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I've been here for several years, and I have stated previously recently that I think that Hacker News is indeed slowly turning into Reddit or Twitter, just slow

I've been here for several years, and I have stated previously recently that I think that Hacker News is indeed slowly turning into Reddit or Twitter, just slowly over time, and with perhaps longer comments than Reddit or Twitter would have, but no less misinformed or poorly thought through. I know that Hacker News has that stupid FAQ post saying that "Please don't post comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills," but (as I've said before), just saying it is not does not mean it is not. The Argument from Authority is philosophically considered the weakest argument. Also I've been here for nearly four years and think this, so I don't need to be insulted by being called a "semi-noob" for voicing similar concerns. I don't necessarily blame Hacker News - I wouldn't say there are many places that aren't also in decline. Hacker News was a superior system, well-designed, but increasingly obviously fallible as all systems are.

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
Could somebody objectively measure the "reddit-ness" of this site? I think it's listed in the rules because nobody can so any complaint about turning into reddit is flatly subjective opinion.
- alephnerd 4y ago
  I’ve always wanted to do a small sampled sentiment polarity test comparing HN with a number of peer subreddits to test whether there is a statistically significant change in tone between the two, and also maybe even with older incarnations of HN. That said I’m not quite sure how to scrape HN without looking like a bot that should be banned.
carbadtraingood 4y ago
HN was never anything different than Reddit. The illusion that it is comes from people leaving Reddit looking for another online community that lines up with their interests, landing here, and saying, "ah, this place is my refuge from Reddit." But fundamentally the established community is just as online, just as self protective, just as memey as any subreddit on a specialized topic.

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

Could somebody objectively measure the "reddit-ness" of this site? I think it's listed in the rules because nobody can so any complaint about turning into reddit is flatly subjective opinion.

alephnerd 4y ago
I’ve always wanted to do a small sampled sentiment polarity test comparing HN with a number of peer subreddits to test whether there is a statistically significant change in tone between the two, and also maybe even with older incarnations of HN. That said I’m not quite sure how to scrape HN without looking like a bot that should be banned.

carbadtraingood 4y ago

HN was never anything different than Reddit. The illusion that it is comes from people leaving Reddit looking for another online community that lines up with their interests, landing here, and saying, "ah, this place is my refuge from Reddit." But fundamentally the established community is just as online, just as self protective, just as memey as any subreddit on a specialized topic.