"Repost" flag (official proposal)

[u/angrymonkey]

(reddit.com self post here: http://redd.it/f35x3)

WHEREAS I am sick of seeing the same damn cat-on-a-roomba post over and over and over again

WHEREAS every Redditor deserves a chance to see the cat-on-a-roomba, regardless if it was posted before they joined, or during a time when they were not watching Reddit

WHEREAS seeing the same content over and over makes me tired of Reddit and degrades my experience

WHEREAS I wish to hide such repeated posts from my view whilst browsing Reddit

WHEREAS it is not obvious whether clicking on a Reddit post titled "Check this out..." will lead me to the !@#$ cat-on-a-roomba again

WHEREAS using the "hide" feature to manually eliminate all the reposts would be more work than actually using Reddit to entertain myself

WHEREAS complaints of reposts and links to the original post are a common sight in the comments section

WHEREAS a newcomer might want to see the discussion on the "original" cat-on-a-roomba

WHEREAS downvotes due to a repost may hide cats-on-roombas that newcomers may find interesting

I PROPOSE a solution to all of the above problems.

1. A new link shall be created and grouped with "share/save/hide/report" under each reddit submission, labeled with something to the effect of "log as repost". The word "log" is chosen over alternatives such as "flag" to avoid a negative connotation, and to suggest the action of adding information.

2. Clicking on the "repost" link associated with Reddit story A will bring up a dialog window. The user is greeted with a large, friendly text input box, inviting them to paste a URL to another Reddit story B. This URL shall be given as evidence that posts A and B refer to the same content. It is important to understand that A and B may actually be linking to different sites, e.g., A is linking to the 38th reblogging of a cat-on-a-roomba, whilst B is linking to the 517th such reblogging. As even the video itself may have been re-compressed or gif-ified, it is hereby asserted that the only foolproof way to find such correspondences is to rely on Redditors with a mild case of OCD.

3. The system shall confirm that the URL points to another Reddit submission. If the link points off-site, the system shall search for Reddit posts that refer to given URL and present them to the user to confirm that this is, in fact, the Reddit post about a cat on a roomba that they were thinking of.

4. Multiple "original" posts may be suggested by multiple users. There are two possible (non-exclusive) ways to ensure accuracy:

• Expose all "original post" proposals to other users, who may review them, and or confirm/disavow them. These proposed "originals" will be viewable next to where users enter their own repost URL. This way, a user may come to log a particular repost they are thinking of, find it there, and instead merely confirm the find with an upvote or some equivalent thereof.

• Repost data from users is gathered silently, and a graph of "similarity" is built and maintained behind the scenes on Reddit's servers. Repeated reports of a repost are used to strengthen the certainty that A and B refer to the same content. Multiple reposts can be found and grouped by following relationships in the similarity graph.

1. A filter option shall be added to the Reddit sidebar titled "Hide reposts". When this option is enabled, all stories will be hidden from the view of the user if and only if he has clicked, voted, or commented on another post which refers to the same content.

2. The blue info box to the left of the comments section shall be amended to contain a list of all "similar" stories, which are determined by the information collected from users in the manner above. In this way, users may follow discussion about the content across multiple Reddit posts.

I HEREBY DECLARE this to be a Fucking Good Idea, and dutifully call upon the proprietors of this fine website to knock their sizable heads together and make this happen.

Signed,

-angrymonkey

[u/Yargyarg]

I'm going to have to get you to fill out requisition form 12b and provide it to the clerk on floor 5, office 544, at which time it will be reviewed. Upon review, the clerk will give you forms 52b and forms 22f, which are both to be filled out in triplicate. Upon completion of these forms, one copy of 52b is to be given to the desk clerk in the regional department for commerce, located at 5th and Washington, ninth floor, office 932, another copy is to be mailed to the address therein, and the third copy is to be provided to clerk located on the fifteenth floor of this building, office 1504; I would also recommend you retain a copy for yourself in the event of a summons. As for form 22f, one copy is to be provided to the managerial staff at the forms and requisitions department on the twenty sixth floor of this building, it is not to be provided to a clerk, a manager is required. The second copy is to be provided to suggestions authority located on sub level 2 of this building, the third copy being provided to the suggestions overseer via his secretary on the 40th floor of the states department on 5th and Washington. Upon completion of this process, your suggestion will be reviewed and notification will be sent to you via mail. If you suggestion is accepted, please note this acceptance is only for the formal review of the suggestion, and you are to return to this office to complete the next stage of the process, including filling out forms 0.12(b), 1.34(f), 12.3(e) and 22.1(g), all to be filled out in triplicate, all to be hand delivered by yourself to their designated offices.

[u/ashwinmudigonda]

What happens when you have two thousand disparate imgur links showing...oh I don't know...cross hairs on Arizona?

[u/webalbatross]

I think this is a great idea, and fun to implement, too. The only drawback I see is the additional strain this will put on Reddit's servers to figure out all the cross-references and algorithms to see if the repost "flag" is authentic or not. but otherwise, I really think this would increase Reddit's overall quality, and I know I would be one of the OCD people to flag reposts all day.