It seems like the decay algorithm on SN is too fast.
The top 10 posts on SN are often ones that were created in the last 12 hours. Halving the decay rate would accomplish a few things:
  • Great content is visible for longer, giving users more time to boost and engage in discussions
  • Bad content that gets a few quick upvotes won't automatically shoot to the top of the page, it must overcome a higher quality bar
  • Users don't have to worry about what time they post content (I try to avoid posting late at night now, because I know most users are from North America and by the time they wake up the post will have decayed too much to get any attention)
I agree - thanks for the reminder. I can ship an update today.
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Shipped. We went from a 'gravity' or 'decay' factor of 1.5 -> 1.3
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