I agree, and have always thought that most online communities have baked-in expiration dates based on what I think of as asshole entropy. Over time, such platfo

I agree, and have always thought that most online communities have baked-in expiration dates based on what I think of as asshole entropy. Over time, such platforms will always tend towards more assholes, as asshole behavior triggers more asshole behavior, and drives away non-assholes. The only question is how long does it take to reach that point. Another way to look at it is, good comments are capable of inspiring more good comments, but low-quality comments always seem to lead to more low-quality comments. So comment quality in general is also subject to entropy in most forums and social networks that I've seen. Some combination of moderation and lacking appeal to general audiences allows specialized forums like HN to reach a steady state, with probably more assholes than desired and fewer good comments than desired, but at least it's not continually hurtling towards collapse.