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The community was seeded from people who found out about it through either Paul Graham's essays or Y Combinator. After that deterioration was prevented by stron
by bemmu 10y ago
The community was seeded from people who found out about it through either Paul Graham's essays or Y Combinator. After that deterioration was prevented by strongly discouraging low quality discussion.
- cookiecaper 10y agoYes, the high caliber of HN participants is what really sets it apart, and the great moderation by dang et al that stops it from descending below a pretty high bar has prevented the normal attrition-for-attention that drives the best users away. I think the spartan design has also helped keep out people who aren't committed to a high level of online discourse. Most platforms are going to have a chicken and egg problem. HN didn't because this guy who had millions of dollars told the people he gives it to to use HN. Pretty effective way of seeding a community. IMO the absolute best thing about HN is that when we're discussing a news event, often the newsmakers will materialize in the thread. Spontaneous stuff like the Alan Kay AMA just happens. That is what really makes HN invaluable, and it only happens because we're able to maintain the type of community that those people want to hang around in.
- AstroJetson 10y agoYes, started with a good core that has a group set to be nice, thoughtful, and post smart things. Moderation by deng is pretty amazing, I seldom things go off the rails. Nice place to visit!!