this post was submitted on 05 May 2025
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I have no idea why this is a thing, but it’s come to my attention that there are several accounts here that are engaging in vote manipulation. This is fair warning that if it continues, I’ll be suspending the accounts involved.

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[–] solarvector@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why not immediate ban instead of fair warning? Fair warning is more for a mistake in good faith, vote manipulation is kinda the opposite by definition.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Or message the accounts directly?

[–] jerry 16 points 6 months ago

I have messaged them directly. At least the ones I am aware of. This is a warning to others that I may not be aware of or people who decide to try it in the future.

[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

did they use multiple accounts to vote multiple times?

[–] jerry 4 points 6 months ago

Yes, that’s correct

[–] redfox 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Can anyone explain why people care about votes on Lemmy? Isnt it like winning a contest no one's play, or am I missing something?

[–] activistPnk@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Down votes have a suppressive effect. Views and engagement drop when the votes are <1. The initial votes are important because they influence the votes that follow. My Tyranny of voting thread gives some detail.

[–] activistPnk@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago

Seems like it could be a non-stop game of whack-a-mole. Even if you ban accounts they can just create more. If you do a good job of the baby sitting, they can use even more accounts to mask patterns. I don’t see how an admin can prevail.

Disabling down votes would prevent the practice of down voting to suppress. But probably the most effective is to disable voting entirely.