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> bunch of pedants. > mods will ban you for trolling. This culture, while nice, cannot scale. At some point or another, an online community becomes an image of

> bunch of pedants. > mods will ban you for trolling. This culture, while nice, cannot scale. At some point or another, an online community becomes an image of the wider social community it serves, regardless of the intentions of the founders or ephemeral royalty. Just like Facebook or Reddit (d)evolved, HN cannot forever maintain a 70s hacker ethos and mannerisms. At some point or another the current reality of today's Silicon Valley tech bros and gold rush mentality will come to dominate, as it indeed has. So I believe paulie has a point, IANAL is superfluous on any internet forum, this one included. And yes, that's solid legal advice I can give with full professional authority.

DoreenMichele 8y ago
This culture, while nice, cannot scale I can't say that I agree with you. I have a history of joining forums, watching them grow dramatically while I'm there, leaving and watching them become a shell of their former selves afterwards. I spent some years feeling like a forum killer and afraid of the power I appeared to wield, but didn't understand and didn't feel in control of. I have not played such a central role on HN. But it is quite clear in my mind that the right cultural practices are critical to making a large forum live and breathe at all. Because if they are enforced by only one person and that person walks out the door, the forum collapses in upon itself and traffic shrinks to a level that can be sustained by the cultural practices that remain. I think this is a battle worth fighting. Merely agreeing with your point of view and throwing in the towel guarantees defeat.
AmericanChopper 8y ago
>HN cannot forever maintain a 70s hacker ethos and mannerisms HN doesn’t currently have any traditional hacker ethos. The points of view accepted on HN are all quite homogenous and mainstream.

DoreenMichele 8y ago

This culture, while nice, cannot scale I can't say that I agree with you. I have a history of joining forums, watching them grow dramatically while I'm there, leaving and watching them become a shell of their former selves afterwards. I spent some years feeling like a forum killer and afraid of the power I appeared to wield, but didn't understand and didn't feel in control of. I have not played such a central role on HN. But it is quite clear in my mind that the right cultural practices are critical to making a large forum live and breathe at all. Because if they are enforced by only one person and that person walks out the door, the forum collapses in upon itself and traffic shrinks to a level that can be sustained by the cultural practices that remain. I think this is a battle worth fighting. Merely agreeing with your point of view and throwing in the towel guarantees defeat.

AmericanChopper 8y ago

>HN cannot forever maintain a 70s hacker ethos and mannerisms HN doesn’t currently have any traditional hacker ethos. The points of view accepted on HN are all quite homogenous and mainstream.