Duplicated Stumbleupon Sites Must be Stopped
Update: I’ve contacted stumbleupon.com and they’ve commented on the issue. Read their response.
Ok, I know I’m probably not the first person to rant about this, but come on now, something has got to change at Stumbleupon.
What you ask?
Well, I’ll tell you.
I’m just about to pull my hair out with all the duplicate posts in the stumbleupon world. I can’t go a round without seeing duplicates.
Some stories I’ve seen several times, and grant it, I usually liked it the first time and sometimes the second but the 3rd, 4th, and 5th times were completely unnecessary.
Some examples of duplicate posts:
Some of the most powerful images from around the world
Same old Graffiti (This is probably the one I’ve seen the most.)
These are just a few I saw the last time I stumbled and I’m sure you’ve all seen them a couple of times yourselves.
I believe the biggest problem is people really don’t know if it’s been submitted or not. The only way I’m able to find out is to search for the title on Google. Usually it will come up there if it’s been submitted but that’s not completely reliable either.
Anyway, to get to the point, what I’m calling for is some kind of system that can cut down on duplicate posts. Many other services like Digg and Netscape already have one in place. It wouldn’t be that difficult and until this happens I say, thumbs down with all duplicate sites. No exceptions.
That’s my rant.
I would be interested in hearing from all of you. Let me know which sites you see all the time and lets end the insanity.
Update
Unfortunately due to my naivety I erroneously thought this was a first time post. This error, in and of itself, reiterates my point. I had no way of knowing whether or not similar posts had been submitted. A simple system in place could have prevented this post.
I am currently in the process of researching possible solutions. I will post later this week with suggestions from other stumblers and, hopefully, a comment from stumbleupon itself.
- My Ranting | Time: 2:13 am (UTC+8)
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I agree 100%. I suggest everyone duplicate this post over and over and over,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Seriously though, it is worse than cable TV reruns.
I hate to be a killjoy but i often give a thumbs down to repeat posts.
Something to think about for people who clutter SU with reposts.
Comment by KnotTubeRight — August 25, 2007 @ 3:40 am
define irony: a rant about duplicate posts in stumbleupon turns out to be the 3rd or 4th site i’ve stumbled upon…...
does that mean i thumbs down your site?
Comment by Adam — August 25, 2007 @ 4:06 am
That’s exactly what it means. The point of the post is to stimulate thinking, not get lots of thumbs up. If it’s a duplicate you know what to do. The problem with duplicate posts is real and impossible to avoid even if one wants to. Stumbleupon needs to address the situation.
Comment by Elson — August 25, 2007 @ 4:16 am
703884
Comment by It's the first time I've seen this site, and generally like the fuuny stuff, but I also like satire & sarcasm as well so I like Adam's comment. Good morning ;D — August 25, 2007 @ 4:31 am
The problem is there may be several sites on the web that show the same video or have the same photograph, and SU only rates the site…so if one site is discovered, that doesn’t mean that the same exact photo or video on another site won’t be discovered by another stumbler. Unfortunately I don’t think there is any way to prevent this. Given the problems and reposts, I still think SU is a pretty cool way to pass some time on the internet.
Comment by Picklejuice — August 25, 2007 @ 10:32 am
I agree, but another detail needs to be considered – Stumblers who tag pages wrong ! ~ E.G. – the appropriate tag/topic for any page on the WWW is not “internet”. ~ If you turn on the setting in the toolbar so page topics are displayed, or check page reviews, – you’ll see exactly what I mean. ~ Part of this problem is certainly SU, but I’d be willing to bet that it is also caused by lazy (or possibly brain dead) stumblers who are mostly just along for the ride & don’t contribute to our network. ~ Lately, there’s a lot of them, and most are new to the game.
Comment by D — August 25, 2007 @ 10:44 am
I also agree. I’ve seen many duplicate sites, and I don’t think it’d be that hard to create some kind of database for it so when people try to input a new site, it can just say “Oh, this has already been submitted.” or something along those lines.
Comment by Nyhy — August 25, 2007 @ 10:54 am
People are not getting the point of my post. How is anyone suppose to know if they are posting a duplicate until a system is set up. That’s all I’m saying. There’s really no way of knowing. People post duplicates unknowingly.
Comment by Elson — August 25, 2007 @ 11:06 am
It probably isn’t fair since the person who wrote it first might not have been the one I stumbled upon first, but I always give a thumbs down to things I’ve already stumbled.
Comment by Edmund Snyder — August 25, 2007 @ 11:33 am
ARGH!
I read your post, nodding in agreement, hit the I LIKE IT button, hit the STUMBLE! button… WHAT IS THE NEXT PAGE?
IMAGES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD! (http://pinguy.infogami.com/blog/vwm6?=)
WITH THAT SAME SHITTY PICTURE of the dudes with the gun.
GAH!
I’ve seen them so many times, I am no longer moved by the little Ethiopian crawling away from vultures whose photographer declined the whatever prize and then committed suicide the next month.
IT WAS MOVING THE FIRST TIME. NOW I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT POOR LITTLE KID!
Its not my fault either… Its DUPLICATE SU PAGES’ FAULT!!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh..
Anyway… I thumbs-downed it… And the next page? THIS ONE AGAIN
I had to comment.
