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Then what is the role of the guidelines? Aren't the guidelines there to keep the community "HACKER news"? Focus on tech? If anything goes, well, so anything g
by snird 5y ago
Then what is the role of the guidelines?
Aren't the guidelines there to keep the community "HACKER news"? Focus on tech?
If anything goes, well, so anything goes. Nothing should be moderated. But that's not the case. Things are moderated - but with no consistency.
- david927 5y agoI've been here since 2007 and haven't had a problem. Read that first sentence again: On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. If you don't like it, flag it. But if you look at the front page, it's all mainly tech-related so it's working fine.
- mooreds 5y ago> Then what is the role of the guidelines? So that the community has a touchstone. But they are guidelines, not laws. > Things are moderated - but with no consistency. It's a big job, so it isn't done perfectly. But I'm sure they'd love to hear about specific instances of moderation that are or seem inconsistent. But note that the moderation isn't all done by the moderators; the community moderates too.
- snird 5y agoI think you're right. I have 2 points worth considering in this case: 1. If something hits the front page, shouldn't it immediately be moderated? As it has more visibility? 2. About the community moderating itself - that's a risk of populism and echo-chamber. By definition, HN works by popular vote. Letting the community decide to overcome guidelines by popular vote is what can lead to community to a dark populism point.