stickiness algorithm on discussions list
voting on comments to determine the right answer doesn't really work as we've seen by now.. but what i think what would work, is an algorithm to determine stickiness of threads on the main discussions list
as a participant of many forums over the years (mostly vbulletin) i've noticed several things.. that threads with a lot of comments stay on the front page longer, and therefore get more comments, and therefore stay on the front page longer. whereas other posts dissapear prematurely
i think the next evolution of that would be if there was an algorithm that determines how long a thread should stay at the top of the discussion list rather than just how long ago a comment was added to it
what i mean is, new comments shouldn't necessarily determine the stickiness of threads.. it should be an algorithm which takes into other factors to determine stickiness as a) activity level (likes, comments, etc.) b) relevance c) reach d) poster credibility.. kind of like edgerank on fb
this would tie in with advertising too, as sponsors would pay to increase stickiness of their ads in the discussion list, rather than buying static space
any thoughts?