Unfortunately, everybody's definition of "worthwhile things" is different. If there are specific examples you'd like to discuss, I'd be happy to post my perspective on why they may or may not have been posted. I realize that submitting to Slashdot can be like screaming into the void; it's something I always wanted to change. But there are often good reasons why submissions were declined.

Shilled stories get to the front page for a few reasons. Here's how CmdrTaco explained it to me when I joined Slashdot. The role of Slashdot is to be a filter; it whittles down the tens of thousands of articles posted every day to the 20-30 that are most relevant to the community. Most publications pump out lots of junk every day, along with a legitimately good article or two. If a shill wants to submit their best article for consideration... fine. Non-shills are preferred, of course, but more on-topic submissions in the firehose can only help the community. Editors can (and do) reject shills all the time. Even StartsWithABang only has a ~23% acceptance rate.

I haven't worked for Slashdot since the acquisition. I can directly state that for the duration of my time there (Dec. 2007 until Jan. 2016) no advertising or promotional deals affected what was posted to the front page. (Excepting, of course, these dumb things that started a few months ago, which were straight up ad units, and labeled as such).

The editorial staff decides what gets posted. Prior to the acquisition, it was myself, samzenpus, and timothy. Since the acquisition, it appears to be timothy and a new editor named yaelk (and occasionally whipslash, one of Slashdot's new owners).

Stories are picked using a variety of criteria: how the community votes on it, how interesting it is, how on-topic it is, its relevance, the quality of the source, the article's timeliness, what similar material is on the page already, and a few other things. (Disclaimer: I am speaking for myself, and how I picked stories, but samzenpus and timothy operated similarly -- as CmdrTaco taught us).

These criteria are weighed against each other. If an article is a few days old, it needs to be particularly interesting to make the front page. The more off-topic something is, the more interesting it needs to be to make the cut. How the community votes is important, but is not enough on its own. The community sometimes votes for things that are factually untrue, or are years old, or involve attacking somebody. The community sometimes votes up dupes. On the other side of things, sometimes the community just doesn't vote.

Hope this provides some context for you.

There's no contract. Or any communication aside from the actual submissions. If you want different astronomy/science stories on Slashdot, you have easy recourse; submit your own!

Thanks for doing this.

Full study here.

Pretty tame conclusions, but I'm glad they're still doing research into this. I'm actually really curious to see what kind of psychological effects show up (or don't) as graphics technology gets ever closer to perfect fidelity. Not in the moral panic or "we must legislate this" sense, but just to understand whether and how a technology is capable of damaging us. VR is right around the corner, and game developers are focusing constantly on immersion -- this makes me wonder whether a sufficiently advanced game could cause PTSD, or a similar condition. I suspect not now, and not soon, but it'll probably be an issue some day.

I wouldn't phrase it quite like that, but you're absolutely right that PC gamers should wait for a bit. I picked up Rage for the PC right when it came out, and it was a complete mess. Carmack even apologized for it. He's not at id Software anymore, but hopefully the folks who are remember that lesson.

1. It's nice to see you're already communicating with the users. It's something I could never get previous leadership to do. Keep it up! You won't be able to bring them everything on their wishlist -- but don't let that stop you from telling them what you are bringing them, and why the other stuff got pushed lower on the priority list. They're reasonable folks; as long as you're working with them, they'll be on your side.

2. Small changes are better than big ones. Don't push ahead with a massive, grand plan and assume the community will jump on board (like video and beta). If they tell you they don't want it, they don't actually want it. When in doubt, trust Tim L. and Tim V. Nobody cares about the site and its users as much as those two.

3. Build for the community you have, not for the one you want. Don't chase the hockey stick. It's not going to happen. But there's still a path for evolving Slashdot to support an incredibly broad tech/geek community.

4. Nobody should make decisions about the site without being an active user.

5. Ask the community for help more often. The biggest area that needs it right now is submissions. They're the base from which all content flows, and they've been slowly drying up. Submission needs to feel less like screaming into the abyss. Consider reviving the IRC channel to give people direct, instant access to editorial. Try to find ways to solicit particular submissions from known experts. (For example, a submission about a new C++ release from an actual C++ engineer is worth its weight in gold.

6. Reward readers for doing things that benefit the site. Used a mod point? +1 subscriber (ad-free) page. Got a score:5 comment? +10 pages. Accepted submission? +10 pages. Or more. Be generous; these are your most valuable users.

7. Empower and invest in editorial. It is literally their job to know and understand the community, so they shouldn't lose fights centering on the community.

8. Ads have been in a bad place for a couple of years. Pulling it back will cost you revenue in the short term, but may ensure the site's sustainability in the long term.

9. Slashdot's founder, Rob Malda, still cares deeply about Slashdot. I'm sure he'd be willing to offer some advice.

You've been saying a lot of the right things about Slashdot an SourceForge. I sincerely hope you make it all happen.

Best of luck,
Jeff