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I just have a thought on the new link badges:

  • Announcer - Shared a link to a question that was visited by 50 unique IP addresses in 2 days
  • Booster - Shared a link to a question that was visited by 400 unique IP addresses in 3 days
  • Publicist - Shared a link to a question that was visited by 1,000 unique IP addresses in 4 days

Scenario:

A user share a link to a question on StackOverflow.com in his blog. The link is visited by 50 unique IP addresses within two days, which should give him an Announcer badge.

But on the third day, suddenly the link is visited by another 350 unique addresses (so 400 in total), which should give him Booster badge.

Then lastly on the fourth day, (as you might already guess what I wanted to say) the link is visited by another 600 unique addresses (so 1000 in total), which should give him Publicist badge.

Question:

I know each badge can only be earned on a different question (based on Jeff's blog), so the user above won't get all three badges. The questions I want to ask are:

  • Would the user get a bronze Announcer badge or a gold Publicist badge for the above scenario?
  • If the answer above is bronze, does it mean that the users have to get low-level badge (bronze) before getting the corresponding high-level badge (gold)?
  • When is the badge awarded? After 2nd day (bronze)? After 4th day (gold)?
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3 Answers 3

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First, some facts:

  1. Yesterday, Jeff got a Booster badge (silver) for promoting a question on English Language and Usage.
  2. At that time, the question was only one (1) day old. Jeff's promotional link must be even younger, by definition.
  3. Jeff doesn't have a Publicist badge (gold) on that site yet.
  4. Jeff does already have an Announcer badge (bronze) for a different question on that site.

So, obviously, the system does not wait for a full 4 days before deciding which badge to hand out. (Theoretically, Jeff could still become eligible for a Publicist badge for that question.)

Edit: now that Jeff himself has chimed in, I have deleted my original speculation, because it is now proven to be blatantly wrong. Jeff's answer is somewhat cryptic on its own, but when taken together with the four facts I provided and the links NullUserException offered in his comment below, it answers the question perfectly. I'll sum it up here once again, but really, you should be upvoting Jeff.

You get the Announcer, Booster, and Publicist badges in that order. In other words, you can only get the Announcer badge (but not Booster or Publicist) for your first promotional link, the Booster badge (but not Publicist) for the next one, and the Publicist badge only after that.

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    I think I'll agree based on what've seen here and here
    – NullUserException อ_อ
    Sep 16, 2010 at 23:17
  • thanks a lot for the thorough explanation :)
    – Gan
    Sep 18, 2010 at 13:41
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As it says in the blog post:

Each badge can be earned only once, and each must be earned on a different question. Also, the tracked IPs must originate from outside our existing network.

https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/announcer-booster-and-publicist-badges/

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  • This doesn't answer the OP's question
    – NullUserException อ_อ
    Sep 16, 2010 at 23:10
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    @NullUserException: I think that Jeff's answer, when taken together with the links I provided in my answer and the links you provided when commenting on it, does make sense. I read it as: you get the Announcer, Booster, and Publicist badges in that order. I.e., you can only get Announcer (but not Booster or Publicist) for your first promotional link, the Booster (but not Publicist) for the next one, and Publicist only after that.
    – ЯegDwight
    Sep 16, 2010 at 23:28
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    @reg It's not really fair is it?
    – NullUserException อ_อ
    Sep 16, 2010 at 23:40
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    @reg exactly, there's really only one way this can work if you think it through like, dare I say, a programmer..
    – Jeff Atwood
    Sep 16, 2010 at 23:47
  • @Null: well, it does kind of invite people to promote more questions, and in a more intriguing manner: first, a good one; then, a very good one; and finally, go for the kill and promote a truly stellar question. Step 4: Profit!
    – ЯegDwight
    Sep 17, 2010 at 0:51
  • @Jeff: Well, I always thought you are a programmer with magic spells... :)
    – Gan
    Sep 17, 2010 at 9:38
  • @jeff would any social network site, such as facebook work for this? its just unique traffic, right?
    – Question-Failed
    Sep 17, 2010 at 20:33
  • @Talvi: yes, it will work. Just remember that your link must include your User ID and the link being clicked is outside of StackExchange network. More info: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/63684/… :)
    – Gan
    Sep 18, 2010 at 13:30
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They've obviously changed this recently because yesterday I gained the Publicist (gold) badge, and I login today to discover I was awarded the Booster(silver) badge, all on the same question!

https://android.stackexchange.com/users/3868/dunhamzzz?tab=badges&sort=class

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