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Football Whispers

FootballWhispers

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2017
182
751
Not sure this was intended to be a Q&A, but one more follow-up - a lot of times a story gets repeated as if its in an echo chamber, where it starts from one source, and then other papers/sources simply run with the exact same story (i.e. no new confirmation of a particular link) - are you able to diminish the weight of each successive story - or do they simply carry whatever weight is associated to each specific source?

All papers/sources that quote it carry a weight and it will impact the index score but more often than not we try to ensure it's weighted off the original link.
 

FootballWhispers

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2017
182
751
Just read the Andre Gray article and it's nice to see a bit of effort going in rather than just the regurgitating of social media or other articles. In particular i personally thought it was interesting to see the comparisons and analysis of Grays style of play and where he could fit in to our style of play.

Thanks, we try to add as much analysis to links/reports as possible.
 

Rob

The Boss
Admin
Jun 8, 2003
28,014
65,116
Just read the Andre Gray article and it's nice to see a bit of effort going in rather than just the regurgitating of social media or other articles. In particular i personally thought it was interesting to see the comparisons and analysis of Grays style of play and where he could fit in to our style of play.

Football Whispers is run by a Spurs fan (and SC member) and has a fair few Spurs fans on staff so we're expecting decent content :)
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
Football transfer rumours and algorithms.
All my favourite things in one basket.

Please ban me A&C from this one too.
You know you want to.
 

ostrov

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2006
1,447
1,053
Football transfer rumours and algorithms.
All my favourite things in one basket.

Please ban me A&C from this one too.
You know you want to.
Harry Redknapp would certainly enjoy that. Especially algorithms :)))
 

Sir Henry

Facts > Feelings
Aug 18, 2008
2,706
2,817
If one person makes up shite, the same shite can spread like wildfire across all sites, so this predictor will rise due to the amount of shite mentioned on more sites. This sounds really accurate to me.

You can substitute the word shite for whisper if you want.
 

widmerpool

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2012
3,378
5,605
If one person makes up shite, the same shite can spread like wildfire across all sites, so this predictor will rise due to the amount of shite mentioned on more sites. This sounds really accurate to me.

You can substitute the word shite for whisper if you want.

It's an interesting thing, to do this algorithmically.

Usually, research and validation algorithms help when they are surfacing information that you don't get humans to synthesise because it would take too long. With individual transfer rumours affecting a specific club, that's not the case - there are plenty of obsessives prepared to track down the original source of any story and assess the likelihood that the particular story is valid, considering all possible motivations for the individuals, agents, rumour-mongers and media owners involved.

As I've said, before, I don't think that spread, duration and the reputation of what's deemed to be the original source is a great set of variables compared with the specifics that would be raised and discussed in any rumour validation exercise here.

However, the full set of weighted rumours and the information about whether they were ultimately accurate could be enormously valuable. Serious analysis, of the sort that investment quants carry out, might offer some insights into the patterns of rumour dissemination that *tend* to accompany truthful rumours. And that could be invaluable for a volume betting strategy - actually, perhaps more useful to a bookie or a tip aggregator than an individual punter. That's the way that investment quants work, after all.
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
I see the general aspect of this collaboration is largely debated in the article related threads of FootballWhispers', rather than in this thread. It's very simple, Rob asked us to consider it and give it a go, so let's see what the collaboration will lead to. No doubt the nuisance is our own fault. After the very dry January (dry when it comes to ITK, that is), I can only imagine SC donations fell drastically. So this is a new approach at funding SC. If you are a big donor, you got the right to complain if you feel like it. If you are an occasional donor (like my self), give it some time. If you have never donated to SC and you are complaining about FootballWhispers' threads, then sod off.

;)
 

Rob

The Boss
Admin
Jun 8, 2003
28,014
65,116
However, the full set of weighted rumours and the information about whether they were ultimately accurate could be enormously valuable. Serious analysis, of the sort that investment quants carry out, might offer some insights into the patterns of rumour dissemination that *tend* to accompany truthful rumours. And that could be invaluable for a volume betting strategy - actually, perhaps more useful to a bookie or a tip aggregator than an individual punter. That's the way that investment quants work, after all.

You might want to read the Abous Us page on FW and see who they've got behind them :)
 

King of Otters

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2012
10,751
36,093
Fwiw, I totally get the need to cover server costs, just not sure allowing a third party to post self serving articles in Spurs chat is the best way to go about it.
 

Rob

The Boss
Admin
Jun 8, 2003
28,014
65,116
Fwiw, I totally get the need to cover server costs, just not sure allowing a third party to post self serving articles in Spurs chat is the best way to go about it.

Aside from the complaining about sensationalist headlines, they're actually good article. Even the people complaining have admitted that. I'm confident that the content is a good match (and will be even better during the transfer window).

@FootballWhispers are taking all the comments on board and want to do this properly. They're not interested in generating a couple of clicks but instead building a good reputation and that means engaging with you all, posting stuff you want to read and really contributing.

Give them a chance.
 

widmerpool

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2012
3,378
5,605
You might want to read the Abous Us page on FW and see who they've got behind them :)

Private cash from serial tech investors, then solid-looking digital, dev and marketing folk. I must be missing something.
 

THFCSPURS19

The Speaker of the Transfer Rumours Forum
Jan 6, 2013
37,886
130,485
@Rob - I have no problems with your agreement with Football Whispers, but it'll be annoying if they create a new thread for every new article they post about Spurs. Can't their most recent one just go in the Kane thread, for example.

Maybe there should be a Football Whispers thread, or even a whole section/sub-forum.
 

King of Otters

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2012
10,751
36,093
Aside from the complaining about sensationalist headlines, they're actually good article. Even the people complaining have admitted that. I'm confident that the content is a good match (and will be even better during the transfer window).

@FootballWhispers are taking all the comments on board and want to do this properly. They're not interested in generating a couple of clicks but instead building a good reputation and that means engaging with you all, posting stuff you want to read and really contributing.

Give them a chance.

But surely they can just post on the front page, and continue to advertise elsewhere on the site?

External links, from a third party (not even a Spurs blog), in a moderated Spurs forum is just jarring.
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
@Rob - I have no problems with your agreement with Football Whispers, but it'll be annoying if they create a new thread for every new article they post about Spurs. Can't their most recent one just go in the Kane thread, for example.

Maybe there should be a Football Whispers thread, or even a whole section/sub-forum.
Keeping it all in one thread would make it easier to avoid.
 
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