4 ms·

I don't look at these comment sections on information rich sites to converse. I look at them to see curated content that many times is more valuable than the s

I don't look at these comment sections on information rich sites to converse. I look at them to see curated content that many times is more valuable than the source material being discussed. On the best of them, I get to see what incredibly smart and talented people think on the topic, I get to see their mind work. The value of that cannot be overstated. The social niceties or whatnot of 'conversations' dilute that information, as does removing social feedback mechanisms that bring the most valuable comments to the forefront - that stuff saves me time and energy. Discussion forums are a different beast.

bonaldi 16y ago
The original post is about forums, not comments, it's in the title. They're the sites where the conversation is the focus. (And most of them have very little truck with "niceties", don't make the nerd mistake of assuming a degree of chatter isn't valuable or is dilution -- it's sync, feedback and flow-control. Even SMTP says helo.) That aside, bringing the most valuable comments to the front might save you energy at a glance, but it also brings you comments limited by their hit-and-run nature and costs you energy if you want to later return to a thread and discover what's new, because there's none of the flow and context you need to rejoin a discussion. On the best forum sites, you get to converse with the incredibly smart and talented people. That's far more valuable than just looking at them in awe.
- brandall10 16y ago
  He says forums, but his example is "places like Reddit and HackerNews and Slashdot" - articles are the focus, he's talking about comments sections. "Looking at them in awe?" What's wrong with lurking to learn?
  - thaumaturgy 16y ago
    You're right that I mixed up the terminology a bit, but as someone else here pointed out, I was using "forum" in the classical sense: a place where people talk. We now have the "old kind" of forums -- phpBB and its ilk -- and the "new kind" of forums, the comments-oriented sections of Reddit and HackerNews and Slashdot. And, yes, I get that on these sites, the comments are prompted by new articles. (I'm not sure that I'd agree that articles are the focus, but that might depend on the individual.) I was just pointing out where comments sites don't do as well in terms of the value of conversation, and why that might be, and comparing it to the older style of forums. Nothing wrong with lurking to learn; I think that "looking at them in awe" was a bit of hyperbole.

bonaldi 16y ago

The original post is about forums, not comments, it's in the title. They're the sites where the conversation is the focus. (And most of them have very little truck with "niceties", don't make the nerd mistake of assuming a degree of chatter isn't valuable or is dilution -- it's sync, feedback and flow-control. Even SMTP says helo.) That aside, bringing the most valuable comments to the front might save you energy at a glance, but it also brings you comments limited by their hit-and-run nature and costs you energy if you want to later return to a thread and discover what's new, because there's none of the flow and context you need to rejoin a discussion. On the best forum sites, you get to converse with the incredibly smart and talented people. That's far more valuable than just looking at them in awe.

brandall10 16y ago
He says forums, but his example is "places like Reddit and HackerNews and Slashdot" - articles are the focus, he's talking about comments sections. "Looking at them in awe?" What's wrong with lurking to learn?
- thaumaturgy 16y ago
  You're right that I mixed up the terminology a bit, but as someone else here pointed out, I was using "forum" in the classical sense: a place where people talk. We now have the "old kind" of forums -- phpBB and its ilk -- and the "new kind" of forums, the comments-oriented sections of Reddit and HackerNews and Slashdot. And, yes, I get that on these sites, the comments are prompted by new articles. (I'm not sure that I'd agree that articles are the focus, but that might depend on the individual.) I was just pointing out where comments sites don't do as well in terms of the value of conversation, and why that might be, and comparing it to the older style of forums. Nothing wrong with lurking to learn; I think that "looking at them in awe" was a bit of hyperbole.