I’ve [unsubscribed from Slashdot](http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006081.html), in favour of [Reddit](http://reddit.com).

To the casual reader, Reddit is a page of interesting links. To hardcore Redditors (the “mob”), it’s a steady stream of [fresh content](http://reddit.com/new), each piece to be evaluated as a candidate for the +1 vote of confidence, or the -1 vote of dismissal. Accumulate enough points—quickly enough—and it’ll appear on the front page of the site.

Perfect system, right?

Wrong.

### Lazy Sheep

Why give editorial control to an elite group, when it can be in the hands of a pure democracy? **Wisdom of Crowds** is an appealing notion. Then again, the rebuttal is also appealling: “if the crowd is 1000 stupid people, what good is the aggregate of their erroneous opinions?”

But really, the problem is not that users are dumb. The problem is that they’re *lazy*. On Reddit (and [also Digg](http://mashable.com/2006/01/10/digg-and-the-so-called-wisdom-of-mobs/)) otherwise smart users are following the actions of previous users, who may or may not have made valid judgements.

Go ahead and visit the [Reddit New page](http://reddit.com/new). See those articles that are already in the negatives? What about the ones that have a score of -1 or even just 0? Wouldn’t you rather check out a link that’s already been voted up to 3 or 4?

It only took the negative opinion of **two users** to condemn a page to Negative Score land. Now the chances of it being clicked and evaluated without prejudice are—to my mind—significantly lower.

**What’s the solution?** In Reddit’s case, I believe that on the “New” page, the current score of every article should *not* be shown. It’s fine to display it on the homepage, but freshly submitted articles should be evaluted, at least for that first hour, on a level-playing field.

So where does **crowd wisdom** come into Jobmine?

### Jobmine

[Jobmine](http://www.jobmine.uwaterloo.ca/) is the University of Waterloo’s online tool that helps streamline the job application process for students.

One feature added last year was **an indicator showing _how many_ applications had been received for each job**. Sensible, right? Gives the students a bit of perspective about what they’re up against. If 70 people are applying for 1 position, that’s 70 vying for probably 8-12 interview slots, of which only one will be selected.

Browsing through the system on the eve of a deadline, it’s obvious that some jobs simply attract a lot more attention than others. One may see in excess of 200 applications, while another has barely 20.

Is it *just* that one emphasizes its “casual, fun-loving atmosphere,” while another lists MS Word experience as an asset?

When the spread is as wild as it sometimes appears, I have to wonder if there isn’t a pendulum effect. Those jobs with the astronomical application numbers—does an already high count entice even more curious students to check them out?

### Jobs & Links

While the “number of applications” counters on Jobmine may not serve any immediately obvious purpose, in the end, I doubt they hurt much either.

If a lazy student only applies to the jobs being applied to by everyone else, they clearly aren’t taking the co-op process very seriously.

It’s in this way that Reddit and Jobmine are fundamentally different beasts: Reddit provides momentary slices of amusement; Jobmine is a portal to an interview, and ultimately a 4- or 8-month commitment to an employer.

Whether high numbers or low, So far I’ve at least briefly scanned every single Mechanical and Mechatronics job description—plus a good deal of the Systems ones, too—and applied to those I’m genuinely interested in. Those where I can see myself being able to contribute, and where I see potential to expand and learn new things.

Because really, that’s what co-op is all about. Not just chasing the jobs that everyone else seems to want.

Mike

← Earlier Later → Posted at 6:48 pm to Internet, School.