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New Study Finds That Most Redditors Don't Actually Read the Articles They Vote On (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the reading-pattern dept.

Michael Byrne, writing for Motherboard: According to a paper published in IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems by researchers at Notre Dame University, some 73 percent of posts on Reddit are voted on by users that haven't actually clicked through to view the content being rated. This is according to a newly released dataset consisting of all Reddit activity of 309 site users for a one year period. In the process, the researchers identified signs of "cognitive fatigue" in Reddit users most likely to vote on content. Online aggregation is then somewhat a function of mental exhaustion.

9 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. In similar news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    99% of /.ers don't read the articles posted before commenting.

    1. Re:In similar news by datavirtue · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah...but we can pull it off. Your average Reddit scum is not qualified to comment without knowing the facts.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  2. Isn't that what mod points are for? by foghelmut · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I mean, that's how it works here too, right?

    1. Re:Isn't that what mod points are for? by Guyle · · Score: 5, Funny

      If I had mod points I'd mod this up because it told me that's what my mod points are for. I didn't even have to read your comment! I just knew it was the right thing to do!

  3. Of course by Galaga88 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm going to fully support the results of this study, although I have yet to actually click on it.

  4. Bots by leathered · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reddit upvotes are heavily botted, and I imagine the publishers of these articles are the prime suspects. Clicks mean cash.

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    For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
  5. Confirmed by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I just vote up headlines that confirm my worldview and downvote the ones that don't.

  6. Re:I don't believe it by Luthair · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real irony is of course that it was posted on Slashdot 20-years after this was discovered.

  7. Whether or not this is a problem by king+neckbeard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To determine whether or not this is a problem, we have to determine what percentage of articles are actually worth reading over the headlines. If the articles are typically just fleshing out the headline, without anything meaningful added, this is efficient, rational behavior.

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