4 ms·

You really think so? I think discussion and moderation is consistently good. Perhaps the 'SF bay mainstream' is more just a reflection of the HN audience in gen

by iamben 4y ago

You really think so? I think discussion and moderation is consistently good. Perhaps the 'SF bay mainstream' is more just a reflection of the HN audience in general?

ptero 4y ago
I do. Before (in PG's times) one could express an unpopular view and folks would jump in en masse to refute it on merits. Posts in a lively discussion would not get downvoted for content that doesn't fit a narrative. Now minority opinions, even rationally expressed are just downvoted, which discourages writing them at all. I think HN is slowly losing ability to have a discussion with people who hold different views. Now it is "my votes are stronger than your votes". Which is sad. Mt 2c.
- powerhour 4y ago
  I can't downvote yet (and will probably start over when I can[0]) but when I have in the past I reserved downvotes for comments made in bad faith (straw/steelmanning, etc). I will admit I would sometimes feel compelled to downvote minority opinions instead of refuting them. On some subjects (eg abortion), I have seen the same opinions and arguments made for decades. I'm tired of seeing the same poorly thought out arguments again and again and again and again. However I try to hold back and just ignore those comments these days. (Not always successfully..) 0: I use HN exclusively on mobile and the downvote button is too easy to press accidentally, so the privilege is actually a curse.
  - pfarrell 4y ago
    You can now. I looked at your profile. I'm impressed. You got to downvoting capability in 51 days. It took me like 12 years. Of course, I left HN for like 3 years, but still!
- tptacek 4y ago
  I don't have an opinion about the evolution of the community, other than that it is larger, but moderation on HN is 1,000x better than it was before the Dan era: it's much more transparent, and it's much less capricious
- pfarrell 4y ago
  I don’t know the numbers, but I suspect between the PG era and now, the size of this community has increased by at least an order of magnitude. Probably a lot more. For sure things have evolved, but this site and community is still working afaict. I suppose it depends on what minority opinions you’re referring to.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

by iamben 4y ago

You really think so? I think discussion and moderation is consistently good. Perhaps the 'SF bay mainstream' is more just a reflection of the HN audience in general?

ptero 4y ago

I do. Before (in PG's times) one could express an unpopular view and folks would jump in en masse to refute it on merits. Posts in a lively discussion would not get downvoted for content that doesn't fit a narrative. Now minority opinions, even rationally expressed are just downvoted, which discourages writing them at all. I think HN is slowly losing ability to have a discussion with people who hold different views. Now it is "my votes are stronger than your votes". Which is sad. Mt 2c.

powerhour 4y ago
I can't downvote yet (and will probably start over when I can[0]) but when I have in the past I reserved downvotes for comments made in bad faith (straw/steelmanning, etc). I will admit I would sometimes feel compelled to downvote minority opinions instead of refuting them. On some subjects (eg abortion), I have seen the same opinions and arguments made for decades. I'm tired of seeing the same poorly thought out arguments again and again and again and again. However I try to hold back and just ignore those comments these days. (Not always successfully..) 0: I use HN exclusively on mobile and the downvote button is too easy to press accidentally, so the privilege is actually a curse.
- pfarrell 4y ago
  You can now. I looked at your profile. I'm impressed. You got to downvoting capability in 51 days. It took me like 12 years. Of course, I left HN for like 3 years, but still!
tptacek 4y ago
I don't have an opinion about the evolution of the community, other than that it is larger, but moderation on HN is 1,000x better than it was before the Dan era: it's much more transparent, and it's much less capricious
pfarrell 4y ago
I don’t know the numbers, but I suspect between the PG era and now, the size of this community has increased by at least an order of magnitude. Probably a lot more. For sure things have evolved, but this site and community is still working afaict. I suppose it depends on what minority opinions you’re referring to.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]