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Some users tend to flag stories about China and censorship because they generate a lot of nationalistic and hot headed comments and very little actual intellige
by brmgb 6y ago
Some users tend to flag stories about China and censorship because they generate a lot of nationalistic and hot headed comments and very little actual intelligent discussion. Just look at the comments attached to this submission.
- missosoup 6y agoThe submission I linked is not flagged (at least as far as I can see from my account?). Either there's some non-intuitive stuff going on with the way submissions stay on the front page, or HN soft-nuked it. Either way I think we deserve an explanation and a clear understanding of the underlying rules.
- duxup 6y agoDoes HN always tell you when someone flags it? Or just a critical number of users or something like that? I see the flagged indicator now and then, but I see it somewhat less frequently than I would THINK things get flagged, admittedly that's all conjecture.
- mistermann 6y agoIf something is memory holed quickly enough after being flagged, perhaps combined with an automated algorithm that considers certain keywords, then the likelihood of people noticing flagged posts can be kept very low. Of course this is all speculation, the truth of censorship on various platforms will likely never be known.
- bigpumpkin 6y agoIf a story gets moderately flagged, it gets deranked but don't show up as "flagged"
- Lewton 6y agoIt takes some amount of people flagging it before it shows up as [flagged] but flagging submissions affect rankings before it reaches that point. On top of that "Ask HN" posts also have some modifier on them that makes them drop quicker, these two effects seem to be cumulative, explaining why it dropped so quickly
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Zarel 6y agoIn addition, I believe HN deranks submissions with a high comment-to-vote ratio, also as a signal of controversy.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- duxup 6y agoYeah I've seen what looks like the same pattern. I'm not sure this is a behind the scenes Snidely Whiplash situation or ... just mass flagging by users with a specific POV.
- jtdev 6y agoIt so happens that we've entered a period where technology, morality, ideology, etc. are converging - to censor those who wish to talk about these connections would seem very antithetical to a culture of inspiring bright minds, innovation, and technological advancement for the good of mankind.
- Vysero 6y agoI for one have never shied away from a "hot headed" argument. Imho, I feel that as adults it is our responsibility to voice our opinions even in times when that opinion will contrast with another. In fact, sometimes it is crucial to do so as often times the most important arguments to be had are the most heated. I believe the HN esk counter-point would be that HN is not the proper forum for those kinds of discussion. Imho, there is no "proper" forum for these kinds of discussions. They simply need to be had, more now than ever in my lifetime, on every street corner, and in every shop.
- catalogia 6y ago> They simply need to be had, more now than ever in my lifetime, on every street corner, and in every shop. Turns out, even the literal street-corner soapbox guys can be effectively shut out of their venue.
- baq 6y agothe best and surest way to have your account deleted from facebook is to post porn. the best and surest way to delete an inconvenient discussion from hn is to spam it with a political flame war. i don't have proof that this is the case here but i wouldn't be surprised that such threads are actively heated up and/or gaslighted by nation state sponsored censors.
- mistermann 6y agoOr ideologues.
- baq 6y agoyou missed the point. these people are targets.
- mistermann 6y agoI don't understand what point I've missed. If "I wouldn't be surprised that such threads are actively heated up and/or gaslighted by nation state sponsored censors" is possibly true, can it not also be possibly true that ideologues do the same thing (consciously or not), knowing that so-called flamewars can (and often does) lead to censorship?
- baq 6y agooh they surely do, that isn't the point. the point is to help them notice the thread and get them going enough for moderators to delist the story.
- mistermann 6y agoOh for sure...it's a symbiotic relationship, kind of like a non-coordinated conspiracy, something that is a lot easier to pull off than most people think. It's funny how many people seem to only be able to recognize the obvious herd-like behavior of people under certain topics of conversation, but if you change the topic then it is ~"literally impossible".