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> By the way, only about 10% of the HN community is in the Bay Area and that segment is by no means all "technocrat" The original comment said "a measure of ho

> By the way, only about 10% of the HN community is in the Bay Area and that segment is by no means all "technocrat" The original comment said "a measure of how much the comment matches the general bay are technocrat sentiment", it doesn't say that everyone on HN is from bay area or a technocrat. From my understanding it means that if people believe "it's what people in Bay Are would think" it gets more traction. There's a trend towards conformity that is helped by the style of moderation. Not saying is bad, just saying that there's a consistent pattern. Which is exactly what happened.

dang 7y ago
I'd say the opposite is more prevalent. People assume that HN is dominated by Bay Area thinking—which is to say, whatever caricature they regard as Bay Area thinking, since there's no single such thing—and then post what they imagine to be their contrarian view against it. Usually they do so angrily or sarcastically, since people get defensive when they think they're going against a dominant view. It's been many years since HN comments have been Bay Area-centric, if they ever were. HN now has far more users who identify against it than with it, at least among commenters. That's why I tell people that only 10% of the community is based there; it usually comes as a surprise.
- chinesempire 7y ago
  > which is to say, whatever caricature they regard as Bay Area thinking, since there's no single such thing Yes. And it is exactly what I said > if people _believe_ "it's what people in Bay Are would think" That kind of "tension towards conformity" is still very present, at least it seems to me, even though they are conforming to an idealized and/or caricatural way of life. And my understanding of the original comment is that it was mocking the "bay area billionaire wannabes". > Usually they do so angrily or sarcastically, since people get defensive when they think they're going against a dominant view. This wasn't the case though. My point is that my last comment costed me some downvotes and a minus on the karma, but it wasn't angry or sarcastic or against a dominant view, it was only an analysis on someone else's comment. No big deal, probably someone disagreed with it and downvoted the comment, but that's not what a downvote should be used for - AFAIK.

dang 7y ago

I'd say the opposite is more prevalent. People assume that HN is dominated by Bay Area thinking—which is to say, whatever caricature they regard as Bay Area thinking, since there's no single such thing—and then post what they imagine to be their contrarian view against it. Usually they do so angrily or sarcastically, since people get defensive when they think they're going against a dominant view. It's been many years since HN comments have been Bay Area-centric, if they ever were. HN now has far more users who identify against it than with it, at least among commenters. That's why I tell people that only 10% of the community is based there; it usually comes as a surprise.

chinesempire 7y ago
> which is to say, whatever caricature they regard as Bay Area thinking, since there's no single such thing Yes. And it is exactly what I said > if people _believe_ "it's what people in Bay Are would think" That kind of "tension towards conformity" is still very present, at least it seems to me, even though they are conforming to an idealized and/or caricatural way of life. And my understanding of the original comment is that it was mocking the "bay area billionaire wannabes". > Usually they do so angrily or sarcastically, since people get defensive when they think they're going against a dominant view. This wasn't the case though. My point is that my last comment costed me some downvotes and a minus on the karma, but it wasn't angry or sarcastic or against a dominant view, it was only an analysis on someone else's comment. No big deal, probably someone disagreed with it and downvoted the comment, but that's not what a downvote should be used for - AFAIK.