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Fark Creator Slams 'the Wisdom of Crowds'
GovTechGuy writes with some harsh words from Fark.com founder Drew Curtis, speaking at a conference Tuesday in Washington, DC: "'The "wisdom of the crowds" is the most ridiculous statement I've heard in my life. Crowds are dumb,' Curtis said. 'It takes people to move crowds in the right direction, crowds by themselves just stand around and mutter.' Curtis pointed to his own experience moderating comments on Fark, which allows users to give their often humorous take on the news of the day. He said only one percent of Web comments have any value and called the rest 'garbage.' Another example Curtis pointed to is the America Speaking Out website recently launched by House Republicans to allow the public to weigh in on the issues and vote for policy positions they support. Curtis called the site an 'absolute train wreck.' 'It's an absolute disaster. It's impossible to tell who was kidding and who wasn't,' Curtis said."
Funny, that also seems to be the case with most articles. Garbage in, garbage out.
It's not news, it's Fark.com.
Fark Creator Anoints Self Emperor, Declares Martial Law
Dog is my co-pilot.
..is he, like, new to the Internet?
That's why I keep coming back here.
You mean its not for the endless jokes about living in the basement, not having a girlfriend, no social life, or the strong usage of the soviet russia meme?
Seriously -- there are people with letters after their names that back this stuff.
Pfffft! They're not even smart enough to know that they're supposed to put the letters in their names...
I've always felt the rest of the world was stupider than me, too. Of course, in my case, I'm obviously smarter than this Fark creator.
Qxe4
Kevin Rose used to use the "wisdom of crowds" phrase constantly when promoting Digg. I think that's enough evidence right there...
On the plus side, that means with /. you can assume that any article with over 100 comments has at least 1 worth reading.
Wait, did you just use "Youtube comments" as an example of intelligence? You're off your meds, man.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
At least you aren't shadowbanned.
You'll get over it.
Keep in mind that Drew is running Fark as a business, and certain comments that might rail against his corporate superiors will get modded or banned. Drew and his modmins are know to ban people based on petty rivalries and personality conflicts. Fark is no bastion of "free speech", and what would he know about "wisdom" from a site that is dedicated to goofball headlines and accelerated political trolling.
Worse than that, they're known for banning people in a way called a Shadowban and continuing to solicit for TotalFark Subscription renewals. What makes this so insidious is that when you are shadowbanned, you don't know you're banned. You are able to browse and post to the site as normal, though with a copious amount of fake DB errors being strewn about... and nobody can see what you've posted. This isn't a timeout, not a warning, nothing to indicate you are under any sort of ban. You log out and reload the thread or try to read the thread from another connection and your post is gone. Log into a PC and load the thread, your comment is there.
And keep in mind... they continue to solicit for your Total Fark subscription when this shadowban is placed on you.
Yeah, but imagine a beowulf cluster of fuckwits posting tired cliches.
Oh I love Libertarians. It is like 5 year olds arguing about why they should have chips & soda. Good on ya, and I'm pretty sure "mevets" has been called far worse things by far better people; to steal a phrase.
But if you read between the lines and "cherry pick", there are usually hidden gems about a software package, a piece of advice or something truly fascinating.
...but when I talk to the evangelists on the street corners, they tell me all cherry-picking can get me is eternal damnation!
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
In Soviet Russia meme uses you.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Yes. Yes they are.
C17H21NO4
Or maybe the wisdom of the crowd tells them that giving the 6'4 guy in the bar the impression that they think he's overweight is not a smart move, so they adjust down on purpose :)