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How do people feel about banning Techcrunch for a week on an experiment basis? Afterwards - Vote. This is what happens when dollar signs get in the way of build

How do people feel about banning Techcrunch for a week on an experiment basis? Afterwards - Vote. This is what happens when dollar signs get in the way of building something fucking cool or useful. Complete speculation, but I feel that newer people tend to vote up Techcrunch articles (regardless of topic) because they've heard of it before.

alaskamiller 18y ago
I think we should stop banning sites as a solution to moderation. All this TC backlash is getting somewhat ridiculous but at the same time it is what it is. There's plenty of tech news sites out there but they all report on the same news because they all read the same feeds and have access to the same scoops. The only way to differentiate is to editorialize the news. It's much the same as 24 hour cable news. But choosing to write 746 word blog posts or pounding TC with all these comments or upvoting these things to #1 is the real problem HN has. I really wish people would just let these minor things go. Stop upvoting LAME stories. Stop upvoting whiney blog posts ABOUT lame stories. A bit of self control is a lot more powerful than censoring websites.
- mariorz 18y ago
  Too bad the karma leader-board/system doesn't really encourage self-control. Not that I'm in favor of banning anything, but I do think something is clearly not working when this is the top-story on HN.
  - alaskamiller 18y ago
    What if we do away with the leaderboard?
- fallentimes 18y ago
  I guess my hypothesis is that it's the new people that are upvoting the lame stories due to brand recognition. That's why I want to run an experiment - nothing more, nothing less. Or maybe people are doing it for quick karma. I _don't know_. What's the problem with banning sources where 95% of the content has sadly become lame? If people want to read said stories they can go to that website. Or submit it to NonHackerNews. It's not like we're banning them from the internet. You're right, but most people don't have self control, which is the root of the problem. I'm just trying to suggest changes to a system dealing with how things are instead of how we want them to be.
rms 18y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=181539 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=181539
- fallentimes 18y ago
  I remember this. I think it's more relevant now than it was half a year ago, however.
  - rms 18y ago
    I agree, but the solution still isn't banning Techcrunch. They're still the top news source for software entrepreneurship/startups. Maybe giving their stories a somewhat lighter weighting, since they are easier to vote up.
    - fallentimes 18y ago
      oo I really like that idea. I believe that's what PG did with XKDC and some others. Is there really much of a difference in content (NOT quality) between Venturebeat, Killer Startups, Alleyinsider, Centernetworks, GigaOm, RWW, Mashable, et al? I have no idea - what's everyone else think?

alaskamiller 18y ago

I think we should stop banning sites as a solution to moderation. All this TC backlash is getting somewhat ridiculous but at the same time it is what it is. There's plenty of tech news sites out there but they all report on the same news because they all read the same feeds and have access to the same scoops. The only way to differentiate is to editorialize the news. It's much the same as 24 hour cable news. But choosing to write 746 word blog posts or pounding TC with all these comments or upvoting these things to #1 is the real problem HN has. I really wish people would just let these minor things go. Stop upvoting LAME stories. Stop upvoting whiney blog posts ABOUT lame stories. A bit of self control is a lot more powerful than censoring websites.

mariorz 18y ago
Too bad the karma leader-board/system doesn't really encourage self-control. Not that I'm in favor of banning anything, but I do think something is clearly not working when this is the top-story on HN.
- alaskamiller 18y ago
  What if we do away with the leaderboard?
fallentimes 18y ago
I guess my hypothesis is that it's the new people that are upvoting the lame stories due to brand recognition. That's why I want to run an experiment - nothing more, nothing less. Or maybe people are doing it for quick karma. I _don't know_. What's the problem with banning sources where 95% of the content has sadly become lame? If people want to read said stories they can go to that website. Or submit it to NonHackerNews. It's not like we're banning them from the internet. You're right, but most people don't have self control, which is the root of the problem. I'm just trying to suggest changes to a system dealing with how things are instead of how we want them to be.

rms 18y ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=181539 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=181539

fallentimes 18y ago
I remember this. I think it's more relevant now than it was half a year ago, however.
- rms 18y ago
  I agree, but the solution still isn't banning Techcrunch. They're still the top news source for software entrepreneurship/startups. Maybe giving their stories a somewhat lighter weighting, since they are easier to vote up.
  - fallentimes 18y ago
    oo I really like that idea. I believe that's what PG did with XKDC and some others. Is there really much of a difference in content (NOT quality) between Venturebeat, Killer Startups, Alleyinsider, Centernetworks, GigaOm, RWW, Mashable, et al? I have no idea - what's everyone else think?