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Are you an American, dang? Because its very clear to me that you won't tolerate any criticism of your in-group, and that makes HN less valuable, not more.

dang 7y ago
Anyone who wants to can slog through my moderation comments (not that I recommend it) and find reams of counterexamples. The reason that is "very clear to you", even though it's false, is that people notice the calls they disagree with much more strongly than the ones they like. If your loyalty were to the opposite side, the cases you like vs. dislike would be flipped, you'd notice the opposite ones more strongly, and so would perceive us as being biased the opposite way. In other words, your perception is a function of your views, not mine. For users with passionate opinions, it always feels like the mods are against them. It's just the same as passionate sports fans who feel the refs are against their team. Meanwhile the other team's fans feel the same. The main thing, though, is that this response is a non sequitur. You've been breaking the site guidelines, regardless of your view of America's wars (or whatever $issue happens to be), and we need you to follow them instead.
- fit2rule 7y ago
  I agree with you that there is no need to be rude or offensive in these threads, and I do try not to flame individuals, but when there's a fire to be put out and we are told not to go anywhere near the fire because it bothers the people who started the fire, what's to be done? Is there a thread on HN which provides a good example for how to discuss these issues without incurring your wrath? I think this whitewashing on HN, and the constant censorship of those who would raise the alarm in the context of relevant threads ("Russian meddling" is okay to discus - "American War Crimes", not so much), is a travesty. If there is a way to discuss this without incurring your ban hammer, I'm all ears. Or is criticism of American wars, because it hurts Americans feelings, simply off limits? Perhaps its also time to discuss whether or not having a multi-national team of moderators would be a better way to redress this issue on HN. As it stands, I think you work hard and provide a valuable service, but its clear you've reached your limit when it comes time to think critically about what America is doing to the world, especially when it seems perfectly acceptable to highlight Russia's negative influence. This doesn't seem right.
  - dang 7y ago
    > ("Russian meddling" is okay to discus - "American War Crimes", not so much) > it seems perfectly acceptable to highlight Russia's negative influence To me this reads like complaining to the firefighters, "it seems perfectly acceptable to start petrol fires. Why do you only care about electrical fires?" This is the same bias I was talking about. It always feels like your team gets the penalty, it always feels like you're the one who gets the speeding ticket, it always feels like the mods are against you. > when there's a fire to be put out and we are told not to go anywhere near the fire because it bothers the people who started the fire Fanning flames is the opposite of putting them out. Your comments on these topics are noticeably more flame-fanning than others. No doubt the topics are important, but that doesn't make it ok to do that here. HN is a specific kind of website, not a free-for-all, and flamewars are destructive to the kind of website it is.

dang 7y ago

Anyone who wants to can slog through my moderation comments (not that I recommend it) and find reams of counterexamples. The reason that is "very clear to you", even though it's false, is that people notice the calls they disagree with much more strongly than the ones they like. If your loyalty were to the opposite side, the cases you like vs. dislike would be flipped, you'd notice the opposite ones more strongly, and so would perceive us as being biased the opposite way. In other words, your perception is a function of your views, not mine. For users with passionate opinions, it always feels like the mods are against them. It's just the same as passionate sports fans who feel the refs are against their team. Meanwhile the other team's fans feel the same. The main thing, though, is that this response is a non sequitur. You've been breaking the site guidelines, regardless of your view of America's wars (or whatever $issue happens to be), and we need you to follow them instead.

fit2rule 7y ago
I agree with you that there is no need to be rude or offensive in these threads, and I do try not to flame individuals, but when there's a fire to be put out and we are told not to go anywhere near the fire because it bothers the people who started the fire, what's to be done? Is there a thread on HN which provides a good example for how to discuss these issues without incurring your wrath? I think this whitewashing on HN, and the constant censorship of those who would raise the alarm in the context of relevant threads ("Russian meddling" is okay to discus - "American War Crimes", not so much), is a travesty. If there is a way to discuss this without incurring your ban hammer, I'm all ears. Or is criticism of American wars, because it hurts Americans feelings, simply off limits? Perhaps its also time to discuss whether or not having a multi-national team of moderators would be a better way to redress this issue on HN. As it stands, I think you work hard and provide a valuable service, but its clear you've reached your limit when it comes time to think critically about what America is doing to the world, especially when it seems perfectly acceptable to highlight Russia's negative influence. This doesn't seem right.
- dang 7y ago
  > ("Russian meddling" is okay to discus - "American War Crimes", not so much) > it seems perfectly acceptable to highlight Russia's negative influence To me this reads like complaining to the firefighters, "it seems perfectly acceptable to start petrol fires. Why do you only care about electrical fires?" This is the same bias I was talking about. It always feels like your team gets the penalty, it always feels like you're the one who gets the speeding ticket, it always feels like the mods are against you. > when there's a fire to be put out and we are told not to go anywhere near the fire because it bothers the people who started the fire Fanning flames is the opposite of putting them out. Your comments on these topics are noticeably more flame-fanning than others. No doubt the topics are important, but that doesn't make it ok to do that here. HN is a specific kind of website, not a free-for-all, and flamewars are destructive to the kind of website it is.