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What exactly is the point of submitting a simple introduction-to-bitcoin story to HN? People here have seen, uh, a couple of bitcoin stories already. If the po

What exactly is the point of submitting a simple introduction-to-bitcoin story to HN? People here have seen, uh, a couple of bitcoin stories already. If the point is driving people to buy some bitcoins, then this is not the forum for that. And people really need to be aware of simple-minded manipulations that can be and are played with the bitcoin market.

gst 15y ago
What's the point of submitting stories about security problems? What's the point of submitting stories about Google? What's the point about submitting stories about Rails? People are interested in it and that's why it gets upvoted. If you're not interested just don't read it.
- yaakov34 15y ago
  "If you're not careful, you might have your private information stolen online. You may even lose money to an identity thief!" "Google is a large technology company which runs the world's most popular search engine." These are NOT good stories for HN, because the people here /know this already/. There is nothing wrong with introductory stories as such. In the case of bitcoin, there is also a suspicion of an ulterior motive in promoting bitcoin stories. As for "don't read it" -- forums are damaged when the noise (and spam) level is high. I can express my opinion by commenting, unless a moderator tells me not to.
- michael_dorfman 15y ago
  I'm not the GP, but I'd be equally annoyed if people were continually posting stories about Google or Rails or security problems that added nothing new to the conversation. At this point, the Bitcoin story has been pretty well picked over, and I'm not convinced there's anything new to say. And, the fact that the stories continue to get upvotes is precisely what is troubling.
  - knowtheory 15y ago
    Well, truth of the matter is, once posts hit the front page, additional discussion (number/rate of comments) seems to be the greatest determinant for whether a post will stay up top. So really the only way to get the stories to fall off is to stop talking about them.
patio11 15y ago
HN is the target of opportunity by a distributed pump and dump scam. They are attempting saturation coverage to increase the value of their bitcoin holdings. It is exactly equivalent to why a company incorporated to sell pool cleaners would pivot to biotech and then get touted on Yahoo Stocks as beng in late stage trials for a pill that would cure 30 pct of cancers.
- SwellJoe 15y ago
  Are The Economist and The Wall Street Journal in on the scam? Or did they get suckered in by the posts to HN, too?
- Tichy 15y ago
  How did BitCoin pivot, though? Seems to me it has been BitCoin from the start, and seems unlikely to change. Also how is it a scam, if the technology is open? It is exactly clear what BitCoin is and does. Everybody can take the specs and program their own client. Nobody can claim "BitCoin cures cancer" or something that. Now if the current exchange rate is justified is another question. Also obviously people holding BitCoins are interested in making it more popular, as that is also related to the exchange rate. I don't think that automatically makes it a scam, though. It is not so different from people invested in Google or Apple (either via stock or via technology usage) are interested in making Google and Apple more popular, as it increases the value of their investment. Then again, perhaps the whole world is just a scam.
kruhft 15y ago
Maybe because this story is in the Economist and not just some random blog?
jsherry 15y ago
I think the fact that Bitcoins is being discussed in the Economist is an interesting data point unto itself. Just means its awareness is entering mainstream media territory.

gst 15y ago

What's the point of submitting stories about security problems? What's the point of submitting stories about Google? What's the point about submitting stories about Rails? People are interested in it and that's why it gets upvoted. If you're not interested just don't read it.

yaakov34 15y ago
"If you're not careful, you might have your private information stolen online. You may even lose money to an identity thief!" "Google is a large technology company which runs the world's most popular search engine." These are NOT good stories for HN, because the people here /know this already/. There is nothing wrong with introductory stories as such. In the case of bitcoin, there is also a suspicion of an ulterior motive in promoting bitcoin stories. As for "don't read it" -- forums are damaged when the noise (and spam) level is high. I can express my opinion by commenting, unless a moderator tells me not to.
michael_dorfman 15y ago
I'm not the GP, but I'd be equally annoyed if people were continually posting stories about Google or Rails or security problems that added nothing new to the conversation. At this point, the Bitcoin story has been pretty well picked over, and I'm not convinced there's anything new to say. And, the fact that the stories continue to get upvotes is precisely what is troubling.
- knowtheory 15y ago
  Well, truth of the matter is, once posts hit the front page, additional discussion (number/rate of comments) seems to be the greatest determinant for whether a post will stay up top. So really the only way to get the stories to fall off is to stop talking about them.

patio11 15y ago

HN is the target of opportunity by a distributed pump and dump scam. They are attempting saturation coverage to increase the value of their bitcoin holdings. It is exactly equivalent to why a company incorporated to sell pool cleaners would pivot to biotech and then get touted on Yahoo Stocks as beng in late stage trials for a pill that would cure 30 pct of cancers.

SwellJoe 15y ago
Are The Economist and The Wall Street Journal in on the scam? Or did they get suckered in by the posts to HN, too?
Tichy 15y ago
How did BitCoin pivot, though? Seems to me it has been BitCoin from the start, and seems unlikely to change. Also how is it a scam, if the technology is open? It is exactly clear what BitCoin is and does. Everybody can take the specs and program their own client. Nobody can claim "BitCoin cures cancer" or something that. Now if the current exchange rate is justified is another question. Also obviously people holding BitCoins are interested in making it more popular, as that is also related to the exchange rate. I don't think that automatically makes it a scam, though. It is not so different from people invested in Google or Apple (either via stock or via technology usage) are interested in making Google and Apple more popular, as it increases the value of their investment. Then again, perhaps the whole world is just a scam.

kruhft 15y ago

Maybe because this story is in the Economist and not just some random blog?

jsherry 15y ago

I think the fact that Bitcoins is being discussed in the Economist is an interesting data point unto itself. Just means its awareness is entering mainstream media territory.