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There's something really interesting going on with the flagging in this post. There are several on topic, polite discussions that have been flagged to death. (A

There's something really interesting going on with the flagging in this post. There are several on topic, polite discussions that have been flagged to death. (Along with some replies which, rightly, have been flagged to death.) Maybe it's just folks expressing political views with the flag button, but it's interesting to see it used so dramatically here. Edit: Either someone did something or a bunch of vouching happened, because a lot of comments have come back.

apacheCamel 7y ago
I was about to say the same thing. I was in mid-reply to someone as I saw their post was flagged and has since been taken away. I am not really sure what is going on.
chongli 7y ago
Maybe it's just folks expressing political views with the flag button I would hope said individuals would lose their flagging privileges if they demonstrate a pattern of inappropriate flagging. The purpose of flagging is to report posts in violation of the site guidelines, not to express disagreement; that's what down-votes are for.
- mehhh 7y ago
  Posts can't be downvoted on HN iirc, only comments. Those that flag these types of posts are often the first to scream about their right to free speech, while loving places that bootstomp it like /r/The_Donald, freespeechextremist, smugglo, pleroma.social, etc. In those communities, there are tons of posts and comments along the lines of "if I'm wrong about x debate me!". When you reply citing multiple research papers, you will get banned. There is no room for challenging views on these caustic sites.
avip 7y ago
Per HN guidelines, if you think there's some kind of organized abuse, you should report it to moderators [instead of discussing it here]. My humble opinion is many people here are fed up with climate discussions, and see them as off-topic. On the other hand, a vocal group (which as a disclaimer, I belong to), seems to believe not talking about climate change is currently akin to a Jewish family in 39` Germany not talking about the National-Socialist party. The two groups communicate with each other almost as effectively as my 3 and 5 yo kids.
mattsfrey 7y ago
That's unfortunately what HN comments has become, a popularity contest where instead of replying to views you disagree with using counter arguments, you just downvote them and if their statement particularly offends your sensibilities, flag them.
- badsectoracula 7y ago
  Honestly, downvoting - especially as implemented here in HN where it fades out things - was a mistake. I do not understand why people still insist on it and ask people to not use it as a "disagree" button (and flagging as a "super disagree" button) when many years of evidence show that despite any effort, it will be used as such. I can understand (even if disagree) with Reddit-the-company wanting it to stay there because it increases "engagement" with the platform (regardless of the engagement's quality) and thus gets more ad revenue, but why anyone else (and any site that doesn't monetize such "engagement") would insist on downvoting is beyond me (and i especially do not understand people acting as if the topic itself is some sort of taboo to not even be discussed and treat its existence as unquestionable dogma).
  - mises 7y ago
    The better option would be to get rid of political BS entirely. I am incredibly sick of hearing each side scream into the wind while the other screams back. This was originally mostly a tech forum; it's grown to a size where it needs to be only a tech forum. People can go to reddit if they want to scream about politics.
    - tracker1 7y ago
      The issue is a lot of tech companies, especially the larger ones are in larger metro areas that tend to lean left, and staffed by those who went to very left leaning schools and as a result lean further left than most. Combine this with a bit of elitism and you get what we have today. A set of professions guided more by feelings that knowledge and reasoning. Not to mention an ever increasing inability to actually have a civil conversation with someone you disagree with. I'm relatively center/libertarian/classic-liberal and I seem to feel it from all sides at times.
saagarjha 7y ago
I went through and vouched for the reasonable looking comments in this thread. (You should be able to do so as well, unless you've lost your privileges to do so.)

apacheCamel 7y ago

I was about to say the same thing. I was in mid-reply to someone as I saw their post was flagged and has since been taken away. I am not really sure what is going on.

chongli 7y ago

Maybe it's just folks expressing political views with the flag button I would hope said individuals would lose their flagging privileges if they demonstrate a pattern of inappropriate flagging. The purpose of flagging is to report posts in violation of the site guidelines, not to express disagreement; that's what down-votes are for.

mehhh 7y ago
Posts can't be downvoted on HN iirc, only comments. Those that flag these types of posts are often the first to scream about their right to free speech, while loving places that bootstomp it like /r/The_Donald, freespeechextremist, smugglo, pleroma.social, etc. In those communities, there are tons of posts and comments along the lines of "if I'm wrong about x debate me!". When you reply citing multiple research papers, you will get banned. There is no room for challenging views on these caustic sites.

avip 7y ago

Per HN guidelines, if you think there's some kind of organized abuse, you should report it to moderators [instead of discussing it here]. My humble opinion is many people here are fed up with climate discussions, and see them as off-topic. On the other hand, a vocal group (which as a disclaimer, I belong to), seems to believe not talking about climate change is currently akin to a Jewish family in 39` Germany not talking about the National-Socialist party. The two groups communicate with each other almost as effectively as my 3 and 5 yo kids.

mattsfrey 7y ago

That's unfortunately what HN comments has become, a popularity contest where instead of replying to views you disagree with using counter arguments, you just downvote them and if their statement particularly offends your sensibilities, flag them.

badsectoracula 7y ago
Honestly, downvoting - especially as implemented here in HN where it fades out things - was a mistake. I do not understand why people still insist on it and ask people to not use it as a "disagree" button (and flagging as a "super disagree" button) when many years of evidence show that despite any effort, it will be used as such. I can understand (even if disagree) with Reddit-the-company wanting it to stay there because it increases "engagement" with the platform (regardless of the engagement's quality) and thus gets more ad revenue, but why anyone else (and any site that doesn't monetize such "engagement") would insist on downvoting is beyond me (and i especially do not understand people acting as if the topic itself is some sort of taboo to not even be discussed and treat its existence as unquestionable dogma).
- mises 7y ago
  The better option would be to get rid of political BS entirely. I am incredibly sick of hearing each side scream into the wind while the other screams back. This was originally mostly a tech forum; it's grown to a size where it needs to be only a tech forum. People can go to reddit if they want to scream about politics.
  - tracker1 7y ago
    The issue is a lot of tech companies, especially the larger ones are in larger metro areas that tend to lean left, and staffed by those who went to very left leaning schools and as a result lean further left than most. Combine this with a bit of elitism and you get what we have today. A set of professions guided more by feelings that knowledge and reasoning. Not to mention an ever increasing inability to actually have a civil conversation with someone you disagree with. I'm relatively center/libertarian/classic-liberal and I seem to feel it from all sides at times.

saagarjha 7y ago

I went through and vouched for the reasonable looking comments in this thread. (You should be able to do so as well, unless you've lost your privileges to do so.)