> and it fell in rank because users flagged it, not because moderators did anything Moderators get involvedin flagged articles on their own initiative all the

> and it fell in rank because users flagged it, not because moderators did anything Moderators get involvedin flagged articles on their own initiative all the time. Inaction is a form of action. > He's clearly insinuating that we use insider powers to favor stripe.com submissions with special treatment on HN. That's precisely what we don't do. You've admitted on multiple occasions that you intentionally choose to do specific things depending on the content, its authors, and the users. I'm not sure special treatment is even a concept that applies; everything mods do or don't do is special treatment because it's all based on instinct and whim, not some unbiased algorithm (and algorithms have bias too) > Stripe succeeded on HN because they were favored by the community for many years. They are one of a small number of startups who have reached what you could call 'community darling' status And that status comes from being coached in how to become a community darling. And from YC loving on Stripe, which the "community" is naturally biased towards. If jgc takes a dump, it gets upvoted. So backing Stripe in any way buys them a part of the community. Whatever you believe, at least recognize that you don't have to consciously choose to favor someone for it to influence your actions subconsciously. That's the entire idea behind bias in hiring and cultural stereotype. The effect is real and it effects everyone, even yourselves at HN. If you haven't observed it, you're not looking for it.