4 ms·

Where Have All The Comments Gone?

10 points by Garbage 16y ago

nkurz 16y ago
This is a wonderful article that is directly applicable to HN. Read it! It's got both a good theory as to why comments tend to become more superficial over time, as well as suggestions for what can be done to counter this: As Commentators, What Can We Do? 1. Offer Personal Highlights 2. Be Constructive 3. Read Fully Before Drawing Conclusions 4. Ask Questions 5. Share Related Experiences I'd probably rank #2 as the highest in importance. I try to never vote down a comment where someone is trying to be constructive, even if I don't think they are succeeding. But perhaps I need to move farther, and actively vote up every comment that meets this criterion.
krschultz 16y ago
When I read a decent blog post on a topic covered by HN, I'm going to HN for the discussion not the bottom of the post. If I comment on your blog, odds are I never will read anyone's response to it. I hate the typical solution to that problem (send me an email everytime someone responds, I honestly won't care 5 days from now much less 2 years from now). But a few hours later? I forgot where that artical was. On HN, I click on my username and can look at my comments for the past day. It is central. It is easy. I typically read for about 10-15 minutes every 2 hours so it fits my workflow and my schedule. I also find the commentary here far more insightful, active, and I actually recognize some of the other posters so there is continuity. Random posts with a spattering of comments don't have any of that.
- cosgroveb 16y ago
  I think the rise of social bookmarking sites, especially Hacker News, and to a lesser extent places like Reddit probably does mean that a lot of people who would be leaving insightful comments are spending most of their time discussing things in places like this rather than in the comments section of most blog posts.
- space-monkey 16y ago
  Centralizing on something like HN also lets you make a choice about which community you want to spend time discussing things with. Random commenter on random blog doesn't usually interest me.
- bmm6o 16y ago
  In addition to what you say, it's also a matter of community. If the article is on some stranger's blog, I'm more likely to post here. If the article is on a site where I feel like I'm already part of the community (say, Metafilter, or JOS (in the past)), I'm more inclined to post there.
bmm6o 16y ago
First, you have to take any article that calls out a trend without providing any numbers with a grain of salt. Second, he seems to believe that this trend is global and not local. That is, that internet comments as a group are all becoming more superficial, rather than a particular forum's posts becoming that way over time. I don't think I agree.

10 points by Garbage 16y ago

nkurz 16y ago

This is a wonderful article that is directly applicable to HN. Read it! It's got both a good theory as to why comments tend to become more superficial over time, as well as suggestions for what can be done to counter this: As Commentators, What Can We Do? 1. Offer Personal Highlights 2. Be Constructive 3. Read Fully Before Drawing Conclusions 4. Ask Questions 5. Share Related Experiences I'd probably rank #2 as the highest in importance. I try to never vote down a comment where someone is trying to be constructive, even if I don't think they are succeeding. But perhaps I need to move farther, and actively vote up every comment that meets this criterion.

krschultz 16y ago

When I read a decent blog post on a topic covered by HN, I'm going to HN for the discussion not the bottom of the post. If I comment on your blog, odds are I never will read anyone's response to it. I hate the typical solution to that problem (send me an email everytime someone responds, I honestly won't care 5 days from now much less 2 years from now). But a few hours later? I forgot where that artical was. On HN, I click on my username and can look at my comments for the past day. It is central. It is easy. I typically read for about 10-15 minutes every 2 hours so it fits my workflow and my schedule. I also find the commentary here far more insightful, active, and I actually recognize some of the other posters so there is continuity. Random posts with a spattering of comments don't have any of that.

cosgroveb 16y ago
I think the rise of social bookmarking sites, especially Hacker News, and to a lesser extent places like Reddit probably does mean that a lot of people who would be leaving insightful comments are spending most of their time discussing things in places like this rather than in the comments section of most blog posts.
space-monkey 16y ago
Centralizing on something like HN also lets you make a choice about which community you want to spend time discussing things with. Random commenter on random blog doesn't usually interest me.
bmm6o 16y ago
In addition to what you say, it's also a matter of community. If the article is on some stranger's blog, I'm more likely to post here. If the article is on a site where I feel like I'm already part of the community (say, Metafilter, or JOS (in the past)), I'm more inclined to post there.

bmm6o 16y ago

First, you have to take any article that calls out a trend without providing any numbers with a grain of salt. Second, he seems to believe that this trend is global and not local. That is, that internet comments as a group are all becoming more superficial, rather than a particular forum's posts becoming that way over time. I don't think I agree.