M2

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Georgia Institute Of Technology *

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CS 6750

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Information Systems

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Dec 6, 2023

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1 M2 Manavi Rao mrao44@gatech.edu Abstract— Reddit is a social media platform that is based on community engagement and content sharing. It has an upvoting/downvoting system that controls the visibility and popularity of specific content. The current interface presents several challenges that can hinder user interaction and engagement with this voting system. This paper will propose a series of modifications to the Reddit interface in order to enhance the user experience in the context of upvoting/downvoting tasks. Through these modifications, Reddit will be able to revolutionize its voting system, fostering more meaningful engagements, better quality constructive feedback, and user participation. 1 NEEDFINDING PLAN ONE For the first needfinding plan, I conducted a survey using google forms and sending it to twenty of my friends. 1.1 Results Table 1 — Results for the questions on the survey. How often do you use the upvote/downvote feature on Reddit? Answer Choice # of Respondents Percentage Daily 12 60% Weekly 5 25% Rarely 2 10% Never 1 5%

2 Have you ever encountered any obstacles while using the upvote/downvote feature? Answer Choice # of Respondents Percentage Difficulty in locating the upvote/downvote buttons 3 15% Uncertainty about the impact of upvoting/downvoting 5 25% Accidental clicks due to mobile interface 4 20% No obstacles faced 8 40% How well versed are you with the guidelines and etiquette surrounding the upvote/downvote system? Answer Choice # of Respondents Percentage Very familiar 6 30% Somewhat familiar 10 50% Not familiar 4 20% What motivates you to upvote or downvote a post or comment? (Multiple answers allowed) Answer Choice # of Respondents Percentage Content quality 18 90% Agreement with the opinion 10 50% Disagreement with the opinion 8 40% Post/comment relevance 15 75% Emotional reaction (e.g., humor, anger) 13 60%

3 1.2 Takeaways The results were similar to what I would have expected. Most of the respondents were familiar with Reddit and most use it either daily or weekly. While 40% of participants say that they faced no obstacles, they still had suggestions on how the upvoting/downvoting feature could be improved. The last question where the survey asked what changes they would like to see was an open-ended one. I looked through each suggestion and found that I could separate them into four categories. The four suggestions were: adding clearer guidelines on upvoting/downvoting etiquette, adding visual feedback on upvoted/downvoted posts, giving an option to undo accidental upvotes/downvotes, and having explanation tooltips on hover. I was able to also conclude that most people interact with comments or posts based on relevance or quality over whether they agree with or disagree with the content. 1.3 Mitigating Biases One of the biases that was concerned with this needfinding plan was voluntary response bias. In order to get over this, I made sure that everyone I sent the survey to actually took it. This way not just the people who had strong opinions would be accounted for in the survey results. Another bias was social desirability bias. I took steps to mitigate this by making the survey completely anonymous so participants would not have any reason to lie to make themselves seem like they use Reddit more or less than they actually do. What changes would you like to see in the upvote/downvote system to enhance your experience? (Open- ended question, summarized and grouped responses) Answer Choice # of Respondents Percentage Clearer guidelines on upvoting/downvoting etiquette 7 35% Visual feedback on upvoted/downvoted posts 5 25% Option to undo accidental upvotes/downvotes 6 30% Explanation tooltips on hover 2 10%

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4 2 NEEDFINDING PLAN TWO For the second needfinding plan, I chose to do the participant observation option. So, over the course of the week, I actively engaged in various subreddits, both popular and niche. I observed the use of upvote and downvote buttons in different contexts, actually upvoted and downvoted posts and comments to see how easy it is to use, and analyzed the impact of upvotes/downvotes on content visibility and user interaction. 2.1 Observations  The buttons are easily visible and accessible both next to posts and comments  The button changes color when it is clicked  Users tend to upvote content they agree with, find funny, or find important  The reason users downvote is not very clear  Users tend to downvote unpopular opinions  Posts with more upvotes, gain more visibility  Comments with many downvotes are often collapsed 2.2 Key Takeaways Using this needfinding plan, there were a couple of takeaways that I found important. One was the fact that people tend to upvote/downvote content based on popular opinion and not based on their own evaluation of the content. Also, comments with many downvotes are collapsed which limits the visibility of the downvoted content. On the other hand, posts and comments with many upvotes gains visibility, which leads to a snowball effect of the content becoming even more popular. Since users tend to downvote unpopular opinions, there leads to a potential suppression of diverse perspectives. 2.3 Mitigating Biases One of the potential biases for this needfinding plan is confirmation bias. In order to mitigate this bias, I made sure to not have any pre-existing notions in my head about the ease of use of the upvote/downvote feature. I also did not look at the results from the other two needfinding plans I executed to make sure those results didn’t affect my experience using the feature on Reddit.

