3 ms·

While you probably have a higher level view of what "pushing" is on HN, I'm not seeing this topic being posted and quickly upvoted with minimal interaction on j

While you probably have a higher level view of what "pushing" is on HN, I'm not seeing this topic being posted and quickly upvoted with minimal interaction on just HN... but I'm also just a normal user of other sites like Reddit too. Maybe I'm just overreacting to the reposts.

dang 5y ago
It's just a sensational topic - maybe the most sensational MOT (major ongoing topic) of the moment, no? The same psychology must apply to that everywhere. This story has other advantages (from the point of view of the story). It is intriguing in a way that's perfect for internet detectives, sort of like a board game with a low barrier to entry: you can get up and running with a few links in a few minutes, jump in and play. It's personally relevant to everyone who was affected by the pandemic, i.e. literally everyone. And the stakes are high geopolitically, so it's got all the energy of that drama as well (not great for discussion quality, but fabulous if you're the story and want to spread). I'm just describing the psychology of a story like this. I'm not putting down anyone who's interested in it or who's not interested in it, and I'm certainly not commenting on the story itself—only why it's easy to understand why people would be posting it, upvoting it, and flagging it. Different people, of course. You're not the only person who is reacting to the reposts. Based on past experience, we should all brace ourselves for throngs more of them. Maybe this would be a good place to repeat the principles of MOTs and SNI: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20sni%20mot%20&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=follow-up%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... I didn't really think that the current story was SNI, given that we've had several other major threads recently, but it's a borderline case and the community seems to have voted otherwise.
Florin_Andrei 5y ago
That how social media reacts to anything that sounds panic-y.

dang 5y ago

It's just a sensational topic - maybe the most sensational MOT (major ongoing topic) of the moment, no? The same psychology must apply to that everywhere. This story has other advantages (from the point of view of the story). It is intriguing in a way that's perfect for internet detectives, sort of like a board game with a low barrier to entry: you can get up and running with a few links in a few minutes, jump in and play. It's personally relevant to everyone who was affected by the pandemic, i.e. literally everyone. And the stakes are high geopolitically, so it's got all the energy of that drama as well (not great for discussion quality, but fabulous if you're the story and want to spread). I'm just describing the psychology of a story like this. I'm not putting down anyone who's interested in it or who's not interested in it, and I'm certainly not commenting on the story itself—only why it's easy to understand why people would be posting it, upvoting it, and flagging it. Different people, of course. You're not the only person who is reacting to the reposts. Based on past experience, we should all brace ourselves for throngs more of them. Maybe this would be a good place to repeat the principles of MOTs and SNI: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20sni%20mot%20&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=follow-up%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... I didn't really think that the current story was SNI, given that we've had several other major threads recently, but it's a borderline case and the community seems to have voted otherwise.

Florin_Andrei 5y ago

That how social media reacts to anything that sounds panic-y.