5 ms·

I've been reading HN almost every weekday for the past six years. It's been consistently great. I have been looking around for other communities (e.g. on subjec

by hliyan 6y ago

I've been reading HN almost every weekday for the past six years. It's been consistently great. I have been looking around for other communities (e.g. on subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, basically anything) that have managed to replicate this success. Yet to find a single one that maintains this level of discourse. I'm sure it's in no small part thanks to the moderators.

TheColorYellow 6y ago
Agreed wholeheartedly. The level of discourse on here exceeds all other forums and has managed to do so while avoiding the increasing trend of culture wars on social forums. I definitely think the mods are the key. As well as the trend of simplicity. It really keeps things focused on where they should be - good discussion.
fsflover 6y ago
> I'm sure it's in no small part thanks to the moderators. See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25225775 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25225775
dhagz 6y ago
I think Lobsters[0] is the only other forum to maintain a high-level of discourse like HN, but it is invite-only (and programming/comp-sci focused). I know some people have started other servers running Lobsters's source[1] that are dedicated to various subjects, but I can't speak to their quality as I haven't visited any of them. [0]: https://lobste.rs/about https://lobste.rs/about [1]: https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters/wiki https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters/wiki
- type0 6y ago
  If you speak other languages you might find out that there are still buckets of the web where old fashioned forums have some good discourse, the ones that have survived often do have good moderation. Maybe it is just me but it feels that it is much rarer occasion to find those in English, that has to be a cultural thing as well as how easy it is to be attacked by trolls and spammers.

5 ms·

I've been reading HN almost every weekday for the past six years. It's been consistently great. I have been looking around for other communities (e.g. on subjec

by hliyan 6y ago

TheColorYellow 6y ago
Agreed wholeheartedly. The level of discourse on here exceeds all other forums and has managed to do so while avoiding the increasing trend of culture wars on social forums. I definitely think the mods are the key. As well as the trend of simplicity. It really keeps things focused on where they should be - good discussion.
fsflover 6y ago
> I'm sure it's in no small part thanks to the moderators. See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25225775 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25225775
dhagz 6y ago
I think Lobsters[0] is the only other forum to maintain a high-level of discourse like HN, but it is invite-only (and programming/comp-sci focused). I know some people have started other servers running Lobsters's source[1] that are dedicated to various subjects, but I can't speak to their quality as I haven't visited any of them. [0]: https://lobste.rs/about https://lobste.rs/about [1]: https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters/wiki https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters/wiki
- type0 6y ago
  If you speak other languages you might find out that there are still buckets of the web where old fashioned forums have some good discourse, the ones that have survived often do have good moderation. Maybe it is just me but it feels that it is much rarer occasion to find those in English, that has to be a cultural thing as well as how easy it is to be attacked by trolls and spammers.