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I have a theory — to clean up a site, find and expel the most egregious offenders, like the people who engage in repeated name-calling ("You are a fucking assho

I have a theory — to clean up a site, find and expel the most egregious offenders, like the people who engage in repeated name-calling ("You are a fucking asshole!") as opposed to constructive discussion. You can't police every user, but if you find and expel the worst offenders, I suspect it will have a significant effect on the quality of conversation.

codezero 10y ago
You'd be very surprised. The most abrasive people in a community do a very good job of building a positive reputation amongst other "power users" such that banning them causes a ripple effect in the community that _always_ makes the moderators look like one-sided haters.
- kartickv 10y ago
  Sure, the moderators may end up looking one-sided, but it sends a clear signal as to what kind of behaviour is not tolerated. The other members can adjust to the new normal, and some will leave. Either way, you've cleaned up the site to some extent.
duiker101 10y ago
name calling is not even on the list of stuff that I would have placed in a list of bad things users of Reddit do. Unfortunately, while that could be applied to HN, reddit is another world. Much of the freedom of speech culture still exists and while not on the main page, there are a lot of communities dedicated to hate or just fighting each other and instigating rage.
- kartickv 10y ago
  Name-calling was an example of bad behaviour you want to ban. I'm sure we can think of other, worse, types of behaviour. Whatever it is, find the most egregious offenders, and ban them.
CaptSpify 10y ago
I think that works only when you set those expectations up front. This is an apples-to-oranges comparison, but: reddit started as no filters. That was one of it's main draws. Then suddenly started applying filters, and banning "toxic" members. Now a lot of people are mad at them. HN, afaik, has always had these rules in place. There's never been an expectation of free-speech here, and nobody minds, because they were presented up-front.

codezero 10y ago

You'd be very surprised. The most abrasive people in a community do a very good job of building a positive reputation amongst other "power users" such that banning them causes a ripple effect in the community that _always_ makes the moderators look like one-sided haters.

kartickv 10y ago
Sure, the moderators may end up looking one-sided, but it sends a clear signal as to what kind of behaviour is not tolerated. The other members can adjust to the new normal, and some will leave. Either way, you've cleaned up the site to some extent.

duiker101 10y ago

name calling is not even on the list of stuff that I would have placed in a list of bad things users of Reddit do. Unfortunately, while that could be applied to HN, reddit is another world. Much of the freedom of speech culture still exists and while not on the main page, there are a lot of communities dedicated to hate or just fighting each other and instigating rage.

kartickv 10y ago
Name-calling was an example of bad behaviour you want to ban. I'm sure we can think of other, worse, types of behaviour. Whatever it is, find the most egregious offenders, and ban them.

CaptSpify 10y ago

I think that works only when you set those expectations up front. This is an apples-to-oranges comparison, but: reddit started as no filters. That was one of it's main draws. Then suddenly started applying filters, and banning "toxic" members. Now a lot of people are mad at them. HN, afaik, has always had these rules in place. There's never been an expectation of free-speech here, and nobody minds, because they were presented up-front.