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Meta: This article has been flagged a few times. Could those who are flagging it explain why they feel it is inappropriate for this site?

by nkurz 8y ago

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
s17n 8y ago
Could be that the author is a well known crank?
- manigandham 8y ago
  That alone is irrelevant to the content and sets a bad precedent for this site.
  - pvg 8y ago
    It's often fairly relevant who has produced some piece of content. But if you want to go purely by content, you'd probably also conclude the author is either unserious or a crank. A post that is ostensibly about unionization suddenly addresses the reader so: Real talk: that meth-addicted, drunk scumbag does not care one whit for your pretty face, buddy. And this is merely the beginning of a multi-paragraph digression that is some heady melange of fantasy and humble-brag about how the author knows kung fu.
jf- 8y ago
This article has now been flagged, killed, resurrected and is now flagged again. It seems there's a core group who really hate it and don't want it discussed.
clouddrover 8y ago
A good addition to the Hacker News platform would be a requirement to provide justifications for flagging an article and make them visible to all users. That way we wouldn't have to speculate (though I'm sure there'd still be speculation on if the stated reasons are the "true" reasons).
- pvg 8y ago
  You already don't have to speculate and on top of that, the site guidelines ask everyone not to because it's repetitive and boring - same reason why it would be a terrible (and contradictory) addition to the site.
glangdale 8y ago
Seriously. If folks generally understand the idea that you shouldn't use the downvote button to mean "disagree" I think this should go double for using flagging. I'm far from convinced by the article but don't see how it falls in the category of something that should be flagged - it's not trolling or offensive.
- pvg 8y ago
  that you shouldn't use the downvote button to mean "disagree" That's not how HN works - it's perfectly fine to downvote things one disagrees with.
- kodablah 8y ago
  IME flagging on HN is not what you think of as flagging on other sites. Flagging is often used for off-topic or "inappropriate" and is subjective based on the flagger. I don't believe you can apply general understanding of downvotes from other sites or assume allowed reasons for flags based on other sites. People flag for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes they just get tired-head on a topic, feel a site adds nothing new to the discussion, think it doesn't belong, etc. The only real hardfast rule about flagging is that you don't talk about why.
  - yellowapple 8y ago
    Okay, so if someone could actually clarify what, exactly, is off-topic or inappropriate about this article, then that would be much appreciated.
    - pvg 8y ago
      I'll trade - what about this article makes you finish reading it and go 'oh yeah, that is an interesting and insightful piece of writing that other people might benefit from reading and discussing'.
      - yellowapple 8y ago
        Let's not trade. If you feel so strongly that Hacker News should be prevented from being able to discuss an article, then it's on you to articulate why. To humor you, though: it's a thorough representation of an opinion that relates to my career, and the resulting discussions are important to have, regardless of whether or not I agree with the article.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
As a guess: It's a hot button topic that hits close to home for many people here, so a lot of folks will have strong emotional reactions. My observation is that articles on such topics need an especially good title and have to be especially well written to not be flag-bait on HN. Even in cases where it's an excellent article, a bad title can get strong reactions. My impression is that a lot of flags happen based on title alone (or other info visible on HN without clicking into the article itself) without the article being read.

Meta: This article has been flagged a few times. Could those who are flagging it explain why they feel it is inappropriate for this site?

by nkurz 8y ago

Meta: This article has been flagged a few times. Could those who are flagging it explain why they feel it is inappropriate for this site?

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

s17n 8y ago

Could be that the author is a well known crank?

manigandham 8y ago
That alone is irrelevant to the content and sets a bad precedent for this site.
- pvg 8y ago
  It's often fairly relevant who has produced some piece of content. But if you want to go purely by content, you'd probably also conclude the author is either unserious or a crank. A post that is ostensibly about unionization suddenly addresses the reader so: Real talk: that meth-addicted, drunk scumbag does not care one whit for your pretty face, buddy. And this is merely the beginning of a multi-paragraph digression that is some heady melange of fantasy and humble-brag about how the author knows kung fu.

jf- 8y ago

This article has now been flagged, killed, resurrected and is now flagged again. It seems there's a core group who really hate it and don't want it discussed.

clouddrover 8y ago

A good addition to the Hacker News platform would be a requirement to provide justifications for flagging an article and make them visible to all users. That way we wouldn't have to speculate (though I'm sure there'd still be speculation on if the stated reasons are the "true" reasons).

pvg 8y ago
You already don't have to speculate and on top of that, the site guidelines ask everyone not to because it's repetitive and boring - same reason why it would be a terrible (and contradictory) addition to the site.

glangdale 8y ago

Seriously. If folks generally understand the idea that you shouldn't use the downvote button to mean "disagree" I think this should go double for using flagging. I'm far from convinced by the article but don't see how it falls in the category of something that should be flagged - it's not trolling or offensive.

pvg 8y ago
that you shouldn't use the downvote button to mean "disagree" That's not how HN works - it's perfectly fine to downvote things one disagrees with.
kodablah 8y ago
IME flagging on HN is not what you think of as flagging on other sites. Flagging is often used for off-topic or "inappropriate" and is subjective based on the flagger. I don't believe you can apply general understanding of downvotes from other sites or assume allowed reasons for flags based on other sites. People flag for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes they just get tired-head on a topic, feel a site adds nothing new to the discussion, think it doesn't belong, etc. The only real hardfast rule about flagging is that you don't talk about why.
- yellowapple 8y ago
  Okay, so if someone could actually clarify what, exactly, is off-topic or inappropriate about this article, then that would be much appreciated.
  - pvg 8y ago
    I'll trade - what about this article makes you finish reading it and go 'oh yeah, that is an interesting and insightful piece of writing that other people might benefit from reading and discussing'.
    - yellowapple 8y ago
      Let's not trade. If you feel so strongly that Hacker News should be prevented from being able to discuss an article, then it's on you to articulate why. To humor you, though: it's a thorough representation of an opinion that relates to my career, and the resulting discussions are important to have, regardless of whether or not I agree with the article.

DoreenMichele 8y ago

As a guess: It's a hot button topic that hits close to home for many people here, so a lot of folks will have strong emotional reactions. My observation is that articles on such topics need an especially good title and have to be especially well written to not be flag-bait on HN. Even in cases where it's an excellent article, a bad title can get strong reactions. My impression is that a lot of flags happen based on title alone (or other info visible on HN without clicking into the article itself) without the article being read.