system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why some front page posts get the upwards of 8000 up votes (like the Thanksgiving donut cop post) and hours later votes drop down to 2000-3000 votes?

Edit: wow I just kinda threw this out there and expected either nothing or just one or two quick answers. As I've been reading and understanding more, I think what I did mean to say is a post's points rather than up votes. I didn't realize they kind of weren't one in the same, so I suppose people have explained how the weighted system works and spam bots putting an impact on why the points may drop so rapidly. Thanks for making this my top post and for all the help!
gpt
Points and votes are different. As the votes get bigger, they are worth less points. Points are what you see the posts score as. 

This next part is speculation

It's possible that a post can get so popular so fast that it doesn't get those beginning down votes. Once the post is that big, naturally it gets downvoted back down to an average level.