greg@maypo.berkeley.edu (Greg) (11/05/87)
In an effort to improve the quality of postings in the talk.* and soc.* groups, I would like to propose a new statistics-gathering feature for rn in addition to the Arbitron ratings. In this scheme, rn would monitor which articles each reader actually reads, and how long each reader spends on those articles. The host with the news would keep a summary of this information. Every two weeks, someone would post, in the respective news groups, statistics on the most pondered and most widely-read articles. The readers would find out which articles or which posters are popular, and the posters would find out when, or if, their postings are interesting. I came up with the "Nielsen" feature with talk.politics.misc in mind, a news group which I would read more if the postings were better. It would also be appropriate for soc.women, talk.religion.*, and other infamous groups. It is probably unnecessary for the more technical news groups. -- Greg
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (11/06/87)
In article <1381@cartan.Berkeley.EDU> greg@maypo.berkeley.edu (Greg) writes: >In an effort to improve the quality of postings in the talk.* and soc.* > >I came up with the "Nielsen" feature with talk.politics.misc in mind, a >news group which I would read more if the postings were better. It >would also be appropriate for soc.women, talk.religion.*, and other >infamous groups. It is probably unnecessary for the more technical >news groups. Sounds like a very desirable feature. But do you really want to know that everybody is sitting, staring at Airwick Maddening's articles in disbelief for hours on end ? ... and there is no way to measure laughter with a CRT... >Greg -- Richard J. Sexton INTERNET: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, ihnp4, nosc}!crash!gryphon!richard "It's too dark to put the keys in my ignition..."
greg@jiff (Greg) (11/08/87)
Richard Sexton replies: >In article <1381@cartan.Berkeley.EDU> greg@maypo.berkeley.edu (Greg) writes: >>I came up with the "Nielsen" feature with talk.politics.misc in mind,... ... >Do you really want to know that everybody is sitting, staring >at Airwick Maddening's articles in disbelief for hours on end ? Yes, I do. I think it is arrogant and cynical to censor anyone whose articles are widely read. I can understand your position; I too have pored over articles thinking, "Who is this joker?" I feel that my reaction stems from disagreement, anger, or even insecurity, rather than from boredom. If a posting *truly* has no value, I won't read it. -- Greg
eric@snark.UUCP (Eric S. Raymond) (11/08/87)
In article <2186@gryphon.CTS.COM>, richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) writes: > In article <1381@cartan.Berkeley.EDU> greg@maypo.berkeley.edu (Greg) writes: > >I came up with the "Nielsen" feature > Sounds like a very desirable feature. My soon-to-be-officially-released netnews rewrite (TMN-netnews) will include a configurable 'Nielsen ratings' feature that will log the articles people have seen text of and periodically mail statistical abstracts to a central collection point. In addition, the readers will support a pair of commands that can be used to 'praise' or 'condemn' the current article, and this rating will be part of the abstract. I'd been thinking about adding this for a while. You guys stimulated me to get off my duff and do it. Thanks. -- Eric S. Raymond UUCP: {{seismo,ihnp4,rutgers}!cbmvax,sdcrdcf!burdvax,vu-vlsi}!snark!eric Post: 22 South Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355 Phone: (215)-296-5718