I think the relationship between the content of hacker news and the userbase is like an ecosystem and maintaining the fidelity of this system is necessary to pr

I think the relationship between the content of hacker news and the userbase is like an ecosystem and maintaining the fidelity of this system is necessary to preserve the mission of the community. People are attracted to hacker news because of the content and they in turn become a new source of similar content. If hacker news were to allow more lightweight material to the site then we may see users joining for that type of content and the repercussions of this I would would be undesirable. So while the perceived authoritarian nature of HN may be a bother sometimes I think it's a small price to pay to keep it the way it is meant to be.