From the Limitations of Reddit’s Tagging and Search Systems to a better software development
Although there are many social plateforms in the world, none of them are perfect.
weakness of reddit
Take Reddit for example: if I search the keyword “badminton” and sort by “new,” the results often appear disorganized, as shown in the graph. Posts under this keyword can fall into vastly different categories:
- Social: Someone looking for others to play badminton with.
- Sports: Discussions about badminton clubs or events.
- Housing: Surprisingly, posts about finding roommates, where the author mentions “badminton” as a personal hobby.
This inconsistency reveals a major shortcoming in Reddit’s tagging system: a single tag like “badminton” is not specific enough to reflect the post’s context or intent. As a result, posts with vastly different purposes are grouped together, making it difficult to efficiently organize and find relevant information.
Therefore, I proposed another search rule:
New Search Rule (see Graph 2)
- Multiple Tags System
- Allow users to add multiple tags to a single post, enabling better categorization and filtering of information.
- For example:
- A post about finding someone to play badminton could include: social, sports, badminton.
- A club announcement post could include: sports, club, badminton.
- A housing-related post with a badminton mention could include: housing, personal, badminton.
- Hierarchical Tags
- Create a hierarchy of tags to establish relationships between broader and more specific topics.
- For instance:
- Sports → Badminton → Club or Social
- Housing → Roommate → Interest: Badminton
- Search Results Filtering
- After entering a keyword, users should be able to filter search results using:
- Primary Tags: Broad topics like sports, housing, news.
- Secondary Tags: Specific contexts like club, socialize, event.
- This prevents irrelevant posts (e.g., housing posts) from appearing when searching for a sports activity.
- After entering a keyword, users should be able to filter search results using:
- Content Priority by Tag Weight
- Assign weight or importance to tags:
- Posts with a primary tag directly related to the search keyword are prioritized.
- Secondary mentions of the keyword (like a passing reference) are ranked lower.
- For example: Searching for badminton under “Sports” would prioritize club announcements and social posts over unrelated mentions in housing or academics.
- Assign weight or importance to tags:
- Improved Search Interface
- Add tag suggestions based on user input to guide them toward relevant categories.
- Implement check-box filters to help users refine their search results quickly.
- Example filters: Club, Socialize, Event, Recommendation, etc.
- Context-Sensitive Search
- Recognize the user’s intent based on the community.
- In a “UIUC” community, searching badminton would prioritize:
- Social activities related to badminton
- Clubs and events for badminton players
- Posts with minor mentions of badminton (e.g., housing) would be placed at the bottom.
- In a “UIUC” community, searching badminton would prioritize:
- Recognize the user’s intent based on the community.
Graph 2: the illustration of new search rule under college tag
There may be some challenges in implementing this rule, but I believe they can be addressed. If there are better suggestions or further improvements, feel free to discuss them. Thanks for reading this passage.
zihaoLian 
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