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Over the past few years, the increase in zero-effort contributions have all but destroyed the quality of discussions on HN. And you aren't doing anything about

Over the past few years, the increase in zero-effort contributions have all but destroyed the quality of discussions on HN. And you aren't doing anything about it. HN is looking more indistinguishable from Reddit and I'll be damned if I let that happen. Civility should be reserved for people who are looking to argue and discuss in good faith.

shawn 8y ago
No, you're just having a bad day. There is no reason whatsoever to say "Why couldn't you just fucking google it?" on a site meant for intellectual curiosity. "Your inane rant disguised as a question" This kills the curiosity. Don't do that. By the way: And you aren't doing anything about it. You lose credibility with this kind of statement. I may deeply disagree with policy, but it would be ridiculous to accuse the mods of inaction.
dang 8y ago
That's not what the site guidelines say; "be civil" has been there, unqualified, from the beginning.
- infodroid 8y ago
  As HN has gained increasing prominence in mainstream media and the wider tech community over recent years, it has attracted a vocal and sizable mass of users that think it is fine to display a lazy and wilfully ignorant attitude. The existing HN mechanisms to discourage such low quality content are no longer effective, because this mass of new users is now self-reinforcing. I interpret low-effort comments as the output of individuals who are disrespectful towards the goals of a good faith discussion community, because they willfully or carelessly contribute noise and dilute the signal. Because I interpret this behavior as antisocial and disrespectful and an act of initiating incivility, I have grown increasingly hostile towards such users, and have started attacking them openly "in response". We're going to have to part ways here. Because I don't think I am going to back down on this principle. I believe it's fair and just to punish this bad behavior by making these people feel bad for harming the commons. I know if I continue doing this, it is not going to be acceptable, and I know I will no longer be welcome here. This is why I am moving on from HN.

shawn 8y ago

No, you're just having a bad day. There is no reason whatsoever to say "Why couldn't you just fucking google it?" on a site meant for intellectual curiosity. "Your inane rant disguised as a question" This kills the curiosity. Don't do that. By the way: And you aren't doing anything about it. You lose credibility with this kind of statement. I may deeply disagree with policy, but it would be ridiculous to accuse the mods of inaction.

dang 8y ago

That's not what the site guidelines say; "be civil" has been there, unqualified, from the beginning.

infodroid 8y ago
As HN has gained increasing prominence in mainstream media and the wider tech community over recent years, it has attracted a vocal and sizable mass of users that think it is fine to display a lazy and wilfully ignorant attitude. The existing HN mechanisms to discourage such low quality content are no longer effective, because this mass of new users is now self-reinforcing. I interpret low-effort comments as the output of individuals who are disrespectful towards the goals of a good faith discussion community, because they willfully or carelessly contribute noise and dilute the signal. Because I interpret this behavior as antisocial and disrespectful and an act of initiating incivility, I have grown increasingly hostile towards such users, and have started attacking them openly "in response". We're going to have to part ways here. Because I don't think I am going to back down on this principle. I believe it's fair and just to punish this bad behavior by making these people feel bad for harming the commons. I know if I continue doing this, it is not going to be acceptable, and I know I will no longer be welcome here. This is why I am moving on from HN.