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> comments are often gratuitously mean, and people will often defend gratuitously mean comments by claiming that it’s either impossible or inefficient to convey

> comments are often gratuitously mean, and people will often defend gratuitously mean comments by claiming that it’s either impossible or inefficient to convey information without being mean. > Most of the negative things you hear about HN comments are true. I think it is interesting how the relatively anonymised nature of the internet has a similar effect on people of all stripes. HN readers, I believe, are among the more intelligent, or at least curious, in our species. The same is true of another popular internet forum, Stackoverflow. Yet there exists an air of negativity that is of much higher ubiquity than in "real" life where people are not anonymous. And this is true of most other internet forums as well where more of the general popular participates. I think it shows in a strange way that people just have a lot of negativity to vent, and the internet has made that really easy and without consequence to the rest of one's life, and that this remains true regardless of one's interests and general intelligence.

GrinningFool 10y ago
I've found my negative tendencies curbed quickly when I started using my real name, or accounts directly linked to my real name (such as this one). For me, it just forces an extra second of thought - whatever I type next affects people's perception of me as a person. At first this was just in the form of considering my reply more, but over time it shifted to occurring as a part of reaching my initial conclusions.
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  I use my main account as "nickpsecurity" for the same reason. I've posted as "Nick P" in security field for a long time. It's close to my real name. I do controversial posts and generate plenty of material that could be used for smears but tying it to my real identity does filter out some foolish, reckless or smearing comments I might otherwise make with zero accountability. So, I post everything here under that name or don't post it at all. The results have overall been positive with a very low amount of bad reactions in moderation or downvotes vs an aggressive throwaway I might create to write comments of dubious value.
forgottenpass 10y ago
I think it shows in a strange way that people just have a lot of negativity to vent Is it venting, or is it just a reversion to the indifference that we hide in face-to-face interactions with manners and artificial civility?

GrinningFool 10y ago

I've found my negative tendencies curbed quickly when I started using my real name, or accounts directly linked to my real name (such as this one). For me, it just forces an extra second of thought - whatever I type next affects people's perception of me as a person. At first this was just in the form of considering my reply more, but over time it shifted to occurring as a part of reaching my initial conclusions.

nickpsecurity 10y ago
I use my main account as "nickpsecurity" for the same reason. I've posted as "Nick P" in security field for a long time. It's close to my real name. I do controversial posts and generate plenty of material that could be used for smears but tying it to my real identity does filter out some foolish, reckless or smearing comments I might otherwise make with zero accountability. So, I post everything here under that name or don't post it at all. The results have overall been positive with a very low amount of bad reactions in moderation or downvotes vs an aggressive throwaway I might create to write comments of dubious value.

forgottenpass 10y ago

I think it shows in a strange way that people just have a lot of negativity to vent Is it venting, or is it just a reversion to the indifference that we hide in face-to-face interactions with manners and artificial civility?