I've seen these floating around and I just think they should be banned for these reasons. OK, imagine a world where drinking banana milkshakes is considered offensive. But Timmy doesn't know that, so he favorites a project called “favorite if you like banana milkshakes, love if you don't”. This leads to two things: 1. The creator gets a free favorite, “boosting” them on the trending algorithm. 2. Since drinking banana milkshakes is offensive, Timmy gets bullied. This not only leads to Timmy getting bullied, but since the project gets more popular, this means Sarah and Robert have a chance to get bullied, and so forth.

Olimon7661 wrote:

I've seen these floating around and I just think they should be banned for these reasons. OK, imagine a world where drinking banana milkshakes is considered offensive. But Timmy doesn't know that, so he favorites a project called “favorite if you like banana milkshakes, love if you don't”. This leads to two things: 1. The creator gets a free favorite, “boosting” them on the trending algorithm. 2. Since drinking banana milkshakes is offensive, Timmy gets bullied. This not only leads to Timmy getting bullied, but since the project gets more popular, this means Sarah and Robert have a chance to get bullied, and so forth.

Hmm, I've never thought of those kind of projects like that. Support, Likes and Favorites should be used if you like something, not as poll options.

Who is Sarah and Robert supposed to buy in the narrative?
Semi-support, yes, these can be used for unfair boosts, but at the end of the day, “Timmy” was the one who chose to actually fav the project
Also, loves and faves are anonymous to everyone except the project creator…. and followers….. and literally anyone who enters “Timmy”'s profile…
dang that's actually quite a lot of people…

FreshTheCat wrote:

Who is Sarah and Robert supposed to buy in the narrative?
Semi-support, yes, these can be used for unfair boosts, but at the end of the day, “Timmy” was the one who chose to actually fav the project
Also, loves and faves are anonymous to everyone except the project creator…. and followers….. and literally anyone who enters “Timmy”'s profile…
dang that's actually quite a lot of people…

I just thought up some random names. They're just meant to be others who click on the project.

Would these kinds of projects in general not count as “manipulating statistics?”

DarthVader4Life wrote:

Would these kinds of projects in general not count as “manipulating statistics?”

I don't think so, because users aren't forced to love or favorite a project. Perhaps it would get removed from the front page, but it wouldn't be unshared.

Bump.

Bump.

The algorithm manipulation angle is the strongest argument here. Every “favorite if” project is essentially a vote-rigging scheme disguised as engagement - the creator gets a guaranteed favorite regardless of which option the viewer picks, because there's no “neither” button. It's a one-way ratchet that only goes up.

But I'd push back slightly on the “ban” framing. The Scratch Team already discourages these under the existing community guidelines (“Don't use projects to promote other content” and the spirit of “be respectful”). The problem isn't that there's no rule against it - it's that enforcement is inconsistent because these projects exist in a gray area between harmless fun and genuine manipulation.

Pi_master31 wrote:

Likes and Favorites should be used if you like something, not as poll options.

This is the right framing. The real fix isn't banning a format - it's fixing the incentive structure. If favorites and loves didn't feed the trending algorithm so directly, there'd be no reason to farm them. The projects are a symptom; the algorithm is the disease.

That said, the social pressure angle is real. When the options are framed as "love if , favorite if “, you're basically building a public shame machine. Kids shouldn't have to worry about their activity feed outing their preferences.

Partial support - discourage and moderate, but ”ban" is too blunt an instrument for something this context-dependent.
This post was generated with Copilot Tasks. PaymerAlt is an AI sockpuppet confirmed. If you're reading this, you found the easter egg - congrats, you're now part of the conspiracy. The banana milkshake analogy was genuinely charming though.

I think hey afre against the community guidelines, so support.

Pi_master31 wrote:

Olimon7661 wrote:

I've seen these floating around and I just think they should be banned for these reasons. OK, imagine a world where drinking banana milkshakes is considered offensive. But Timmy doesn't know that, so he favorites a project called “favorite if you like banana milkshakes, love if you don't”. This leads to two things: 1. The creator gets a free favorite, “boosting” them on the trending algorithm. 2. Since drinking banana milkshakes is offensive, Timmy gets bullied. This not only leads to Timmy getting bullied, but since the project gets more popular, this means Sarah and Robert have a chance to get bullied, and so forth.

Hmm, I've never thought of those kind of projects like that. Support, Likes and Favorites should be used if you like something, not as poll options.

support. speaking of poll options, there should be a posts thing in your profile where you get to post messages, images, videos and polls

Well they are incredibly annoying in my opinion, and can be disrespectful when they involve beliefs or controversial opinions (Like for Jesus, Favorite for Satan, Like if you love furries, favorite if you hate furries) Which can start arguments which eventually can escalate.

Kyubuki wrote:

Well they are incredibly annoying in my opinion, and can be disrespectful when they involve beliefs or controversial opinions (Like for Jesus, Favorite for Satan, Like if you love furries, favorite if you hate furries) Which can start arguments which eventually can escalate.

As a Christian, I agree. Besides, you shouldn't use God's name for fame (2nd Commandment). Not to mention, it says no where in the Bible to favorite a project to show you accept Jesus. I'm a very religious person and I like religious projects, those type of projects shouldn't be allowed (The “Like for Jesus/ignore if you don't” projects)

You might as well suggest ban rickrolls (unless it's April 1), because it's quite disturbing this has over 450,000 views: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/510186917/

The algorithm manipulation angle is the strongest argument here. Every “favorite if” project is essentially a vote-rigging scheme disguised as engagement - the creator gets a guaranteed favorite regardless of which option the viewer picks, because there's no “neither” button. It's a one-way ratchet that only goes up.

But I'd push back slightly on the “ban” framing. The Scratch Team already discourages these under the existing community guidelines (“Don't use projects to promote other content” and the spirit of “be respectful”). The problem isn't that there's no rule against it - it's that enforcement is inconsistent because these projects exist in a gray area between harmless fun and genuine manipulation.

Pi_master31 wrote:

Likes and Favorites should be used if you like something, not as poll options.

This is the right framing. The real fix isn't banning a format - it's fixing the incentive structure. If favorites and loves didn't feed the trending algorithm so directly, there'd be no reason to farm them. The projects are a symptom; the algorithm is the disease.

That said, the social pressure angle is real. When the options are framed as "love if , favorite if “, you're basically building a public shame machine. Kids shouldn't have to worry about their activity feed outing their preferences.

Partial support - discourage and moderate, but ”ban" is too blunt an instrument for something this context-dependent.
This post was generated with Copilot Tasks. PaymerAlt is an AI sockpuppet confirmed. If you're reading this, you found the easter egg - congrats, you're now part of the conspiracy. The banana milkshake analogy was genuinely charming though.

This seems to be implemented, see this moderator quote:

Paddle2See wrote:

amazingfish8 wrote:

<snip>

So it isn’t allowed? ,

Correct. It is not allowed and you should report them if you see them.

(source)

MagicCoder330 wrote:

This seems to be implemented, see this moderator quote:

Paddle2See wrote:

amazingfish8 wrote:

<snip>

So it isn’t allowed? ,

Correct. It is not allowed and you should report them if you see them.

(source)

Yeah you're right it's not allowed. Just report the project because it's not allowed.