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Like a lot of early HN fans, I came from Slashdot which in 2006-2007 was having a lot of issues relating to user growth, moderation, redesigns, and changes of o

Like a lot of early HN fans, I came from Slashdot which in 2006-2007 was having a lot of issues relating to user growth, moderation, redesigns, and changes of ownership. I kept up with both HN and Slashdot for about a year, but then found that my need for tech news and discussion was served very well by HN. I remember Slashdot was a chore to navigate owing to the way they set up threaded discussions, which forced a lot of unnecessary clicking. HN was just easy to read, and a pleasure to participate in. Through HN I was able to get to know more about YC's mission, and even visited the last YC summer session in Cambridge (2008, IIRC) on one of their open discussion nights, and met pg and jessica. That was pretty cool. I also applied to YC a few years later (didn't get in, which was probably for the better).

Jun8 5y ago
This was exactly my path, too! One additional factor after I switched to HN that increased the stickiness for me was the joy of discovering pg’s essays.
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago
  For me, it was the difference in comment quality. HN was far better; Slashdot was turning into a place I didn't care to be any longer.
dotancohen 5y ago
I followed a similar path, but stuck out at /. for a while longer. I still pop in every now and then like visiting an old childhood friend. I'm very grateful that /. survived beta. We've lost so much of the early internet - a completely different place than it is now - that even the evolved /. is still a welcome site for sore eyes. Gubhtu n glcb, V'z yrnivat "fvgr" va gurer nf V yvxr gur cha.
romanhn 5y ago
Same here. After religiously following Slashdot since '99 or so, I eventually realized that the links on the Slashdot front page appeared on HN days prior. It was not long before HN became my daily go-to. Just occurred to me that it's been a longer part of my life, in fact, than Slashdot... 20+ years of tech news between the two of them.
tinus_hn 5y ago
Slashdot was also filled by ‘humorous’ commenters fighting over first posts and beating dead horse memes that had quit being funny a decade ago.
- ilamont 5y ago
  I had forgotten about that. Stupid stuff like goatse links. Humor on HN was rare, but much more original/smart.
1123581321 5y ago
Same. I was sorry to abandon Slashdot because I really admired the complex user-generated moderation system and its multiple meta-moderation levels. Over time, though, it produced too many +5s for comments that didn’t deserve it and I wasn’t able to set my filters correctly. HN doesn’t produce better comments but it’s easier to skim the ones I don’t want to read. Since PG disabled displayed upvotes it’s been even easier to skim as well as enjoy reading without worrying I’m investing time into a mediocre comment.

Jun8 5y ago

This was exactly my path, too! One additional factor after I switched to HN that increased the stickiness for me was the joy of discovering pg’s essays.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago
For me, it was the difference in comment quality. HN was far better; Slashdot was turning into a place I didn't care to be any longer.

dotancohen 5y ago

I followed a similar path, but stuck out at /. for a while longer. I still pop in every now and then like visiting an old childhood friend. I'm very grateful that /. survived beta. We've lost so much of the early internet - a completely different place than it is now - that even the evolved /. is still a welcome site for sore eyes. Gubhtu n glcb, V'z yrnivat "fvgr" va gurer nf V yvxr gur cha.

romanhn 5y ago

Same here. After religiously following Slashdot since '99 or so, I eventually realized that the links on the Slashdot front page appeared on HN days prior. It was not long before HN became my daily go-to. Just occurred to me that it's been a longer part of my life, in fact, than Slashdot... 20+ years of tech news between the two of them.

tinus_hn 5y ago

Slashdot was also filled by ‘humorous’ commenters fighting over first posts and beating dead horse memes that had quit being funny a decade ago.

ilamont 5y ago
I had forgotten about that. Stupid stuff like goatse links. Humor on HN was rare, but much more original/smart.

1123581321 5y ago

Same. I was sorry to abandon Slashdot because I really admired the complex user-generated moderation system and its multiple meta-moderation levels. Over time, though, it produced too many +5s for comments that didn’t deserve it and I wasn’t able to set my filters correctly. HN doesn’t produce better comments but it’s easier to skim the ones I don’t want to read. Since PG disabled displayed upvotes it’s been even easier to skim as well as enjoy reading without worrying I’m investing time into a mediocre comment.