Slashdot at the time was turning into a bit of a swamp, partly from its bad threaded commenting system, but mostly because of a constant addition of low-value "

Slashdot at the time was turning into a bit of a swamp, partly from its bad threaded commenting system, but mostly because of a constant addition of low-value "first" comments, needless attacks, and dumb links (Goatse, Rickrolling, etc.) HN came around at the right time, and really had a better community with a good signal:noise ratio. The moderating system (flagging, up/down votes, and of course @dang and his predecessors) really helped. One thing that's really impressed me as time has gone on is how far the expertise has expanded. I have bookmarked a bunch of users who consistently add solid insights, often with deep domain expertise sometimes from very unexpected quarters (diesel technicians, biologists, farmers, artists, musicians ...). They include @Animats @jdietrich @bkohlmann @nonbel @tptacek @zackmorris @jurassic @tamilama @patio11 @ries @nimbius @breakingcups @noduerme @300bps and many more.