Can HN be toxic? Absolutely. Was it toxic in the situation the author was describing? I think reasonable people can have a discussion about this, but for argum

Can HN be toxic? Absolutely. Was it toxic in the situation the author was describing? I think reasonable people can have a discussion about this, but for arguments sake let’s say yes. Is HN generally a positive non toxic environment? Yep! Hugely so. HN is a remarkably diverse community. Perhaps not always from a gender perspective, but definitely in terms of background and means. I can personally attest to this as I run a mentoring program, and I tend to mostly get sign ups from HN, and they have been from all over the world. I get that we as a community aren’t always perfect. Sometimes that’s rooted in our own biases and backgrounds. However, those comments lead to discussion, which may shape or alter the perspective of someone who had a different set of experiences, thus leading to a better future. Growth comes from points of discomfort, not from sitting on the side lines. If I could ask one thing to every HN lurker and commenter is to continue to be open minded. Ask questions. Be thoughtful. Be respectful. Continually seek to grow. We’re always going to be imperfect as a community, and that’s by design. All we can hope to do is be better today than we were yesterday. And better tomorrow than we were today.