5 3 NEEDFINDING PLAN THREE For the third needfinding plan, I did an analysis of product reviews. I went on Reddit community forums and collected posts regarding the upvoting/downvoting feature. I then categorized each type of comment to see what the common feedback was. 3.1 Observations Table 2 — Summary of the analysis of product reviews. Categories: Discussion: Misuse of Downvote Button o Users express concerns about the misuse of the downvote button. o It is often used as a disagree button rather than for marking irrelevant or inappropriate content. o This misuse leads to downvote wars, especially during disagreements, negatively impacting users’ karma. Impact on Users o Users with unpopular opinions are adversely affected. o They risk being unable to create new posts due to low karma points. o Their comments, even if relevant, may not be visible to other users, stifling diverse perspectives and discussions. Proposed Solutions o Some users suggest the removal of the downvote button to prevent its misuse and the associated issues. o This removal is seen as a way to promote more constructive interactions and discussions on the platform. Alternative Voting Features o A suggestion for a sliding upvote/downvote feature is discussed. o This feature would allow the upvote/downvote buttons to follow the post as users scroll, making it easier for users to vote without scrolling back, potentially increasing user engagement and interaction. 3.2 Key Takeaways Unfortunately, I did not gain any information that I wanted to gain from this need-finding plan. While I gained feedback on users’ opinions on the upvoting/downvoting feature, I was unable to get information on how the interface could be improved. Instead, there were users who proposed getting rid of the entire system. However, one post was discussing the possibility of a scrolling upvoting/downvoting feature so that users wouldn’t have to scroll all

6 the way to the top to vote. This is a very good suggestion for improving the interface to make it more user-friendly. 3.3 Mitigating Biases Some of the biases associated with this needfinding plan are selection bias and confirmation bias. The way I tried to avoid selection bias was by ensuring I got comments on different community forums to avoid the reviews from reflecting only a small set of users. I avoided confirmation bias by approaching the analysis with an open mind and without any preset biases. 4 DATA INVENTORY 4.1 Who are the users? The users are those who participate actively on Reddit by posting in different subreddits and using the upvote/downvote function. 60% of respondents used the upvote/downvote tool everyday, according to the Needfinding Plan One study, demonstrating the platform's high level of involvement. 4.2 Where are the users? Reddit users come from all over the world and use a variety of devices and places to access the site. Reddit's implicit global reach is highlighted by the problems with inadvertent clicks on mobile interfaces that were observed in the survey. 4.3 What is the context of the task? The context entails using the upvote/downvote feature to voice thoughts on content while using Reddit, engaging with posts and comments. Users upvote content they agree with, find amusing, or find significant, demonstrating the context of their activity, according to the participant observation in Needfinding Plan Two. 4.4 What are their goals? Users want to interact with the information, share their thoughts, and help posts and comments become more visible and well-liked. The survey's findings indicated a desire to promote high-quality content because 90% of users are motivated by content quality.

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7 4.5 What do they need? Users require an upvote/downvote system that is simple to use, open to everyone, and fair so they can quickly voice their ideas and see the results of their interactions. All three needfinding plans identified the need for improved user-friendly interfaces, the ability to reverse unintentional votes, and clearer guidelines. 4.6 What are their tasks? Tasks include reading content, voting up or down on comments and postings, and comprehending the effects of their votes. Tasks like participating actively in various subreddits were recognized in the participant observation. 4.7 What are their subtasks? The subtasks include finding the vote up/down buttons, selecting whether to vote up or down based on the judgment of the content, and successfully navigating the mobile or desktop interface are subtasks. The upvote/downvote buttons were one of the subtasks that were emphasized in the survey, with 15% of participants reporting difficulties finding them.

8 5 REQUIREMENTS 5.1 Functional The upvote/downvote buttons should be easily locatable and usable across all devices. We can measure this by seeing a reduction in the number of users reporting difficulty in locating and using the upvote/downvote buttons. Another functional requirement is that users should be able to undo accidental upvotes/downvotes easily. We can see an improvement in this by seeing an increase in user satisfaction regarding accidental clicks (targeting an 80% satisfaction rate). Also, another important requirement is to provide clear guidelines and explanation tooltips for upvoting/downvoting. This will be measured by if we see an increase in the number of users who report being very familiar with the guidelines and etiquette (aiming for at least a 70% increase). 5.2 Learnability The learnability goal for this is to educate users about the impact of upvoting/downvoting and the etiquette surrounding it. We can measure this through monitoring for a reduction in uncertainty about the impact of upvoting/downvoting (aiming for a decrease of at least 50%). 5.3 Accessibility From the needfinding plans, a good accessibility standards seems to be to enhance the interface to prevent accidental clicks and improve accessibility. A metric for this would be a reduction in the number of users facing obstacles on the interface (targeting a 70% reduction). 6 CONTINUED NEEDFINDING Some of the remaining questions I have from this round of needfinding are:  How do different age groups interact with the upvote/downvote system?  What are the specific challenges faced by new Reddit users regarding the upvote/downvote feature?  How does the upvote/downvote system impact the overall user satisfaction with Reddit? The new questions that arose are:

9  How does the mobile interface of Reddit affect the use of the upvote/downvote feature compared to the desktop interface?  Are there any cultural or regional differences in the perception and use of the upvote/downvote system?  How does the upvote/downvote system impact the visibility of controversial but important topics? There are two potential needfinding plans that I can use to answer these questions. One is a demographic-specific survey, which will help understand how different age groups, cultures, and regions interact with the upvote/downvote system. I would distribute demographic-specific surveys and analyze the results to identify patterns in the use of the upvote/downvote system. The other plan is to have small focus group/interviews in order to delve deeper into the impact of the upvote/downvote system on user satisfaction and content visibility. 7 APPENDICES Appendix 7.1: Survey Responses

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11 Appendix 7.2: Needfinding plan 3 links https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/zi1b3v/cmv_reddit_shoul d_remove_the_downvote_button/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ideasfortheadmins/comments/o2z70v/a_sliding_upv otedownvote_feature/ https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/1035ysc/cmv_the_karmav ote_system_shouldbe_removed/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/1lpws2/what_does_it_re ally_mean_to_upvotedownvote_a_post/ https://www.reddit.com/r/teenagers/comments/cufboq/petition_to_make_an_d ouble_tap_upvotedownvote/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/it3h1c/is_the_upvotingd ownvoting_system_flawed/

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