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HN discourages the sort of clever-yet-unsubstantial one-liner jokes that earn a lot of karma on Reddit. It reserves the space for thoughtful discussions. Gettin

HN discourages the sort of clever-yet-unsubstantial one-liner jokes that earn a lot of karma on Reddit. It reserves the space for thoughtful discussions. Getting rid of the memes simply doesn't fly in other online communities. I'd also put money on the average age of HN commenter being higher than that of other internet communities. I know of other rich and healthy online communities, but they are fairly niche.

uncomputation 6y ago
I also feel the text-only format and less visible “points”/“likes” has something to do with it. It’s harder to be attention-grabbing with just text. In many ways, HN feels to me like an online email thread.
rimliu 6y ago
HN is just another echo-chamber minus the puns.
- Brian_K_White 6y ago
  trivially disproven
  - erikbye 6y ago
    Is it? Controversial opinions are downvoted here, too. The Overton window is real.
    - jacquesm 6y ago
      :s/Controversial/nonsensical/g
      - anoncake 6y ago
        :s/nonsensical opinions/opinions I disagree with/g
        jacquesm 6y ago
        No, not really. You can't 'disagree' with pedophile politician rings any more than you can disagree with the moon landing having taken place. The one is reality, the other is not. That's what the nonsensical stands for. It is quite interesting what people are willing to believe when individuals in power state these things with great certainty. But personally I prefer to have my fiction and real-world views separated by a healthy dose of skepticism.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        anoncake 6y ago
        Those get downvoted too, as do controversial opinions.
    - lkbm 6y ago
      The Overton window is real, but it's fairly wide open. I could post a pro-socialism argument and get upvoted, I could post a pro-capitalism argument and get upvoted. I could criticize GMOs, or praise them. I could probably defend Trump if I'm thoughtful about it, or decry him. Can I say "Capitalism/Socialism/GMOs/Trump is dumb" and get upvoted? No. Can I point out problems (or benefits) of them? Yes--so long as I'm not inflammatory about it.
      - doc_gunthrop 6y ago
        When a post involves gender and/or race, the Overton window is quite narrow. Those appear to be the most controversial with the comments section filled with snark and polemics.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Hacker News has puns occasionally.
nullsense 6y ago
Everyone that comes here for the comments leaves comments that others like to come here for. It's the good old "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." I love HN culture.
RealStickman_ 6y ago
> I'd also put money on the average age of HN commenter being higher than that of other internet communities. That might be true. However, from my experience maturity is way more important than actual age. Some maturity comes with age, but a lot of it is also individual behaviour in my opinion.
erikbye 6y ago
A good majority of HNers may also be Redditors.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Many probably are. The ones that do well on both sites know how to adjust their comments to match the site they’re on.

uncomputation 6y ago

I also feel the text-only format and less visible “points”/“likes” has something to do with it. It’s harder to be attention-grabbing with just text. In many ways, HN feels to me like an online email thread.

rimliu 6y ago

HN is just another echo-chamber minus the puns.

Brian_K_White 6y ago
trivially disproven
- erikbye 6y ago
  Is it? Controversial opinions are downvoted here, too. The Overton window is real.
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    :s/Controversial/nonsensical/g
    - anoncake 6y ago
      :s/nonsensical opinions/opinions I disagree with/g
      - jacquesm 6y ago
        No, not really. You can't 'disagree' with pedophile politician rings any more than you can disagree with the moon landing having taken place. The one is reality, the other is not. That's what the nonsensical stands for. It is quite interesting what people are willing to believe when individuals in power state these things with great certainty. But personally I prefer to have my fiction and real-world views separated by a healthy dose of skepticism.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        anoncake 6y ago
        Those get downvoted too, as do controversial opinions.
  - lkbm 6y ago
    The Overton window is real, but it's fairly wide open. I could post a pro-socialism argument and get upvoted, I could post a pro-capitalism argument and get upvoted. I could criticize GMOs, or praise them. I could probably defend Trump if I'm thoughtful about it, or decry him. Can I say "Capitalism/Socialism/GMOs/Trump is dumb" and get upvoted? No. Can I point out problems (or benefits) of them? Yes--so long as I'm not inflammatory about it.
    - doc_gunthrop 6y ago
      When a post involves gender and/or race, the Overton window is quite narrow. Those appear to be the most controversial with the comments section filled with snark and polemics.
saagarjha 6y ago
Hacker News has puns occasionally.

nullsense 6y ago

Everyone that comes here for the comments leaves comments that others like to come here for. It's the good old "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." I love HN culture.

RealStickman_ 6y ago

> I'd also put money on the average age of HN commenter being higher than that of other internet communities. That might be true. However, from my experience maturity is way more important than actual age. Some maturity comes with age, but a lot of it is also individual behaviour in my opinion.

erikbye 6y ago

A good majority of HNers may also be Redditors.

saagarjha 6y ago
Many probably are. The ones that do well on both sites know how to adjust their comments to match the site they’re on.