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> I had been assuming that HN hit its peak in 2007 and it was all downhill after that I'm not sure why anybody thinks this way. HN is still one of the best pla

> I had been assuming that HN hit its peak in 2007 and it was all downhill after that I'm not sure why anybody thinks this way. HN is still one of the best places I know to see rational discussion of interesting topics, and a plethora of resources on all kinds of things. If I want to learn about something programming related, one of the first places I go to is HN. There's such a diversity of opinions and such a wide base of knowledge to draw on, it's incredible. Add to that, there's nearly no trolling or flame wars, no off-topic memes, no effortless jokes or puns (okay, sometimes). People largely stick to the HN guidelines and if they don't, they're usually called on it by others. It's not just great moderation, it's a certain amount of self-moderation that you don't see in most other communities (that I know of). It's civilized, in a way that Reddit, YouTube, Twitter, etc. simply aren't and can't be.

DoreenMichele 7y ago
I've been here ten years. HN had more of a sense of community ten years ago, probably mostly because it was smaller. People seem to generally long for a sense of community and most modern peoples -- the kind found on forums like HN -- seem to generally lack a real sense of community in their lives and seem to wish very much this were not so. I suspect this is a factor in comments that indicate a nostalgia for "back in the day, you know, when HN was better, IMO."
debaserab2 7y ago
It's a common cognitive bias to look at the past with higher regard than the future: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declinism I totally agree with you - compared to other online forums it's surprised me how well HN has kept things civil while growing tremendously. The comment section on HN often have the actual makers and inventors of technology/research and sometimes are better content than the actual links being posted.
- jplayer01 7y ago
  > actual makers and inventors of technology/research and sometimes are better content than the actual links being posted Yes! I'm humbled every day by the people on HN, and it's one of the things that keeps me coming back.

DoreenMichele 7y ago

I've been here ten years. HN had more of a sense of community ten years ago, probably mostly because it was smaller. People seem to generally long for a sense of community and most modern peoples -- the kind found on forums like HN -- seem to generally lack a real sense of community in their lives and seem to wish very much this were not so. I suspect this is a factor in comments that indicate a nostalgia for "back in the day, you know, when HN was better, IMO."

debaserab2 7y ago

It's a common cognitive bias to look at the past with higher regard than the future: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declinism I totally agree with you - compared to other online forums it's surprised me how well HN has kept things civil while growing tremendously. The comment section on HN often have the actual makers and inventors of technology/research and sometimes are better content than the actual links being posted.

jplayer01 7y ago
> actual makers and inventors of technology/research and sometimes are better content than the actual links being posted Yes! I'm humbled every day by the people on HN, and it's one of the things that keeps me coming back.