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Recently, I've realized I'm talking with a more bots here on HN. I'll read a weird reply to someones comment shaming them and praising China/Russia/etc..., look

Recently, I've realized I'm talking with a more bots here on HN. I'll read a weird reply to someones comment shaming them and praising China/Russia/etc..., look at the poster, and realize their account was just created and often gets flagged and taken down. HN is an ideal place to hit the minds of very influential people. Reddit is the place to hit very influenceable people.

notahacker 4y ago
Pretty sure most of those comments from new account are just people that don't want their possibly-identifiable main HN account connected with starting flamewars and getting downvoted to oblivion. (And nah, HN is a terrible place to hit the minds of people that influence whether their country is sympathetic towards rival superpowers, and Reddit is worse...)
windock 4y ago
This whole thread reads to me like bots talking to each other. With main points being “The other side is bad too” and “The opinion of one side (aggressor) is ignored” This feels exactly like Russian ops/propaganda.
poisonborz 4y ago
The HN crowd is just too small to be worth the manipulation. This is still really the thing that shields this space. In the grand scheme of things, why would be the crowd of engineers and middle managers more important than any other demographic.
- Xeoncross 4y ago
  I think you might be downplaying who actually reads hacker news. I cannot think of a company who's primary makers are not represented here. Everything I've used from vector programs to database engines have a lead developer or business person here. There are a lot of people making outsized impacts commenting on HN.
viridian 4y ago
> HN is an ideal place to hit the minds of very influential people This level of self importance seems unwarranted, IMO. The readership almost certainly wields a teeny, tiny fraction of influence of say, the Economist or the WSJ.
- disgruntledphd2 4y ago
  Indeed. There's far more attention paid to the FT et al than here (which is great, tbh).

notahacker 4y ago

Pretty sure most of those comments from new account are just people that don't want their possibly-identifiable main HN account connected with starting flamewars and getting downvoted to oblivion. (And nah, HN is a terrible place to hit the minds of people that influence whether their country is sympathetic towards rival superpowers, and Reddit is worse...)

windock 4y ago

This whole thread reads to me like bots talking to each other. With main points being “The other side is bad too” and “The opinion of one side (aggressor) is ignored” This feels exactly like Russian ops/propaganda.

poisonborz 4y ago

The HN crowd is just too small to be worth the manipulation. This is still really the thing that shields this space. In the grand scheme of things, why would be the crowd of engineers and middle managers more important than any other demographic.

Xeoncross 4y ago
I think you might be downplaying who actually reads hacker news. I cannot think of a company who's primary makers are not represented here. Everything I've used from vector programs to database engines have a lead developer or business person here. There are a lot of people making outsized impacts commenting on HN.

viridian 4y ago

> HN is an ideal place to hit the minds of very influential people This level of self importance seems unwarranted, IMO. The readership almost certainly wields a teeny, tiny fraction of influence of say, the Economist or the WSJ.

disgruntledphd2 4y ago
Indeed. There's far more attention paid to the FT et al than here (which is great, tbh).