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HN is the most moderated platform I currently use, but despite its rules and frequent mod intervention, it seems to have a higher overall quality of discussion

by danso 9y ago

HN is the most moderated platform I currently use, but despite its rules and frequent mod intervention, it seems to have a higher overall quality of discussion compared to what I can find on Reddit or Twitter.

exelius 9y ago
There is definitely a hive mind that is reinforced by the mods here. Reddit is far worse, but realize that Ycombinator has certain goals as an organization and if your comments stray into direct opposition, they will delete things. I don’t think this is an indictment of HN, just highlighting that there is an implicit bias in every discussion forum. Discussion is of high quality as long as it remains aligned, which is true 99% of the time.
- slantyyz 9y ago
  > Reddit is far worse, I would re-characterize it as "some Reddit subreddits are far worse" - because your experience can vary widely. All the subreddits I subscribe to (hobby and interest related, not news/politics) are actually self-policed very well. I tend to think the toxic subreddits are actually in the minority even though they get all the attention.
  - nukeop 9y ago
    Reddit is far worse in reinforcing subconscious self-moderation to adhere to the majority opinion. It's present on Hacker News too, since most people use the downvote as a "I disagree" button.
    - slantyyz 9y ago
      I think it depends on the subreddit. The ones I subscribe to aren't that bad with respect to downvotes.
  - danso 9y ago
    I also like the subreddits I subscribe to, and the volunteer mods generally do a great job. But I do think that HN mods (who are paid, I assume) have a more difficult job in content filtering, in that HN is ostensibly a general discussion forum. Even as it skews towards tech and startups, just about every topic is eligible for discussion, including political debate. In r/netsec, for example, submitted links and discussions are generally good, but the mods are also very strict about the content -- technical posts, only. I suspect the quality of discussion would change drastically if they allowed anything remotely political or even just non-technical, such as various Troy Hunt posts [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16636453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16636453
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
slantyyz 9y ago
>> HN is the most moderated platform I currently use, but despite its rules and frequent mod intervention, it seems to have a higher overall quality of discussion compared to what I can find on Reddit or Twitter. I find Reddit to be pretty good in general. All the subreddits I subscribe to (none are political or hot topics, they're all around my hobbies and interests, etc) are pretty civil. I am sure there are toxic subreddits, but my Reddit feed is higher quality than my Facebook feed by a mile, and the discussions might have a few corny jokes, but they're generally fine.
nukeop 9y ago
Reddit is a marketing platform, not a discussion platform. If a website has tools like shadowbanning and rules that govern the allowed range of opinions that read like something you'd need a law degree to understand, you're on a platform that serves only advertisers and is only useful for promotion and marketing, not discussion.
- deadmetheny 9y ago
  Kind of like HN?

by danso 9y ago

exelius 9y ago

There is definitely a hive mind that is reinforced by the mods here. Reddit is far worse, but realize that Ycombinator has certain goals as an organization and if your comments stray into direct opposition, they will delete things. I don’t think this is an indictment of HN, just highlighting that there is an implicit bias in every discussion forum. Discussion is of high quality as long as it remains aligned, which is true 99% of the time.

slantyyz 9y ago
> Reddit is far worse, I would re-characterize it as "some Reddit subreddits are far worse" - because your experience can vary widely. All the subreddits I subscribe to (hobby and interest related, not news/politics) are actually self-policed very well. I tend to think the toxic subreddits are actually in the minority even though they get all the attention.
- nukeop 9y ago
  Reddit is far worse in reinforcing subconscious self-moderation to adhere to the majority opinion. It's present on Hacker News too, since most people use the downvote as a "I disagree" button.
  - slantyyz 9y ago
    I think it depends on the subreddit. The ones I subscribe to aren't that bad with respect to downvotes.
- danso 9y ago
  I also like the subreddits I subscribe to, and the volunteer mods generally do a great job. But I do think that HN mods (who are paid, I assume) have a more difficult job in content filtering, in that HN is ostensibly a general discussion forum. Even as it skews towards tech and startups, just about every topic is eligible for discussion, including political debate. In r/netsec, for example, submitted links and discussions are generally good, but the mods are also very strict about the content -- technical posts, only. I suspect the quality of discussion would change drastically if they allowed anything remotely political or even just non-technical, such as various Troy Hunt posts [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16636453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16636453
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

slantyyz 9y ago

>> HN is the most moderated platform I currently use, but despite its rules and frequent mod intervention, it seems to have a higher overall quality of discussion compared to what I can find on Reddit or Twitter. I find Reddit to be pretty good in general. All the subreddits I subscribe to (none are political or hot topics, they're all around my hobbies and interests, etc) are pretty civil. I am sure there are toxic subreddits, but my Reddit feed is higher quality than my Facebook feed by a mile, and the discussions might have a few corny jokes, but they're generally fine.

nukeop 9y ago

Reddit is a marketing platform, not a discussion platform. If a website has tools like shadowbanning and rules that govern the allowed range of opinions that read like something you'd need a law degree to understand, you're on a platform that serves only advertisers and is only useful for promotion and marketing, not discussion.

deadmetheny 9y ago
Kind of like HN?