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Going off-topic, but I want to ask whether writing "ELI5" is really necessary? I find it too much of a redditism and while it doesn't seem to contravene any hn

Going off-topic, but I want to ask whether writing "ELI5" is really necessary? I find it too much of a redditism and while it doesn't seem to contravene any hn guidelines, I get the feeling that "simple" questions would garner a better audience without the ELI5 prefix. There's perhaps also the problem of it being an unnecessary abbreviation, specific to another community. Alternatives (even though it takes more keystrokes) could be along the lines of "pardon my ignorance", "I'm new to this" or even simply "can someone explain". I bet these would receive just as good (if not better) responses. Anyone agree or disagree?

samstave 9y ago
Ill accept your constructive criticism.
asdsa5325 9y ago
I think you are overthinking it entirely
- coatmatter 9y ago
  That could well be true, so I thought I'd throw it out there to check if I was (comparatively) the only one who isn't really a fan of "ELI5". So the other alternative is to have more ELI5 prefixes for questions. It's something I never question on reddit since that's where it has orginated and flourished, but since this is hacker news I figured it'd be safer to overthink than underthink.
  - samstave 9y ago
    Y’all motherfuckers best overthink on hack her news That’s what I always say... But seriously - we need a method for which is accepted where individuals can ask elementary questions for topics they have less knowledge than an expert in the field. Thus, I think that “ELI5” encapsulates this. What I am opposed to is suppression of sharing knowledge. So don’t shut people who use a moniker/meme from gaining the info they seek. Educate them and expand. So, if you have some better way of expressing “Hey I don’t know anything about this subject, please give me some simple pointers, thanks”+ Edit: I just realized we said the same thing
postsantum 9y ago
For me ELI5 is just a visual anchor in a wall of text. I don't think it has anything to do with quality of responses. If you compare r/AskReddit and r/ELI5, you'll find the latter tends to attract more comprehensive and structured comments.

samstave 9y ago

Ill accept your constructive criticism.

asdsa5325 9y ago

I think you are overthinking it entirely

coatmatter 9y ago
That could well be true, so I thought I'd throw it out there to check if I was (comparatively) the only one who isn't really a fan of "ELI5". So the other alternative is to have more ELI5 prefixes for questions. It's something I never question on reddit since that's where it has orginated and flourished, but since this is hacker news I figured it'd be safer to overthink than underthink.
- samstave 9y ago
  Y’all motherfuckers best overthink on hack her news That’s what I always say... But seriously - we need a method for which is accepted where individuals can ask elementary questions for topics they have less knowledge than an expert in the field. Thus, I think that “ELI5” encapsulates this. What I am opposed to is suppression of sharing knowledge. So don’t shut people who use a moniker/meme from gaining the info they seek. Educate them and expand. So, if you have some better way of expressing “Hey I don’t know anything about this subject, please give me some simple pointers, thanks”+ Edit: I just realized we said the same thing

postsantum 9y ago

For me ELI5 is just a visual anchor in a wall of text. I don't think it has anything to do with quality of responses. If you compare r/AskReddit and r/ELI5, you'll find the latter tends to attract more comprehensive and structured comments.