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I got to say, HN has become much looser with the titles since dang took over. It could be for the better (or not), but I definitely see at least 5 top posts a w

by Tenoke 8y ago

I got to say, HN has become much looser with the titles since dang took over. It could be for the better (or not), but I definitely see at least 5 top posts a week with an editorialized title now, compared to a lot less before. Edit: Everyone is saying it is fine. Again I'm not saying it is not, but if it is, can you please update this part of the guidelines: >Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait. Don't editorialize.

JustSomeNobody 8y ago
It makes a LOT more sense than "Transfer of Power" does.
apendleton 8y ago
It's a direct quote from the email. Do you think it was taken out of context in a way that communicates editorial intent? Seems pretty directly connected to the contents of the message to me.
- code_duck 8y ago
  It’s journalistic, but is not misleading. “[python-committers] Transfer of power - Guido van Rossum” would be more verbatim, but I think the title is okay.
  - Tenoke 8y ago
    Sigh I'm not saying it's not okay in this case, I'm saying that I believe this would've been disallowed before because we didn't want it to be up to people's judgement whether it is okay or not.
    - code_duck 8y ago
      It’s not an article, and doesn’t have a title, so I don’t know what I’d suggest, personally. We have no idea if the title came from the submitter or a moderator, also.
- Tenoke 8y ago
  Quote from the text used to be the most common type of editorializing to be reverted/disallowed before... And at any rate, I said it could be for the better - I've just been noticing this more and more.
grzm 8y ago
When you see them, let the mods know via the Contact link in the footer. They don't see everything and update the ones they know about.
- Tenoke 8y ago
  It's very often the mods who editorialize (often you can see some reasoning in the comments), so it is definitely not an issue of them not knowing, rather a change of policy.
  - grzm 8y ago
    I'm not sure I follow. They update the ones they are aware of that need changing, and often comment when they do. The existence of mods commenting and changing some titles doesn't imply that they see all of the ones that need changing. I've read comments by them stating outright that they don't see everything. Have you seen comments made by them that indicate a change in policy other than those mentioned in the guidelines? Has there been a substantive change in the intent of the guidelines as currently written over time? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - pvg 8y ago
    Editing is not the same as editorializing.
justin66 8y ago
I expect that has little or nothing to do with dang and a lot more to do with the increased population of HN users.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
sctb 8y ago
Moderators updated the title from the submitted “Transfer of Power (Guido Stepping Down as Python BDFL)” to this representative quotation from the article. The guidelines ask for the original title unless it's misleading or clickbait, and the original title in this case is borderline by being vague. This isn't a change in policy, but this is a case that probably could go either way.

by Tenoke 8y ago

JustSomeNobody 8y ago

It makes a LOT more sense than "Transfer of Power" does.

apendleton 8y ago

It's a direct quote from the email. Do you think it was taken out of context in a way that communicates editorial intent? Seems pretty directly connected to the contents of the message to me.

code_duck 8y ago
It’s journalistic, but is not misleading. “[python-committers] Transfer of power - Guido van Rossum” would be more verbatim, but I think the title is okay.
- Tenoke 8y ago
  Sigh I'm not saying it's not okay in this case, I'm saying that I believe this would've been disallowed before because we didn't want it to be up to people's judgement whether it is okay or not.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    It’s not an article, and doesn’t have a title, so I don’t know what I’d suggest, personally. We have no idea if the title came from the submitter or a moderator, also.
Tenoke 8y ago
Quote from the text used to be the most common type of editorializing to be reverted/disallowed before... And at any rate, I said it could be for the better - I've just been noticing this more and more.

grzm 8y ago

When you see them, let the mods know via the Contact link in the footer. They don't see everything and update the ones they know about.

Tenoke 8y ago
It's very often the mods who editorialize (often you can see some reasoning in the comments), so it is definitely not an issue of them not knowing, rather a change of policy.
- grzm 8y ago
  I'm not sure I follow. They update the ones they are aware of that need changing, and often comment when they do. The existence of mods commenting and changing some titles doesn't imply that they see all of the ones that need changing. I've read comments by them stating outright that they don't see everything. Have you seen comments made by them that indicate a change in policy other than those mentioned in the guidelines? Has there been a substantive change in the intent of the guidelines as currently written over time? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- pvg 8y ago
  Editing is not the same as editorializing.

justin66 8y ago

I expect that has little or nothing to do with dang and a lot more to do with the increased population of HN users.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

sctb 8y ago

Moderators updated the title from the submitted “Transfer of Power (Guido Stepping Down as Python BDFL)” to this representative quotation from the article. The guidelines ask for the original title unless it's misleading or clickbait, and the original title in this case is borderline by being vague. This isn't a change in policy, but this is a case that probably could go either way.