3 ms·

How does this submission drop from top 10 to 3rd page in about 20-30 minutes? Not allowed to mention anything negative about YC co's?

hkmurakami 7y ago
Came here to say the same thing. This is ridiculous.
dang 7y ago
The opposite: we moderate HN less when YC or YC startups are involved. Obviously the trust of the community is critical and we would be dumb to risk that. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20moderate%20less%20not%20more%20yc&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu... It doesn't mean that we don't moderate such threads at all, though. We penalized this one the same way we've been penalizing almost every coronavirus story, because if we didn't, HN would have consisted of nothing but coronavirus for the past week. I don't see this story as significant or interesting enough to rise above the threshold. "$Company is losing money" is a dog-bites-man story right now, especially in that industry. No?
- listenallyall 7y ago
  Thanks for explaining. > we've been penalizing almost every coronavirus story Only you know the actual volume of coronavirus-related stories, and whether leaving them as-is would cover the entire top 10, entire first page, or entire first 3 pages. However IMO the adjustment, or "penalization," being applied seems too severe. CV is obviously the most important news topic in the world right now, the situation changes extremely rapidly, making the comments section, with contributors from around the globe, highly relevant and informative. My opinion is that up-to-date CV-related content on HN has been difficult to find, and the lack of such, in favor of random, often whimsical topics, trivializes HN. As I write this, the only CV-connected stories on page 1 are at #19: "Chloroquine, past and present" and at #28: "State projections for Covid-19." While its understandable not wanting HN to be totally dominated by CV, I think there is a better balance to be had.
  - tptacek 7y ago
    On any given day, most of the world's most important news topics aren't on the HN front page, and don't belong there. There are plenty of other sites that do a better job of reporting on the entire world.
    - listenallyall 7y ago
      > most of the world's most important news topics aren't on the HN front page because they don't gain traction among the HN audience. CV has, and to a very large degree, according to dang's comment above.
      - pvg 7y ago
        It's mostly because they're not what HN is for. Sometimes things that are mostly not what HN is for gain traction on HN while still being mostly not what HN is for.
      - dang 7y ago
        > because they don't gain traction among the HN audience That's a bit of a misperception. They do gain traction. If we didn't moderate them, HN's front page would consist of the hottest topics of the moment and would be a different site altogether. The strongest force on the internet is indignation—orders of magnitude stronger than curiosity—so there need to be countervailing mechanisms (like software and moderation) to contain its effects and allow HN to be HN. Upvotes alone don't do it, unfortunately. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20%22upvotes%20alone%22&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
        listenallyall 7y ago
        I appreciate your thoughts in this thread, and more importantly, your willingness to explain your decisions. Your diligent moderation throughout the site ensures it remains a terrific, unique and much-needed resource. Thank you!

hkmurakami 7y ago

Came here to say the same thing. This is ridiculous.

dang 7y ago

The opposite: we moderate HN less when YC or YC startups are involved. Obviously the trust of the community is critical and we would be dumb to risk that. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20moderate%20less%20not%20more%20yc&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu... It doesn't mean that we don't moderate such threads at all, though. We penalized this one the same way we've been penalizing almost every coronavirus story, because if we didn't, HN would have consisted of nothing but coronavirus for the past week. I don't see this story as significant or interesting enough to rise above the threshold. "$Company is losing money" is a dog-bites-man story right now, especially in that industry. No?

listenallyall 7y ago
Thanks for explaining. > we've been penalizing almost every coronavirus story Only you know the actual volume of coronavirus-related stories, and whether leaving them as-is would cover the entire top 10, entire first page, or entire first 3 pages. However IMO the adjustment, or "penalization," being applied seems too severe. CV is obviously the most important news topic in the world right now, the situation changes extremely rapidly, making the comments section, with contributors from around the globe, highly relevant and informative. My opinion is that up-to-date CV-related content on HN has been difficult to find, and the lack of such, in favor of random, often whimsical topics, trivializes HN. As I write this, the only CV-connected stories on page 1 are at #19: "Chloroquine, past and present" and at #28: "State projections for Covid-19." While its understandable not wanting HN to be totally dominated by CV, I think there is a better balance to be had.
- tptacek 7y ago
  On any given day, most of the world's most important news topics aren't on the HN front page, and don't belong there. There are plenty of other sites that do a better job of reporting on the entire world.
  - listenallyall 7y ago
    > most of the world's most important news topics aren't on the HN front page because they don't gain traction among the HN audience. CV has, and to a very large degree, according to dang's comment above.
    - pvg 7y ago
      It's mostly because they're not what HN is for. Sometimes things that are mostly not what HN is for gain traction on HN while still being mostly not what HN is for.
    - dang 7y ago
      > because they don't gain traction among the HN audience That's a bit of a misperception. They do gain traction. If we didn't moderate them, HN's front page would consist of the hottest topics of the moment and would be a different site altogether. The strongest force on the internet is indignation—orders of magnitude stronger than curiosity—so there need to be countervailing mechanisms (like software and moderation) to contain its effects and allow HN to be HN. Upvotes alone don't do it, unfortunately. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20%22upvotes%20alone%22&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
      - listenallyall 7y ago
        I appreciate your thoughts in this thread, and more importantly, your willingness to explain your decisions. Your diligent moderation throughout the site ensures it remains a terrific, unique and much-needed resource. Thank you!