3 ms·

Although Ive seen questionable decisions occasionally, over 99% of what Ive seen with showdead on was a tremendous volume of useless or negative comments HN is

Although Ive seen questionable decisions occasionally, over 99% of what Ive seen with showdead on was a tremendous volume of useless or negative comments HN is better of without. That's on top of work to stop things like vote manipulations. dang also intervened to calm my ass down in some scruffles. Agreeing or disagreeing, he always respinded to my questions or gripes in email with thoughtful points. So, thanks Dan and Scott for all the good work you do keeping the comment sections higher quality than most of the Internet. :)

shawn 8y ago
I am reposting this for the third time, because a mod has twice detached it (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18513479 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18513479 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18514649 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18514649). The following comment is neither off topic nor correct to detach. It is directly responsive to what nickpsecurity has written. So, for the third time, here it is again. Dan, if this incorrect use of detaching my comments persists, I will write software to automatically repost my comments when you detach them, cycling through various alt accounts, tunneling through tor as necessary. === Howdy from someone who writes substantive comments for the showdead audience. I'm https://lobste.rs/threads/shawn https://lobste.rs/threads/shawn on lobsters. I was embarrassed to be classified with the 99% of useless or negative comments, at first. But the truth is simple: few people who value their time write for the showdead audience. It’s so hard to participate constructively that it almost feels impossible. But it’s not. Till now, poor moderation decisions have caused community members to quietly leave – as yummyfajitas did – rather than risk standing up to Dan. After all, if the entire community likes him, the simplest explanation is that you are the problem, not the moderator. But nobody can be perfect all of the time. It’s inevitable that mistakes will be made, and it's worrying that Dan tries to seem like an omniscient, benevolent steward who makes no mistakes. If you try to disagree with some of his decisions publicly, you are eventually banned for doing so, regardless of truth. But for better or worse, that’s his choice to make. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18153219 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18153219 is a pretty standard example of what happens when you try to appeal a decision, or merely ask "Why?" publicly. (All of my emails to hn@ycombinator.com addressing Dan have been ignored for months, so there was little choice but to try asking on HN.) Feel free to privmsg me on lobsters if you want to chat further, or email (see profile).

shawn 8y ago

I am reposting this for the third time, because a mod has twice detached it (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18513479 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18513479 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18514649 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18514649). The following comment is neither off topic nor correct to detach. It is directly responsive to what nickpsecurity has written. So, for the third time, here it is again. Dan, if this incorrect use of detaching my comments persists, I will write software to automatically repost my comments when you detach them, cycling through various alt accounts, tunneling through tor as necessary. === Howdy from someone who writes substantive comments for the showdead audience. I'm https://lobste.rs/threads/shawn https://lobste.rs/threads/shawn on lobsters. I was embarrassed to be classified with the 99% of useless or negative comments, at first. But the truth is simple: few people who value their time write for the showdead audience. It’s so hard to participate constructively that it almost feels impossible. But it’s not. Till now, poor moderation decisions have caused community members to quietly leave – as yummyfajitas did – rather than risk standing up to Dan. After all, if the entire community likes him, the simplest explanation is that you are the problem, not the moderator. But nobody can be perfect all of the time. It’s inevitable that mistakes will be made, and it's worrying that Dan tries to seem like an omniscient, benevolent steward who makes no mistakes. If you try to disagree with some of his decisions publicly, you are eventually banned for doing so, regardless of truth. But for better or worse, that’s his choice to make. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18153219 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18153219 is a pretty standard example of what happens when you try to appeal a decision, or merely ask "Why?" publicly. (All of my emails to hn@ycombinator.com addressing Dan have been ignored for months, so there was little choice but to try asking on HN.) Feel free to privmsg me on lobsters if you want to chat further, or email (see profile).