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HN has a very good, solid, commendable moderation policy. It's also an echo chamber. These are separate topics though: I (mostly* ) don't believe one feeds the

HN has a very good, solid, commendable moderation policy. It's also an echo chamber. These are separate topics though: I (mostly* ) don't believe one feeds the other, I strongly believe the reasons for the echo chamber here are unrelated. HN is not just a tech discussion forum, it's one administered and hosted by an influential, Silicon Valley VC company. This means, with zero input from moderators, the views expressed will naturally tend toward a worldview that endorses the activities of such a firm, and the tendencies of local SV culture. * I say mostly as there was just one case here on HN in the not too distant past around political topics that were explicitly banned, which is the first and only example of moderation based on topic rather than based on behaviour I've seen here. That aside, my points above stand.

interfixus 9y ago
You are (mostly!) right. And I am not really objecting to the HN ethos and policy. I am just pointing it out. Don't believe me? Try posting a gushing endorsement of your current president's policies (assuming you are American). Or take the road less traveled on any number of social, gender, what-have-you issues. See how it goes.
- lucideer 9y ago
  A gushing endorsement of any president's policies would probably be objected to on the grounds of it being generally OT (most comments here don't really gush, strong endorsements of anything that go beyond simple "this works for me, I recommend it" are frowned upon). A comment saying "I am a Trump supporter, which is relevant here because [x], and here are my related views on [current topic] from my perspective as such" voiced in a reasonable tone would be fine here, I think, for the most part. Wouldn't they? There is another type of censorship that comes from a community continuously voicing one opinion, to the point that those holding an opposing opinion avoid voicing it for fear of general reputational damage within the community - this may result in less people posting about their support of Trump here (and there is very little of this), but I don't think that's related to the moderation.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
pbhjpbhj 9y ago
There are definitely some other topics that get moderated off HN - I've had a moderator tell me, basically, my viewpoint on a particular religious figure is not appropriate to state here (with a threat of being banned should I ever mention it again). We don't see all moderator actions, nor what content gets flagged; moderation is pretty opaque here IMO. I've always assumed that was on purpose to allow commercial bias without begin overt about it.

interfixus 9y ago

You are (mostly!) right. And I am not really objecting to the HN ethos and policy. I am just pointing it out. Don't believe me? Try posting a gushing endorsement of your current president's policies (assuming you are American). Or take the road less traveled on any number of social, gender, what-have-you issues. See how it goes.

lucideer 9y ago
A gushing endorsement of any president's policies would probably be objected to on the grounds of it being generally OT (most comments here don't really gush, strong endorsements of anything that go beyond simple "this works for me, I recommend it" are frowned upon). A comment saying "I am a Trump supporter, which is relevant here because [x], and here are my related views on [current topic] from my perspective as such" voiced in a reasonable tone would be fine here, I think, for the most part. Wouldn't they? There is another type of censorship that comes from a community continuously voicing one opinion, to the point that those holding an opposing opinion avoid voicing it for fear of general reputational damage within the community - this may result in less people posting about their support of Trump here (and there is very little of this), but I don't think that's related to the moderation.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

pbhjpbhj 9y ago

There are definitely some other topics that get moderated off HN - I've had a moderator tell me, basically, my viewpoint on a particular religious figure is not appropriate to state here (with a threat of being banned should I ever mention it again). We don't see all moderator actions, nor what content gets flagged; moderation is pretty opaque here IMO. I've always assumed that was on purpose to allow commercial bias without begin overt about it.