3 ms·
I have recently begun to realize that there are 2 aspects to "website degeneration". One is the obvious new people showing up because they heard it's cool psued
by sophacles 16y ago
I have recently begun to realize that there are 2 aspects to "website degeneration". One is the obvious new people showing up because they heard it's cool psuedo python paradox situation.
The other comes from the old-timers themselves. I'm not particularly that old-timer, but in the 3something years I've been here, I can say I have experienced this:
I've grown.
The "5 awesome vim tips" or "super deep closure stuff" articles that today annoy me as fluff were deep and new to me back then. HN was a fantastic site introducing me to amazing things, and it is introducing a lot of people to the same amazing things now. As such, the quest for truly new content needs to go deeper, but the people who need the lighter content are greater in number and enthusiasm, ensuring the fluff rises.
When the older crowd doesn't notice their growth, or the lack of change in content (or the combo) you start to get "it's gone down-hill" type comments.
edit: I mean the quest for truly new content for me needs to go deeper, not that the site necessarily needs to go that way.
- moultano 16y agoA similar effect: The average age on the internet is younger than you, and will be for the rest of your life. Think about what effect that has on the density of quality user generated content.
- sophacles 16y agoHaha great... I'm barely 30 and you punks are already calling me old. :)
- stcredzero 16y agoCollege students started calling me old at 27. Just wait til you hit 40!
- manvsmachine 16y agoHeh, I'm 26 and I've started calling myself old.
- alnayyir 16y agoI'm 22 and feel like an ancient grumpy scottish engineer.
- InclinedPlane 16y agoUmm, what? In the limit of everyone going online the average age of internet users becomes the average age of the population at large. Perhaps younger internet users would be more active, especially on social media sites, but that's a different matter. Current estimates put the average age on the internet at about 37.
- noahc 16y agoHis point is that while you used to love some content (teen angst poems, political ramblings by 17 year olds, etc) as you've grown older, you're probably smarter and more mature. The quality of teen angst poem hasn't necessarily declined, but your view of teen angst poems has changed and you view them as worse because you're smarter and more mature. I think this is a very plausible explanation, we are all at different points in the learning process and can only enjoy certain material. All but the most trivial programming articles are above my head right now, and so while I might enjoy them a lot; the HN community would say they are fluff pieces.
- wisty 16y agohttp://marcel-oehler.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/1992/07/19920716.gif http://marcel-oehler.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/1992/07/199... Calvin and Hobbes, 16 JULY 1992 " One of the joys of being a kid is that experiences are new and therefore more intense. For example, I'm about to stick my nose in a jar of mustard and inhale deeply! Let's see what it's like. WHOOP!! See, whed you are oder, you dake your sinuses fo granded. Some of us prefer to.