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> people have been saying that the quality of HN has been falling ever since HN started 15 years ago I agree with them. I’ve been sticking with it for these 15

> people have been saying that the quality of HN has been falling ever since HN started 15 years ago I agree with them. I’ve been sticking with it for these 15 years, but I’m sure you’re aware of a certain site that does a pretty good job characterizing how the comments on many of the most popular stories have devolved. > Internet forums are super weird and there are limits to what one can do about it. I wish it weren't so. Respectfully, this is a cop-out. This is your site. You can do anything you want to make it fit your vision, from making it members-only, to making every post subject to review. I’m not trying to tell you how to run your business or anything, but to throw your hands up in the air and say (paraphrasing), “Internet forums are hard, what can you do” strikes me as forfeiting responsibility. > different users have completely contradictory images of what that would involve, It doesn’t matter what users think. This isn’t a democracy. This site belongs to you and its owners. How it’s run, what the rules are, and who can be a member are choices you exclusively get to make. You are responsible for its tone and character. Don’t burden the members with this responsibility without giving them the direct ability to enforce it.

dang 4y ago
> You can do anything you want to make it fit your vision That is definitely not true. Sure we could make arbitrary changes, many of which could easily kill the site. But the set of changes that can be made to make HN better fit its vision is far from obvious. > I’m sure you’re aware of a certain site that does a pretty good job characterizing how the comments on many of the most popular stories have devolved No, what site is that?
- otterley 4y ago
  I don’t know that the changes would “kill the site” but I think it depends on how popular you want it to continue to be. Both public fora and exclusive clubs coexist in this world. I doubt one can have a truly open forum that has the decorum/behavioral norms and intellectual rigor of an exclusive club, though. I'm somewhat surprised you're not familiar with n-gate!
hqdo 4y ago
> Respectfully, this is a cop-out. This is your site. You can do anything you want to make it fit your vision, from making it members-only, to making every post subject to review. I’m not trying to tell you how to run your business or anything, but to throw your hands up in the air and say (paraphrasing), “Internet forums are hard, what can you do” strikes me as forfeiting responsibility. I would argue that the way HN is at the moment is the best fit for the vision of the people who own/run it. The fact that everyone is "sticking" with it for over 15 years seems to suggest that whatever dang and the team are doing is "still" working.

dang 4y ago

> You can do anything you want to make it fit your vision That is definitely not true. Sure we could make arbitrary changes, many of which could easily kill the site. But the set of changes that can be made to make HN better fit its vision is far from obvious. > I’m sure you’re aware of a certain site that does a pretty good job characterizing how the comments on many of the most popular stories have devolved No, what site is that?

otterley 4y ago
I don’t know that the changes would “kill the site” but I think it depends on how popular you want it to continue to be. Both public fora and exclusive clubs coexist in this world. I doubt one can have a truly open forum that has the decorum/behavioral norms and intellectual rigor of an exclusive club, though. I'm somewhat surprised you're not familiar with n-gate!

hqdo 4y ago

> Respectfully, this is a cop-out. This is your site. You can do anything you want to make it fit your vision, from making it members-only, to making every post subject to review. I’m not trying to tell you how to run your business or anything, but to throw your hands up in the air and say (paraphrasing), “Internet forums are hard, what can you do” strikes me as forfeiting responsibility. I would argue that the way HN is at the moment is the best fit for the vision of the people who own/run it. The fact that everyone is "sticking" with it for over 15 years seems to suggest that whatever dang and the team are doing is "still" working.