3 ms·
Changed the headline to a question.
by ertug 16y ago
Changed the headline to a question.
- three14 16y agoWhen did you stop beating your wife? I understand that you actually mean well, and mean the question seriously, but in "Internet discussion" the question mark only protects the reputation of the asker, but does nothing to protect the reputation of Twitter.
- rriepe 16y agoAn analogous question would be "Are you beating your wife?" "Is Twitter censoring?" isn't assuming anything in the question.
- three14 16y agoYou're right, of course. But I still think that someone skimming the HN headlines thinks, "Oh, Twitter probably censoring something or it wouldn't be on HN" unless they read the comments.
- davidw 16y agoIsn't that more of a comment on the state of the readership than anything else?
- three14 16y agoI think it's just human. "#flotilla not working on Twitter. Censorship or bug?" would be a better choice because it isn't a leading question. Edit: Is a headline like "Did pressure from Apple cause a Foxconn employee to commit suicide?" neutral, or just avoiding a libel suit?
- davidw 16y agoAnyone who knows anything about twitter is not going to blink an eye at "censorship or bug" - it's obviously the second.
- donohoe 16y agoAgree. While you cover yourself you still make a slur to which the is little comeback.
- petercooper 16y agoWhile you cover yourself you still make a slur to which the is little comeback. Except "No, we are not censoring #flotilla," of course.
- three14 16y agoThat's exactly what's so interesting about these kinds of questions. Let's say they were really censoring, and they said, "No, we are not censoring #flotilla," and stopped censoring. You can't tell the difference between that and a bug followed by a bug fix, so they have trouble putting the suspicion to rest.
- donohoe 16y agoTrue. At that point it comes down to a level of trust. Do you trust the organization based on your knowledge and experience. In this case I would say Yes. For many others I would say No.