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I'm not asking for Karma, but isn't it a problem to have a thread that no one will see soon (because it's only on 2 points) which has 14 comments and 17 votes w
by curi 19y ago
I'm not asking for Karma, but isn't it a problem to have a thread that no one will see soon (because it's only on 2 points) which has 14 comments and 17 votes which people might find interesting?
A lot of comments in the thread have more points than the thread itself. Maybe for getting on the front page threads should count as their own score or the score of the highest comment they contain, whichever is higher?
- NSX2 19y agoNah. That would make too much sense. Plus it would take away the top brass's options to censor stuff that users like to talk about because they find interesting, but, say, top people running this don't want to talk about. Or have others talking about. Like over the summer there was this guy called "Y@mada" who weaved a boring tale of caution and tempering PGs unabashed optimism with some feet on the ground practicality as the economy was going to crash in a major way any second now. Obviously he was wrong because everything is smooth sailing, but PG didn't like this pessimistic world view so despite forums with like, 50-60-70+ posts, eventually the posts would just be deleted / marked "dead", etc. But try something else. Put up a post like, "Ask YC: Do you sleep on your stomach or on your back, and which do you think is better for an aspiring programmer" and I GUARANTEE YOU that post will be up forever, sparking countless debate.
- pchristensen 19y agoI fall asleep on my stomach, then roll to my back while sleeping. That's the key to success. Anything less and YOU'LL NEVER GET ACQUIRED!!! Mwhahahaha!
- davidw 19y agoTo be clear: I'm not involved in running this site, but I'm happy with how it is managed. Perhaps if you don't like it, another site would be more to your liking? (http://startupping.com/ http://startupping.com/ has some startup related content, for instance). Or perhaps you could adjust enough to get some value out of this one, as well as contribute value of your own? If not, it's not going to make anyone here very happy, neither you nor 'them', and therefore seems a bit of a pointless pursuit.
- NSX2 19y agoFirst, define "value" ... then refer to your own post on "Should Points-Based Ads etc.". You think it's an interesting idea. I do as well. The poster does. As of now, that's it. Yet that's what I'd expect a lot more on Y. But so far "is this troll trolling has 2 dozen posts" ... "is t.v. good or bad" attracted PG's attention and the second he comments his army of fanboys instantly add 50 more comments along the lines of "I agree with everything Paul Graham says." Then new readers see the popularity and get sucked in. So unfortunately, you could look at thinks like you described above, but something tells me you wish the "Should Popularity-based Advertising" etc. post got as much attention as the "Is T.V. good or bad?" post. Which I doubt it will. I could be wrong. But I think this time tomorrow you, me and the poster will still be discussing it while everyone is rushing off to make sure everyone knows they agree with whatever post PG just made last. Honestly when I was refered here I thought most posts would be along the line of the one like Popularity-points advertising, etc. Creative new ideas meeting with technical talent.
- dfranke 19y agoEr, did you read the thread that got him banned? It wasn't clear whether he was a troll or just a total whackjob, but either way he had to go. It wasn't even a borderline case.
- NSX2 19y agoWell I do recall something to the effect of not being so quick to drop out of school / quit work and starting a startup without giving thought to the overall state of the economy because it was being artificially propped up by various methods. Now the economy's screwed up for, apparently, precisely that. I don't know how you define trolling or whackjob, but I think that was just common sense. People can't be whackjobs if they make unpopular predictions that wind up coming true.
- cstejerean 19y agothe number of comments on a thread is not related to the value of the post. For example you could post something that most people disagree with. So they all comment stating their disagreement. Other folks come along and vote up the comments since they also dislike the post.
- curi 19y agoWidespread disagreement that people feel compelled to post about, rather than ignore, is notable!
- cstejerean 19y agono, it's not. Making it notable simply promotes flame wars and trolling.
- curi 19y agoThe point is that people already consider it notable (which is why they are replying). When it's not notable, they'll ignore it.
- cstejerean 19y agoIf they considered it important they would upvote it. But they chose not to.