5 ms·

So, it used to be that saying anything remotely skeptical about Bitcoin was the way to get downvoted on HN. Nowadays, it seems that saying anything negative ab

So, it used to be that saying anything remotely skeptical about Bitcoin was the way to get downvoted on HN. Nowadays, it seems that saying anything negative about China is how. Although, in the field of aeronautics, it is not like China is the only "state sponsor" to engage in espionage, or that this is anything new for any of the major powers.

swarnie_ 7y ago
You want to try writing something vaguely anti-USA, that's when they really come out to get you.
avocado4 7y ago
HN / Reddit votes are very easy to manipulate with State-backed funding. Best to ignore the "consensus" on online boards and make one's own decision based on available evidence.
- dang 7y ago
  Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing without evidence. It poisons the well, and the overwhelming majority of such comments are based on imagination only. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20astroturfing&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - munificent 7y ago
    Honest guestion: I understand that unfounded allegations of astroturfing are not helpful. But does HN have systems in place to avoid malicious manipulation like this?
    - dang 7y ago
      We have lots of anti-abuse measures, and they catch things. But of course we don't know what we don't know. The issue with unfounded accusations is not that real abuse doesn't exist (it does); it's that internet users are overwhelmingly too quick to believe that they're seeing organized manipulation when really all they're seeing is something they dislike or find annoying. Such accusations need to clear some bar or they flood the forum and do more damage to it than the abuses they're imagining would do. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20astroturfing&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
dang 7y ago
It's not remotely close to true that negative comments about China are "the way to get downvoted on HN". On the contrary, HN's demographic, while quite international, is almost all Western, and for better or worse it follows geopolitical trends and the leads set by government and media. When we have to ask commenters not to take HN threads into nationalistic flamewar, it's usually because of generic nationalistic rhetoric against China. This happens often enough that we routinely get accused of being pro-Chinese. We're not, of course. We're against nationalistic flamewar, regardless of who is flaming or being flamed, because it's against HN's rules and destructive of the spirit of this site. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- rossdavidh 7y ago
  I appreciate HN doing their best to keep discussion in a productive zone and out of flamewar territory. I enjoy HN a lot, which is very different from most sites that allow comments. However, comparing my parent comment here to the average for most comments I make, or comparing it to comments related to Russia, France, Germany, or any other major nation-state, I have to say that the empirical evidence does not support your statement. :) But, again, I appreciate HN discussions and the efforts to keep it a productive discussion.

swarnie_ 7y ago

You want to try writing something vaguely anti-USA, that's when they really come out to get you.

avocado4 7y ago

HN / Reddit votes are very easy to manipulate with State-backed funding. Best to ignore the "consensus" on online boards and make one's own decision based on available evidence.

dang 7y ago
Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing without evidence. It poisons the well, and the overwhelming majority of such comments are based on imagination only. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20astroturfing&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- munificent 7y ago
  Honest guestion: I understand that unfounded allegations of astroturfing are not helpful. But does HN have systems in place to avoid malicious manipulation like this?
  - dang 7y ago
    We have lots of anti-abuse measures, and they catch things. But of course we don't know what we don't know. The issue with unfounded accusations is not that real abuse doesn't exist (it does); it's that internet users are overwhelmingly too quick to believe that they're seeing organized manipulation when really all they're seeing is something they dislike or find annoying. Such accusations need to clear some bar or they flood the forum and do more damage to it than the abuses they're imagining would do. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20astroturfing&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

dang 7y ago

It's not remotely close to true that negative comments about China are "the way to get downvoted on HN". On the contrary, HN's demographic, while quite international, is almost all Western, and for better or worse it follows geopolitical trends and the leads set by government and media. When we have to ask commenters not to take HN threads into nationalistic flamewar, it's usually because of generic nationalistic rhetoric against China. This happens often enough that we routinely get accused of being pro-Chinese. We're not, of course. We're against nationalistic flamewar, regardless of who is flaming or being flamed, because it's against HN's rules and destructive of the spirit of this site. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

rossdavidh 7y ago
I appreciate HN doing their best to keep discussion in a productive zone and out of flamewar territory. I enjoy HN a lot, which is very different from most sites that allow comments. However, comparing my parent comment here to the average for most comments I make, or comparing it to comments related to Russia, France, Germany, or any other major nation-state, I have to say that the empirical evidence does not support your statement. :) But, again, I appreciate HN discussions and the efforts to keep it a productive discussion.