a deeper analysis than just the headline average?
If so what is the path to it?
Thnx

They don't. At best, they know that they lost 22 points from 6 ratings, but they don't even really know that. Maybe the sweep took more, but new ratings came in with the same refresh and offset some of the loss.

Even if 6/22 was the correct results from the sweep…

2x1*, 4x5*
1x1*, 1x2*, 1x4*, 3x5*
2x2*, 1x3*, 3x5*
1x1*, 1x3*, 2x4* 2x5*
1x2*, 2x3*, 1x4*, 2x5*
4x3*, 2x5*
1x1*, 4x4*, 1x5*
1x2*, 1x3*, 3x4*, 1x5*
3x3*, 2x4*, 1x5*
1x2*, 5x4*
2x3*, 4x4*

I think I got those all right, but the point is that there are multiple ways to spread 22 points over 6 ratings.

 

[LargoKitt]

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/thank-you-.1651290/

Brain crackin'

 

[LargoKitt]

You know what is really helpful? If folks who dislike a story and voted low, or maybe lower than they first wanted, offered a why. As you're voting take a couple of seconds to say, 'disapointed me because....' I've gotten some of those and they are gratifying. Even a true honest flame is useful if it points out sloppiness, or a big plot hole. I even appreciate the BtB comments if they reveal what the reader was expecting.

 

[EmilyMiller]

You know what is really helpful? If folks who dislike a story and voted low, or maybe lower than they first wanted, offered a why. As you're voting take a couple of seconds to say, 'disapointed me because....' I've gotten some of those and they are gratifying. Even a true honest flame is useful if it points out sloppiness, or a big plot hole. I even appreciate the BtB comments if they reveal what the reader was expecting.

Commenting appears to be a lost art here…