“Red Bob” Continues to Accumulate Many Likes in a Short Period

Thank you very much, “Ginger Herten”, for your thoughts on the report I submitted.

While I accept that it is not part of your day job to maintain the integrity of the web site, I strongly believe that it is every user’s duty to report things that are wrong, using the mechanism that is offered. That said, I would much rather be writing and sharing stories or, at a push, even doing my day job!

But I hate injustice, especially when it affects the “fun time” that this site has traditionally provided for many years. Put simply, there is no one that benefits from selfishness and cheating.

Having casually observed, then reported, the surprising jumps in “Likes” on the last few stories by “Red Bob”, their latest has done even “better” at similar times of day. With timings corrected to GMT to allow for an international audience:

On 4th March, in less than one hour between 10.00 and 11.00 GMT,
Views increased by 43 (449 to 494) & Likes by 36 (18 to 54) – nearly every reader liked it!

On 5th March, in less than one hour between 10.00 and 11.00 GMT,
Views increased by 26 (1140 to 1166) & Likes by 62 (67 to 139) – every single reader liked it more than twice!

In the 23 hours between those two observations there was a rather more reasonable increase for the 646 Views of 13 Likes which, in broad terms, is what any good story achieves as I know from own humble experience.

I appreciate that in this case there may be no straightforward answer or simple resolution. However, the evidence has strongly suggested that something untoward is taking place that is unfavourably affecting the site statistics. I am well past personally worrying about such matters with around fourteen thousand “Likes” (every one of which I value) and three quarter of a million “Views”, but I do know from discussing with other less experienced authors, including those just starting out who I enjoy helping develop their craft, that it is very dispiriting to see such large discrepancies.

To my mind (although I accept my evidence is not conclusive and that I could be wrong) I believe the statistics are being manipulated. How it is done and, more importantly, why they do it, are complete mysteries to me.

Based on the excellent response by “Red Bob” to my original post, I do not believe they are complicit with the manipulation.

Given that resources are not currently available to investigate the issue and, even if it were, it would serve little purpose other than to identify the individual responsible, please can I issue a heartfelt plea to the culprit that they desist from what they are doing. Their cheating is benefiting no one.

Thanks, Scissors01, for adding your perspective to the discussion.

As the moderators had previously stated that they have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the discrepancies since the issue was first raised on 2nd January, I believed it was useful to add my personal observations. Hopefully, as time and resources allow, the additional information may lead to a solution. If it was not useful, then so be it.

Yes, I am invested in providing support to the moderators to keep the site fair for everyone, as well as a safe and enjoyable place for us all to visit. Unfortunately, there have been many unsavoury incidents affecting HSN by selfish individuals during recent months and I appreciate the moderators do not have the time to address every issue immediately. The “Report a Story” forum is a valuable resource allowing all of us to play a part in maintaining the integrity of the site.

As well as claiming “the number of Likes has little relevance to me”, I also stated that “from discussing with other less experienced authors, including those just starting out who I enjoy helping develop their craft, that it is very dispiriting to see such large discrepancies”. I believe the number of “Likes” provides a useful yardstick to an author to determine what ideas work best and what can be improved, although perhaps not as valuable as written comments, offered by readers publicly or in private.

However, while “Likes” that are accurate provide a useful metric for authors, I do accept your assertion that “Likes” may be less useful to some readers when deciding what to read.

Thanks again for your feedback.