Just tried to rank a 'best anime of 2024' thread by upvotes instead of comments

I run a small discussion board and we always sorted our big recommendation threads by total comment count. Last week, I changed the sort on our 'best anime of 2024' thread to show the highest upvoted posts first. Within two days, the top spot was taken by a show with only 15 comments but over 300 upvotes, while the old top post had 80 comments but way fewer upvotes. It completely changed the vibe of the thread, highlighting consensus picks over debate-heavy ones. I learned that how you sort a discussion can totally steer what people see as 'the best'. Has anyone else played with sorting methods and seen weird results like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

lunar4719d ago

We had a music forum where the "album of the year" thread was always a war zone. I switched the sort from replies to likes for a month. The winner went from a super divisive punk record with 200 angry comments to a chill folk album that quietly got 500 hearts. It really does surface what people actually enjoy versus what they love to fight about.

lunar4718d ago

Wait, you got 300 upvotes on a single post in two days? That's insane for a small board. Our top post last year barely cracked a hundred. The engagement shift is wild, but those numbers are what really blows my mind.