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It wasn't exactly your finest hour. That said, I (perhaps naively) assume that the HN community is strong enough to self heal sans permaban - the intent of fla

by astrec 17y ago

It wasn't exactly your finest hour. That said, I (perhaps naively) assume that the HN community is strong enough to self heal sans permaban - the intent of flag, innit?

allenbrunson 17y ago
I think most news.yc users overestimate the value of voting. It's in your face, you see the numbers on every item, so it's easy to assume that's the most important thing. It isn't. It's just a guide, that indicates what the users are currently thinking. Sadly, it doesn't work to put too much stock in what they're thinking. Pretty much every site on the internet where users gather and talk has eventually turned into a cesspool of angry arguments and spite, just before imploding altogether. Clay Shirky wrote the definitive essay on the subject: http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html So the evidence is pretty clear: leave the users to their own devices, and they'll eventually destroy the community. pg and the editors are well aware of this. So they curb bad behavior, behind the scenes. Many, many users and submissions get banned or killed. If it wasn't that way, this community definitely would not have survived for three-plus-years now. And if you ask me, pg did absolutely the right thing banning that blog entry. It was exactly the sort of ugly, spiteful thing that sends a community spiraling into its death throes. I'm glad it's gone.
- vaksel 17y ago
  just a small correction, he didn't just ban that blog entry, he banned the entire domain.
- astrec 17y ago
  I suppose flag is a form of voting, but I think you underestimate the value of HN culture. Angry arguments and spite have rarely been tolerated here. It appears PG didn't ban a blog entry, but rather a domain, and one which had previously been a source of useful content. If we apply this same standard we ought start banning entire domains left, right and centre: first cab off the rank should be techcrunch.com
  - allenbrunson 17y ago
    As a matter of fact, many domains have been banned. Hundreds. Again, perfectly necessary to keep the peace.

by astrec 17y ago

It wasn't exactly your finest hour. That said, I (perhaps naively) assume that the HN community is strong enough to self heal sans permaban - the intent of flag, innit?

allenbrunson 17y ago

I think most news.yc users overestimate the value of voting. It's in your face, you see the numbers on every item, so it's easy to assume that's the most important thing. It isn't. It's just a guide, that indicates what the users are currently thinking. Sadly, it doesn't work to put too much stock in what they're thinking. Pretty much every site on the internet where users gather and talk has eventually turned into a cesspool of angry arguments and spite, just before imploding altogether. Clay Shirky wrote the definitive essay on the subject: http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html So the evidence is pretty clear: leave the users to their own devices, and they'll eventually destroy the community. pg and the editors are well aware of this. So they curb bad behavior, behind the scenes. Many, many users and submissions get banned or killed. If it wasn't that way, this community definitely would not have survived for three-plus-years now. And if you ask me, pg did absolutely the right thing banning that blog entry. It was exactly the sort of ugly, spiteful thing that sends a community spiraling into its death throes. I'm glad it's gone.

vaksel 17y ago
just a small correction, he didn't just ban that blog entry, he banned the entire domain.
astrec 17y ago
I suppose flag is a form of voting, but I think you underestimate the value of HN culture. Angry arguments and spite have rarely been tolerated here. It appears PG didn't ban a blog entry, but rather a domain, and one which had previously been a source of useful content. If we apply this same standard we ought start banning entire domains left, right and centre: first cab off the rank should be techcrunch.com
- allenbrunson 17y ago
  As a matter of fact, many domains have been banned. Hundreds. Again, perfectly necessary to keep the peace.