I think most communities have a "gratuitous negativity" level. Once you cross it, the community spirals into it. Helpful people leave, negative ones become attr

I think most communities have a "gratuitous negativity" level. Once you cross it, the community spirals into it. Helpful people leave, negative ones become attracted to it. I think it's a primal thing. We search for the bad because it could be dangerous, but like porn, it's easy to get trapped in it. HN's defense is the brutal downvotes, even on small things like jokes and snark, as well as things like the ban on political content. Snark is often used as a form of attack or is sometimes just hostile without the offender realizing it. Somehow communities like 4chan and Something Awful parody negativity. If you're too negative, it gets flipped around as a joke instead of downvoted. An example would the "navy seal copypasta", where it also gives the benefit of the doubt that it's a joke and not simply immaturity. That's probably some other defense that keeps those communities alive.