Also, FWIW, I’m fairly sure Voyager doesn’t do the sorting, but rather, the instances themselves do it using Lenny’s built in algorithm. So there is nothing Voyager can do about the calculation.

I agree with your definition of hot. My view is that a 10 minute old post with a single upvote does not meet that definition. The one upvote a post gets when it is created does not mean positive interaction. Too much bias towards new and not enough towards upvote count. Edit: This lemmy doc confirms it is intentional. And a lemmy issue, not voyager specific.