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> Someone posted this and got downvoted to the point of 'dead'. I smell bots and/or troll farmers I wonder how pervasive this is on HN, since you need a minimu

> Someone posted this and got downvoted to the point of 'dead'. I smell bots and/or troll farmers I wonder how pervasive this is on HN, since you need a minimum of 500 karma before you can downvote someone. I have to admit though, over the past year HN has started to feel more like reddit (this is not my first account, I have been here for many years). I don't think it's because of poor moderation, I think it's just a result of HN becoming popular enough that it's attracting a larger audience.

aphextim 7y ago
>I think it's just a result of HN becoming popular enough that it's attracting a larger audience. This could be true, however for me and what I think may be a larger issue is that people are getting tired of using Reddit and other sites altogether and there are few alternatives that offer good discussions. The reason Reddit became popular when it started I feel was for the niche subreddits and information and discussions on Reddit that you wouldn't find elsewhere on the web. Now Reddit censors anything outside of the hive-mind when it comes to common popular subreddits. Sure there are good subreddits with discussions and information still out there but unless you know where to look, the popular subreddits feel more like advertising designed to look like someone submitted something. I remember when people migrated from Digg 2.0 and Slashdot over to Reddit sometime around 2005. It appears now people have been increasingly jumping ship from Reddit to other platforms for the niche information while still using Reddit for the meme's and cat videos.
dang 7y ago
"HN is turning into Reddit" was a cliché 10 years ago. Even the responses were clichés 10 years ago. I think we can say what Voltaire said when told that coffee is a slow poison: "It must be very slow." [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=turning%20%22into%20reddit%22&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=66057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=66057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=223184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=223184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=225134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=225134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=247582 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=247582 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=278785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=278785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=576431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=576431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=582513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=582513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=633099 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=633099 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=926703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=926703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1495742 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1495742 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1523969 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1523969 It would be fun to find the first appearance of this on HN. Here's one from when HN was still called Startup News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13852 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13852. So HN was turning into Reddit before it was HN. (The name Hacker News came in Aug 2007: https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html) [1] Actually it was Fontenelle, not Voltaire, but I guess all 18th century French jokes eventually go to Voltaire.
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  Preface: I'm really not trying to be belligerent. I know it's a common trope to complain about HN becoming like reddit, but that doesn't mean it will never happen. Of course, I don't even know how I would identify that beyond how it feels, which isn't any stronger of an argument than everybody before me has made. I guess the real question is, assuming it happens, how would we even know? I see your point though - I'm not bringing up anything new and in that sense it's not interesting.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  While "turning into Reddit" is a tired cliché here, I have seen a slowly-increasing trend of unjustified and irrational downvoting here. It's nowhere near reddit-bad, but it is significantly worse than when I joined eight years ago. I have seen an increase in longer-term users commenting on undeserved downvotes of other people's posts, which tells me I'm not the only one seeing this. Unfortunately, I think the cat has left the bag. Removing the censorship feature from downvotes would counteract most of the damage it does to discourse, I think.
  - dang 7y ago
    This perception has been around since the early years too. I've even pulled out the Voltaire joke about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12670004 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12670004. In fact, the guideline against downvote complaints predates the guideline against "turning into Reddit" complaints by a couple of years: https://web.archive.org/web/20080706144102/http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080706144102/http://ycombinato...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
2OEH8eoCRo0 7y ago
There is no way to know how pervasive it is and we are not allowed to talk about it. Enjoy the site.

aphextim 7y ago

>I think it's just a result of HN becoming popular enough that it's attracting a larger audience. This could be true, however for me and what I think may be a larger issue is that people are getting tired of using Reddit and other sites altogether and there are few alternatives that offer good discussions. The reason Reddit became popular when it started I feel was for the niche subreddits and information and discussions on Reddit that you wouldn't find elsewhere on the web. Now Reddit censors anything outside of the hive-mind when it comes to common popular subreddits. Sure there are good subreddits with discussions and information still out there but unless you know where to look, the popular subreddits feel more like advertising designed to look like someone submitted something. I remember when people migrated from Digg 2.0 and Slashdot over to Reddit sometime around 2005. It appears now people have been increasingly jumping ship from Reddit to other platforms for the niche information while still using Reddit for the meme's and cat videos.

dang 7y ago

"HN is turning into Reddit" was a cliché 10 years ago. Even the responses were clichés 10 years ago. I think we can say what Voltaire said when told that coffee is a slow poison: "It must be very slow." [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=turning%20%22into%20reddit%22&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=66057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=66057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=223184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=223184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=225134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=225134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=247582 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=247582 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=278785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=278785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=576431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=576431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=582513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=582513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=633099 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=633099 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=926703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=926703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1495742 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1495742 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1523969 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1523969 It would be fun to find the first appearance of this on HN. Here's one from when HN was still called Startup News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13852 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13852. So HN was turning into Reddit before it was HN. (The name Hacker News came in Aug 2007: https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html) [1] Actually it was Fontenelle, not Voltaire, but I guess all 18th century French jokes eventually go to Voltaire.

OnlineGladiator 7y ago
Preface: I'm really not trying to be belligerent. I know it's a common trope to complain about HN becoming like reddit, but that doesn't mean it will never happen. Of course, I don't even know how I would identify that beyond how it feels, which isn't any stronger of an argument than everybody before me has made. I guess the real question is, assuming it happens, how would we even know? I see your point though - I'm not bringing up anything new and in that sense it's not interesting.
vonmoltke 7y ago
While "turning into Reddit" is a tired cliché here, I have seen a slowly-increasing trend of unjustified and irrational downvoting here. It's nowhere near reddit-bad, but it is significantly worse than when I joined eight years ago. I have seen an increase in longer-term users commenting on undeserved downvotes of other people's posts, which tells me I'm not the only one seeing this. Unfortunately, I think the cat has left the bag. Removing the censorship feature from downvotes would counteract most of the damage it does to discourse, I think.
- dang 7y ago
  This perception has been around since the early years too. I've even pulled out the Voltaire joke about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12670004 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12670004. In fact, the guideline against downvote complaints predates the guideline against "turning into Reddit" complaints by a couple of years: https://web.archive.org/web/20080706144102/http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080706144102/http://ycombinato...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

2OEH8eoCRo0 7y ago

There is no way to know how pervasive it is and we are not allowed to talk about it. Enjoy the site.