4 ms·

You mentioned how bright and knowledgeable the comments are to posts and I'd like to add to that idea. One feature of HN comments is the pseudo-anonymity. I ca

by messel 16y ago

You mentioned how bright and knowledgeable the comments are to posts and I'd like to add to that idea. One feature of HN comments is the pseudo-anonymity. I can find out who folks are, if they share info on their ID, but the way the comments are laid out I'm usually reading the bolder toned conversations and ignoring who's saying it. That's a very powerful concept. Only when a comment really stands out as awesome or terrible do I look at the author.

ryanwaggoner 16y ago
It's true, but it's also fascinating to me that some people have built such a powerful voice here. I can't count the number of times I've been reading a really good comment and thought "this has to be patrick" and sure enough, patio11. And he's not the only one.
- detst 16y ago
  Yeah, I find myself doing that, too. In fact, I made this observation in response to one of his comments a couple months back. I will also start reading a discussion thread that I'm pretty sure he will comment on and stop so that I can come back later to read what he has to say.
lotharbot 16y ago
On most forums I've been to, the username is prominently displayed above or next to a comment, along with an avatar, a way-too-large signature, and various other cruft. The end result is that each comment is contained in a rather large, personalized box, and many comments are judged by the box rather than the contents. Here on HN, there's a tiny username, in a dim font, in the middle of the line (given less prominence than "points"). This is even true of pg; his comments look just like anyone else's. This has the net result that comments are primarily judged on their contents. I often have exchanges like this with my wife: Her: "I read a really good comment on [such-and-such HN thread], it said [contents]." Me: "I wrote that." Her: "Oh. I gave you an upvote."

by messel 16y ago

ryanwaggoner 16y ago

It's true, but it's also fascinating to me that some people have built such a powerful voice here. I can't count the number of times I've been reading a really good comment and thought "this has to be patrick" and sure enough, patio11. And he's not the only one.

detst 16y ago
Yeah, I find myself doing that, too. In fact, I made this observation in response to one of his comments a couple months back. I will also start reading a discussion thread that I'm pretty sure he will comment on and stop so that I can come back later to read what he has to say.

lotharbot 16y ago

On most forums I've been to, the username is prominently displayed above or next to a comment, along with an avatar, a way-too-large signature, and various other cruft. The end result is that each comment is contained in a rather large, personalized box, and many comments are judged by the box rather than the contents. Here on HN, there's a tiny username, in a dim font, in the middle of the line (given less prominence than "points"). This is even true of pg; his comments look just like anyone else's. This has the net result that comments are primarily judged on their contents. I often have exchanges like this with my wife: Her: "I read a really good comment on [such-and-such HN thread], it said [contents]." Me: "I wrote that." Her: "Oh. I gave you an upvote."