Comment by Rebekah — August 25, 2007 @ 12:27 pm
Its true that some content is duplicated across sites, but much is not. When I see duplication, I usually -down it. What’s needed is a way to say “I’ve seen THIS site before, and I don’t want to see it again.” Not practical because it’d have to scan the list of sites ‘not to show’ each time it got a new page. I don’t like downing, because that says ‘no more like this’, when what I’m really saying is ‘more like this, but, by god, not the exact same one, dammit!’
Comment by bill — August 25, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
I know, I really hate having to exert myself so much as to press the “Stumble!” button one more time.
Comment by emily — August 25, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Why are we posting in this forum instead of the StumbleUpon review page? We are all on StumbleUpon if we are reading this right?
It was mentioned before, placing thumbs down on a site that has duplicates is like punching a wall when your mad, it may make you feel better but is not solving the problem. All you are doing by thumbing down is making your future stumbles contain less “similar” web pages, and slightly decreasing the chances of someone else stumbling upon it, but they may not have seen the particular duplicate you have.
In a similar (but not duplicate) website about stumbleupon’s shortcomings I mentioned this idea: Create a toolbar button for duplicates. When you click it, StumbleUpon does a search using a synthesis of different criteria (title, tags, whole paragraphs, etc) over its network to try to find the duplicate you believe exists. Then you can select it (them) if you find them. Once enough people have linked the duplicates, it makes a choice about which to keep (based on date of inception, # of Thumb-Ups, whatever).
You mentioned that other networks have a method of taking care of duplicates. I don’t know what that is but hopefully I haven’t just repeated common knowleddge
Comment by JesseMat — August 25, 2007 @ 1:40 pm
Are you sure you have rated the ones that come up more than once? You will be shown a site more than once if you haven’t yet given it a thumbs up or down. Also, the less categories you subscribe to the less you’ll see and some material then must be recycled. I’ve been on for about a year and I haven’t seen enough duplicates to annoy me yet. It’s really easy to hit the Stumble button again if you’ve already seen something.
Comment by dingobully — August 25, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
Most of the duplicates that I get through stumble may be the same picture, video or whatever, but usually on another website. Very seldom will I get an exact duplicate of the same site. I’m not sure how you expect SU to clean up the internet for you. Stumbleupon is based on randomness, aside from your filter criteria that is. You hit that great little stumble button and you are mindlessly taken to a web page. It’s a great tool for the lazy. If you don’t like the page, give it a thumbs down, or thumbs up if you do. If you’ve seen the content before, just hit the stumble button again, it’s not that hard.
Comment by Rob — August 25, 2007 @ 6:31 pm
I don’t know. I could really see this argument both ways. For pictures and video you definitely have a point. I’m tired of seeing the same picture over and over. However, for posts such as the “Firefox Block” post (I wrote that by the way) I think it helps to get different opinions about it. This is no different than what you are doing right now. The more opinions that get spread around, the more people are informed about a particular subject.
Comment by GreenLantern — August 25, 2007 @ 8:25 pm
Greenlantern has a valid point on that one. I might have been a little hasty on that one before I read it through.
Comment by Elson — August 25, 2007 @ 9:19 pm
Whenever you are on a particular site, you can click on “reviews” button in the SU toolbar, and it will tell you if that site has already been submitted or not. Isn’t it? So the system is already in place. Am I missing anything?
Comment by Mukesh Ghatiya — August 25, 2007 @ 10:49 pm
i agree there are loads of posts that keep comming up like that girl in a office who sings,ok the first time gets a thumbs up .doesent it work like if you give something a thumbs down you dont see it again? or it should.
Comment by ken — August 26, 2007 @ 3:08 am
I’ve only been on since January. Some of the stuff you mention has been on much longer than I have, but if it hadn’t been duplicated by someone I’m sure I would not have seen it.
When I run into dupes I just click through to the next one.
Comment by gluefish — August 28, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
What I’m really tired of is web pages like this one. If you find StumbleUpon so disagreeable to your tender sensibilities, then go elsewhere. Not only that, your actions betray your complaint. The next post you have to the right of this one is some lame YouTube video that ‘you’ think is funny. You’re criticizing others for the very same thing that you yourself do. Yup, I’m really tired of coming across pages like this—a BIG thumbs down from this stumbler.
Comment by ronnie — September 1, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
There’s no way you can prevent someone from stumbling the same content on a totally different page. It’s just going to happen…I totally agree and understand that it gets freekin ridiculous though.
In my opinion, the biggest problems are:
1) people who submit EVERY PAGE FROM A SITE. For example, there was this page about how big would a pile of 1 million pennies be? Then you’d click the next page, then it’d show 1 billion, then you’d click the next page and it’d show you 1 trillion. Well wouldn’t you know someone decided to submit every page along the way so after you’d already seen the whole thing, you’d be treated to a stumble from somewhere in the middle later on.
2) Sites that have dynamic URLs. That is—A site that changes the url depending on the data entered in whatever text fields. The pefect example would be that Earth view thing. (http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth) which every time you click on it, it changes the URL to reflect the changes. And then someone can resubmit it as new AGAIN.
3) Sites that have two urls leading to the same content (usually from a redirect). Instead of detecting the URL it lands on, it stumbles the url they entered to get there. So there can be as many submitted versions of a single page as there are redirects. They MAY have fixed this one.
There’s probably more examples but I can’t sit here writing them all up right now…
Comment by arleas — September 1, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
Nothing wrong with giving thumbs down to reposts. It helps kill off old websites from the SU algorithm and introduce new ones.
Comment by Suo my Nona — October 8, 2007 @ 11:53 pm