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Slighlty off topic but has anyone else noticed the following trend on HN recently? Post == Article Critical of Google Top Comment === Plays down the severity

Slighlty off topic but has anyone else noticed the following trend on HN recently? Post == Article Critical of Google Top Comment === Plays down the severity of said criticism The upvotes don't seem to have much correlation between the post title and the comments. I wonder is such behavior caused by certain UI features on this site/app, or are comments graded differently?

paulpauper 5y ago
interesting articles can still be wrong. people will upvote stuff that may be interesting even if parts are wrong
Kstarek 5y ago
Its all the rage to be critical of Google right now, easy upvotes for the idiots who dont read articles or understand the real world. People who take the time to comment tend to exhibit (a little) more critical thinking skills
acoard 5y ago
The top comment on HN for any given topic is usually contrarian. It's in our cultural DNA. Perhaps the effect is intensified for some topics like tech giants — I haven't noticed — but keep an eye out and you'll see it happening everywhere. I have a hazy memory of even seeing this effect on HN given a proper name at some point in the past. As to why, I think it's largely cultural or found in personality traits that techies and hackers often have. Most us techies have a desire to "well, actually", even if we know it's rude and have learned to suppress or positively channel that urge. But at the end of the day, by proving something wrong, however pedantic, we get to prove we're smart. That's why the percentage of pedantry is probably higher on here and Wikipedia than on TikTok and Snapchat.
- latexr 5y ago
  > I have a hazy memory of even seeing this effect on HN given a proper name at some point in the past. The contrarian dynamic: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=%22contrarian%20dynamic%22%20by%3Adang&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
- bagacrap 5y ago
  does this mean hners prefer expressing their opinion by picking apart strawman arguments? It's certainly one way to start a conversation. "I'm going to upvote this article because it gives me a chance to debunk the argument."

paulpauper 5y ago

interesting articles can still be wrong. people will upvote stuff that may be interesting even if parts are wrong

Kstarek 5y ago

Its all the rage to be critical of Google right now, easy upvotes for the idiots who dont read articles or understand the real world. People who take the time to comment tend to exhibit (a little) more critical thinking skills

acoard 5y ago

The top comment on HN for any given topic is usually contrarian. It's in our cultural DNA. Perhaps the effect is intensified for some topics like tech giants — I haven't noticed — but keep an eye out and you'll see it happening everywhere. I have a hazy memory of even seeing this effect on HN given a proper name at some point in the past. As to why, I think it's largely cultural or found in personality traits that techies and hackers often have. Most us techies have a desire to "well, actually", even if we know it's rude and have learned to suppress or positively channel that urge. But at the end of the day, by proving something wrong, however pedantic, we get to prove we're smart. That's why the percentage of pedantry is probably higher on here and Wikipedia than on TikTok and Snapchat.

latexr 5y ago
> I have a hazy memory of even seeing this effect on HN given a proper name at some point in the past. The contrarian dynamic: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=%22contrarian%20dynamic%22%20by%3Adang&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
bagacrap 5y ago
does this mean hners prefer expressing their opinion by picking apart strawman arguments? It's certainly one way to start a conversation. "I'm going to upvote this article because it gives me a chance to debunk the argument."