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But the comments are drawn from the distribution of Hacker News readers. You can't presume that just because you see a thread of ten comments as an off-topic di
by p4wnc6 11y ago
But the comments are drawn from the distribution of Hacker News readers. You can't presume that just because you see a thread of ten comments as an off-topic distraction that so must the other thousands of readers, especially if there are healthy replies and up votes.
Your comment that it "derail[s] a thread" makes the implicit assumption that the comments are actually off-topic. If they are on-topic, but you happen to have the opinion that they aren't (even thought they are) then it's not derailing anything, it's just a healthy reflection of the comment-generating process that is "the pool of all HN readers." I think of it like the John Lennon quote: "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted."
I don't have a magic answer for how to accurately detect off-topic diversions in a way that satisfied most people most of the time. All I'm saying is that upon seeing a healthy back and forth, it should give me a lot of pause that if I merely think it's off topic, I am probably wrong, and it's just an opinion that should not be indulged by moderator activity.
- nitrogen 11y agoInteresting points. I'll just add that I don't think that enjoyment is the best metric for evaluating a thread, but maximal enjoyment and/or maximal usefulness. Especially if what I'm calling off topic prevents the community from addressing a threat to its values. I could be wrong, but it seems that the HN team want HN to be more than just a fun place to hang out for hackers. There was another example of derailment recently, with a dozen comments arguing over what a "middleman" is when the original comment was really about how best to support indie makers. Anyway, thanks for the interesting discussion, and I hope I haven't made this thread less useful for someone else in the process.