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I think it's pretty awful for a YCombinator employee to come into the comments and chastise a commenter for bashing a YCombinator company. In this case especial

by troisx 10y ago

I think it's pretty awful for a YCombinator employee to come into the comments and chastise a commenter for bashing a YCombinator company. In this case especially, as lots of abuse stories exist about Airbnb.

tptacek 10y ago
I think if you're going to make an accusation like that, you should sign your name to it.
- grapehut 10y ago
  That's hardly fair. It's one thing to make an anonymous accusation like: "He touched me inappropriately", but troisx follows more of a "I think <these facts> are pretty awful", and does not rely on him or his experience to any extent. I really don't think Dan acted out of a conflict-of-interest, and in general I agree with the substance of his reply -- but a public chastising was out of place here.
dang 10y ago
I've addressed this many times. When YC companies are being discussed we apply moderation less, not more—but that doesn't mean we stop moderating altogether. That's the way HN has always worked, and I think it's a good balance. It wouldn't be fair for people to be exempt from HN's rules and standards just because they're criticizing YC or a startup YC funded. There's no substantive point about Airbnb or any other company that can't be expressed in the way my comment above is recommending. That ought to be obvious to anyone who reads it dispassionately and is familiar with HN.
- nailer 10y ago
  Dan as mentioned upthread, if you think my repeated contact with AirBnB over a year, and the impression I've had as a result, isn't substantive, could you explain why or email me if you prefer? I've been on Startup News / Hacker News for eight years, so I'm pretty familiar with the site.
  - dang 10y ago
    You're responding to something so far from what I said that I don't know quite what to tell you. What I said was that you shouldn't have posted this to HN: > But the company absolutely does not give a damn about their impact on the people around them. ... because (a) you can't know such a thing and (b) it's corrosive of the kind of discussion we want here. Reporting specific experiences is fine. Crossing into grandiose denunciations is not. Those add no information; their purpose is to gin up rage, which puts salt on the slug of thoughtful discourse.
    - nailer 10y ago
      I'm responding to exactly what you're complaining about: > > But the company absolutely does not give a damn about their impact on the people around them. As mentioned repeatedly, that's an honest impression from a year of constant engagement. I have in no way said it is AirBnB policy to not give a damn, simply that as someone who has attempted to engage the company about these matters, they appear to not give a damn. > Those add no information I very much disagree that the resulting impression does not add value, and HN would seem to agree, as evidenced by the HN community's reactions to your post. People can and do post impressions of services on HN, and have for some time. Part of handling yourself properly is not only avoiding impropriety but also the appearance on impropriety: being told not to post my impressions of a company that is incompetent enough they've repeatedly stated they cannot match an address to a listing looks very poor when YC has a financial interest in the company. Respectfully, you were wrong on this one.
      - dang 10y ago
        I'm surprised that you keep insisting on this. Your statement that I objected to said "absolutely does not". Your defense of it here says "appear not to". Talk about moving the goalposts! If you had said something like "based on my experience they appear not to" in the first place, obviously there would have been no problem. Perhaps that's all you meant to say, but what you actually said went far beyond it in a way that is corrosive to thoughtful discourse, which is why I objected.

by troisx 10y ago

tptacek 10y ago

I think if you're going to make an accusation like that, you should sign your name to it.

grapehut 10y ago
That's hardly fair. It's one thing to make an anonymous accusation like: "He touched me inappropriately", but troisx follows more of a "I think <these facts> are pretty awful", and does not rely on him or his experience to any extent. I really don't think Dan acted out of a conflict-of-interest, and in general I agree with the substance of his reply -- but a public chastising was out of place here.

dang 10y ago

I've addressed this many times. When YC companies are being discussed we apply moderation less, not more—but that doesn't mean we stop moderating altogether. That's the way HN has always worked, and I think it's a good balance. It wouldn't be fair for people to be exempt from HN's rules and standards just because they're criticizing YC or a startup YC funded. There's no substantive point about Airbnb or any other company that can't be expressed in the way my comment above is recommending. That ought to be obvious to anyone who reads it dispassionately and is familiar with HN.

nailer 10y ago
Dan as mentioned upthread, if you think my repeated contact with AirBnB over a year, and the impression I've had as a result, isn't substantive, could you explain why or email me if you prefer? I've been on Startup News / Hacker News for eight years, so I'm pretty familiar with the site.
- dang 10y ago
  You're responding to something so far from what I said that I don't know quite what to tell you. What I said was that you shouldn't have posted this to HN: > But the company absolutely does not give a damn about their impact on the people around them. ... because (a) you can't know such a thing and (b) it's corrosive of the kind of discussion we want here. Reporting specific experiences is fine. Crossing into grandiose denunciations is not. Those add no information; their purpose is to gin up rage, which puts salt on the slug of thoughtful discourse.
  - nailer 10y ago
    I'm responding to exactly what you're complaining about: > > But the company absolutely does not give a damn about their impact on the people around them. As mentioned repeatedly, that's an honest impression from a year of constant engagement. I have in no way said it is AirBnB policy to not give a damn, simply that as someone who has attempted to engage the company about these matters, they appear to not give a damn. > Those add no information I very much disagree that the resulting impression does not add value, and HN would seem to agree, as evidenced by the HN community's reactions to your post. People can and do post impressions of services on HN, and have for some time. Part of handling yourself properly is not only avoiding impropriety but also the appearance on impropriety: being told not to post my impressions of a company that is incompetent enough they've repeatedly stated they cannot match an address to a listing looks very poor when YC has a financial interest in the company. Respectfully, you were wrong on this one.
    - dang 10y ago
      I'm surprised that you keep insisting on this. Your statement that I objected to said "absolutely does not". Your defense of it here says "appear not to". Talk about moving the goalposts! If you had said something like "based on my experience they appear not to" in the first place, obviously there would have been no problem. Perhaps that's all you meant to say, but what you actually said went far beyond it in a way that is corrosive to thoughtful discourse, which is why I objected.