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> On the other hand, they also triggered a horrid revelation, the darkest nature of online harassment, with abject levels of abuse and misogyny. Maybe they play

by kace91 6y ago

> On the other hand, they also triggered a horrid revelation, the darkest nature of online harassment, with abject levels of abuse and misogyny. Maybe they played a minor role as catalysts opening the door to the decade of the Me Too movement. That's a strange way to end the article. What happened? It is kind of weird to talk about the different eras as a description for people who didn't live through them and then drop that reference expecting the reader to know the context - just my two cents.

ColinWright 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sierra#Harassment_and_withdrawal_from_online_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sierra#Harassment_and_wi...
- kace91 6y ago
  Wow.. I was expecting random sexist comments, not lynching threats ( not that the former are good, but that's a whole different league).
  - ColinWright 6y ago
    I've thought hard about saying anything here, but what the hey, let me make an observation. HN is a pretty good community. It's got a lot of smart, knowledgeable people who share freely. They are generally curious, inquisitive, and interested in a wide range of things. And yet, I've been watching this item. It did well to start with, and even now the number of upvotes it's had should have it on the front page. Why is it not there? My guess (as someone who's been around for a while and watched the dynamics, but with no insider knowledge) is that people are flagging it. I've seen similar submissions about people thrive and stay on the front page for hours, but this one is being flagged. The primary differentiators are that (a) this is a woman in tech, and (b) she was harassed by the tech community. This is all hypothetical, hand-waving, "You Have No Proof!" territory, but I've seen this played out before. What happened to Kathy is vile, horrendous, and all-too-believable.
    - skinkestek 6y ago
      Another explanation: certain people - or an algorithm - will do anything to get hot topics off the front page. The moment any discussion starts to get "interesting", regardless of who it is about, that moment it drops like a stone. I guess it happens to any post where a number of people get lots of both upvotes and downvotes or where a number of answers are flagged. In that regard this site is like a young child of mine who has grown up in such a happy home that when I sometimes say no to some idea my wife has that child is wondering if we are going to divorce :-/ In the same way, on this site people are so polite that either the flamewar detector or a number of users has become way too sensitive. (That said: IMO it is a good thing that my children never see their parents argue in anger and it is a good thing that people are used to everyone being polite here, I just wish we could be a tiny bit less sensitive. Some hot topics actually should be discussed some times, like this one.) There's a link to contact the mods at the bottom of the page. They (most often dang) usually reply, and it seems they use the feedback to tune the system. (Yes BTW, this account is young, but I have been here a long time)
      - ColinWright 6y ago
        > ... either the flamewar detector or a number of users has become way too sensitive. This hasn't triggered the flame-war filter, because the number of up-votes is still higher than the number of comments. > ... certain people - or an algorithm - will do anything to get hot topics off the front page. Or not necessarily hot topics, just specifically topics that highlight, even if only tangentially, that women are often driven out of tech by harassment, including threats of rape and death, including to their families. > The moment any discussion starts to get "interesting", regardless of who it is about, that moment it drops like a stone. There are many, many discussions that get "interesting" without that happening. > ... any post ... lots of both upvotes and downvotes ... You can't downvote a submission. > Some hot topics actually should be discussed some times, like this one. Yes, although the evidence suggests that rational discussion about this topic isn't possible, especially in a forum like this one. I genuinely long for the day the topic can be discussed constructively, and even more for the day it's a complete non-issue. I doubt I'll see either. > There's a link to contact the mods at the bottom of the page. I suspect the mods are happy to see this sink, because the alternative is that it will erupt into an unpleasant cesspit of people thinking/claiming that they are being logical and rational, when really they aren't. > ... [the mods] ... usually reply, and it seems they use the feedback to tune the system. They are the reason the site remains even remotely interesting and useful.

by kace91 6y ago

ColinWright 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sierra#Harassment_and_withdrawal_from_online_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sierra#Harassment_and_wi...

kace91 6y ago
Wow.. I was expecting random sexist comments, not lynching threats ( not that the former are good, but that's a whole different league).
- ColinWright 6y ago
  I've thought hard about saying anything here, but what the hey, let me make an observation. HN is a pretty good community. It's got a lot of smart, knowledgeable people who share freely. They are generally curious, inquisitive, and interested in a wide range of things. And yet, I've been watching this item. It did well to start with, and even now the number of upvotes it's had should have it on the front page. Why is it not there? My guess (as someone who's been around for a while and watched the dynamics, but with no insider knowledge) is that people are flagging it. I've seen similar submissions about people thrive and stay on the front page for hours, but this one is being flagged. The primary differentiators are that (a) this is a woman in tech, and (b) she was harassed by the tech community. This is all hypothetical, hand-waving, "You Have No Proof!" territory, but I've seen this played out before. What happened to Kathy is vile, horrendous, and all-too-believable.
  - skinkestek 6y ago
    Another explanation: certain people - or an algorithm - will do anything to get hot topics off the front page. The moment any discussion starts to get "interesting", regardless of who it is about, that moment it drops like a stone. I guess it happens to any post where a number of people get lots of both upvotes and downvotes or where a number of answers are flagged. In that regard this site is like a young child of mine who has grown up in such a happy home that when I sometimes say no to some idea my wife has that child is wondering if we are going to divorce :-/ In the same way, on this site people are so polite that either the flamewar detector or a number of users has become way too sensitive. (That said: IMO it is a good thing that my children never see their parents argue in anger and it is a good thing that people are used to everyone being polite here, I just wish we could be a tiny bit less sensitive. Some hot topics actually should be discussed some times, like this one.) There's a link to contact the mods at the bottom of the page. They (most often dang) usually reply, and it seems they use the feedback to tune the system. (Yes BTW, this account is young, but I have been here a long time)
    - ColinWright 6y ago
      > ... either the flamewar detector or a number of users has become way too sensitive. This hasn't triggered the flame-war filter, because the number of up-votes is still higher than the number of comments. > ... certain people - or an algorithm - will do anything to get hot topics off the front page. Or not necessarily hot topics, just specifically topics that highlight, even if only tangentially, that women are often driven out of tech by harassment, including threats of rape and death, including to their families. > The moment any discussion starts to get "interesting", regardless of who it is about, that moment it drops like a stone. There are many, many discussions that get "interesting" without that happening. > ... any post ... lots of both upvotes and downvotes ... You can't downvote a submission. > Some hot topics actually should be discussed some times, like this one. Yes, although the evidence suggests that rational discussion about this topic isn't possible, especially in a forum like this one. I genuinely long for the day the topic can be discussed constructively, and even more for the day it's a complete non-issue. I doubt I'll see either. > There's a link to contact the mods at the bottom of the page. I suspect the mods are happy to see this sink, because the alternative is that it will erupt into an unpleasant cesspit of people thinking/claiming that they are being logical and rational, when really they aren't. > ... [the mods] ... usually reply, and it seems they use the feedback to tune the system. They are the reason the site remains even remotely interesting and useful.