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Ask HN: Do 100+ comments ever scare you?
I love making comments on HN. It's definitely the best part of the site. It is usually coherent conversation among intelligent people.
However, when I look at a post and it says "120 comments," I get scared. It seems anything I say is just going to get lost in the noise. No matter the merit. (Some things I say should get lost. :])
I want to participate, but ya'll are scaring me away. Does this happen to anybody else?
- davidw 16y agoYeah, I think 100 is edging north of some sweet spot where there's a good signal to noise ratio. I often don't comment on threads or do more than skim them when they've gotten that large.
- brk 16y agoNot really. In theory though, some of this self-limiting SHOULD happen. After 100 comments, the chances that I (or any other user) have something new and unique to add is diminished. So, I think it becomes a natural throttle. If I still think my comment adds value to the conversation, I'll jump in. Maybe my comment is upvoted, maybe not. Maybe it is not even read at that point, but either way my cost is a few minutes of my time to potentially share knowledge or info. I try to contribute where I can, if my input is lost in the shuffle, I don't take it personal.