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This sort of thing is an excellent seed for host authority if you're making a search engine. Often the trick is to find places where humans have curated 'good'

This sort of thing is an excellent seed for host authority if you're making a search engine. Often the trick is to find places where humans have curated 'good' web sites out of the sea of all possible web sites. HN is a good source of data because you get several human signals, one is up votes, the other is comment points. Between the two you can create a rank for both how non-spammy it is and how controversial it is.

shawn 8y ago
HN is a good source of data because you get several human signals, one is up votes, the other is comment points. Between the two you can create a rank for both how non-spammy it is and how controversial it is. Correction: how non spammy Dan thinks it is and how controversial Dan thinks it is. His judgment is an ok proxy. But please be precise when saying things like that. The upvotes in particular are almost meaningless in a centrally controlled site like HN. It’s the moderators’ role to manually decide if and when a certain story reaches the front page, and how long it spends there. Not the community’s. And unfortunately the content of the front page varies dramatically depending on who is manning the helm that day. If you don’t believe this, simply try to ask about any of this publicly and he will rip out your ability to speak on HN. That’s how important it is to maintain the myth of the community-controlled website. Because after all, if the content of the site is not our decision, whose is it? Better to force everyone to believe that their upvotes matter. If anyone wants to help plan a way around these problems, please message me on lobsters (same username) or email me. The current idea is to make a cross between HN and Reddit: you can make a "subteddit" but use all the same moderation tools that HN mods normally do. That means you can edit titles, rerank the front page, muzzle individual users without banning them, detach comment threads, collapse threads, and generally everything you can't do on Reddit.
noeatnosleep 8y ago
Until the spammers find out that google values those results and supply you with an endless stream of drivel and trash to wade through. (cough cough reddit)
- nsomaru 8y ago
  @shawn, it seems you have been shadowbanned.
  - goldenkey 8y ago
    He already knows but continues to harrass HN. I know the dude personally, he is deranged and obsessed about how HN is being "manipulated by the mods." Shawn: we know HN is curated. The mods do a good job, that is why it is not a shithole like reddit. Find a new hobby instead of being obssessed with someone else's platform like an angsty fixated five year old.
    - shawn 8y ago
      Hmm. An interesting critique. I think I offered to help you write a resume. The offer stands. I’m sorry things deteriorated between us. Best of luck.

shawn 8y ago

HN is a good source of data because you get several human signals, one is up votes, the other is comment points. Between the two you can create a rank for both how non-spammy it is and how controversial it is. Correction: how non spammy Dan thinks it is and how controversial Dan thinks it is. His judgment is an ok proxy. But please be precise when saying things like that. The upvotes in particular are almost meaningless in a centrally controlled site like HN. It’s the moderators’ role to manually decide if and when a certain story reaches the front page, and how long it spends there. Not the community’s. And unfortunately the content of the front page varies dramatically depending on who is manning the helm that day. If you don’t believe this, simply try to ask about any of this publicly and he will rip out your ability to speak on HN. That’s how important it is to maintain the myth of the community-controlled website. Because after all, if the content of the site is not our decision, whose is it? Better to force everyone to believe that their upvotes matter. If anyone wants to help plan a way around these problems, please message me on lobsters (same username) or email me. The current idea is to make a cross between HN and Reddit: you can make a "subteddit" but use all the same moderation tools that HN mods normally do. That means you can edit titles, rerank the front page, muzzle individual users without banning them, detach comment threads, collapse threads, and generally everything you can't do on Reddit.

noeatnosleep 8y ago

Until the spammers find out that google values those results and supply you with an endless stream of drivel and trash to wade through. (cough cough reddit)

nsomaru 8y ago
@shawn, it seems you have been shadowbanned.
- goldenkey 8y ago
  He already knows but continues to harrass HN. I know the dude personally, he is deranged and obsessed about how HN is being "manipulated by the mods." Shawn: we know HN is curated. The mods do a good job, that is why it is not a shithole like reddit. Find a new hobby instead of being obssessed with someone else's platform like an angsty fixated five year old.
  - shawn 8y ago
    Hmm. An interesting critique. I think I offered to help you write a resume. The offer stands. I’m sorry things deteriorated between us. Best of luck.