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Poll HN: Should we encourage "AMA" threads here?
The other day greyman wondered whether AMA threads on HN might be a good idea (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1400815)
Joshu pulled off a very successful AMA here the other week (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1356140) and I believe another one happened in the past too (can't find link at the moment). I've wondered about doing a QA for my field (computer forensics) because it often generates interest/emails when I talk about it.
On the other hand meta threads and "Ask" posting is often discouraged.
AMA's have proven very interesting on Reddit and I figure here we would get:
- even more interesting people
- better/insightful questions (or at least a better signal/noise ratio)
Hence, a brief straw poll.
I divided up Yes into two categories, purely for the fact that people may prefer a limited interest field.
- michael_nielsen 16y agoI enjoyed joshu's AMA, and I expect I'd get lots out of other AMAs. But I wouldn't want them to dominate the front page. I think no more than one or two a day. I'm not sure how to ensure that.
- ErrantX 16y ago> I think no more than one or two a day I was thinking that number a week, max, myself actually :) (in realistic terms I suspect the community is generally much smaller/niche here than on HN so there are just not the diverse numbers to have so many AMA's)
- Sirocco 16y agoI, too, fall into the "possibly one or two a week max" category. Over at Reddit, they seem more like a vehicle for narcissism than anything else. Once in a great while a person with a genuinely interesting profession comes along, but the signal to noise ratio over there is nowhere near where I'd like it to be.
- 0ffworlder 16y agoNo
- ErrantX 16y agoAny reasoning (genuine curiosity)?
- 0ffworlder 16y agoI fear HN would turn into reddit.
- justlearning 16y agoIntellectually curious? Wouldn't every profession/work have some level of advice for startups/entrepreneurs based on experiences? I believe stories from a full time fisherman will be as helpful as a stock-trader's - to anyone who wants to learn. Same may hold true for a drug dealer. (imho) Why filter it with "intellectually curious"? How do we define 'intellectually curious'?
- ErrantX 16y agoSame way we filter normal submissions (I used the same terminology as the guidelines). Your examples (stock trader / fisherman / drug dealer) strike me as pretty interesting careers, outliers if you will - they would flag my intellectual curiosity :)
- philwelch 16y agoCompared to Reddit, I would hope we also get fewer trolls and fakes.
- jimmyswimmy 16y agoPlease no! I come here to learn. I go to reddit for AMA and jokes and other ways to waste time. This is Hacker News not chitchat time.
- s810 16y agoAllowing AMAs is a slippery slope toward TILs and YSKs.
- wanderr 16y agoI did an AMA on Reddit and have to admit it was pretty fun. As a programmer, I was a bit disappointed that the questions were not very technical or in depth for the most part. I'd bet that the AMA questions would be a lot more relevant here.