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I would also like to have longer lived threads, and that users actually discussed, read each others comments, and reply We need notifications for replies ! So

I would also like to have longer lived threads, and that users actually discussed, read each others comments, and reply We need notifications for replies ! So far, posts get posted, end up on the main page, get 300 comments at once from different users, then fall into oblivion. All of that within a few hours

Kaibeezy 4y ago
Agree. It’s hard to have a conversation here, but I don’t know exactly why. I suggested once that if usernames were just bolder it would make a difference. Avatars seem like fluff, but I think they really do make it easier to spot a familiar “face”. Oh, also… I do check “threads” sometimes if I want to keep up with a conversation.
- shadowofneptune 4y ago
  To me, the nested format of comments is the issue. In a flat format like a forum, people are forced to stay on a main line of conversation, with occasional tangents using quotes or new threads. In the HN style, everyone peels away into their own little side discussions, which themselves generate side discussions. It's almost like socialization at a party, and it's encouraged by the heirarchical structure. A detailed one-on-one conversation rapidly runs off to the right side, which discourages it.
  - krapp 4y ago
    Hacker News has a weird cultural dissonance where it's designed to encourage tangential conversations as you mention, but also has numerous features designed to discourage engagement and casual style for the sake of maintaining quality and avoiding the Eternal September effect. It wants to be a water cooler or a pub where people discuss interesting things, but no one polices the conversations in a pub or around a water cooler for topicality, novelty or substance. It really should use a flat format to that end, but it's written in a lisp, so not having it render a tree view is probably sacrilege.
- kelseyfrog 4y ago
  The difficulty in having conversations reduces the tendency for people to get caught up in the cycle of reactive response. Were to introduce response notification, the engagement metrics would rise, but so would the number of fights. Given that HN isn't incentivized to increase engagement to sell ads, posing such an impediment isn't clearly tied to a dollar valued opportunity cost and therefore easier to swallow.
  - krapp 4y ago
    >The difficulty in having conversations reduces the tendency for people to get caught up in the cycle of reactive response. The increasingly frequent multi-thousand comment long garbage fire political threads disagree with you.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - kelseyfrog 4y ago
      Right, I'm comparing the design effects of different social media platforms, while you're looking at HN over time. We're not really talking about the same things.
      - krapp 4y ago
        I think we are talking about the same things. I'm claiming the design being discussed doesn't have the effect you believe it does, with the growth of contentious threads being evidence to the contrary.
        mountainriver 4y ago
        If you want a dumpster fire you can head to Reddit. I greatly prefer what HN does to reduce that
        kelseyfrog 4y ago
        This is like me saying that the cost of living has certain geographical causes and you saying that's not true because housing prices are rising in Miami. Are living related and housing price changes related? Sure, but that's not how one would dispell a statement about the former.
tkjef 4y ago
You can get notifications of replies to your own comments with this service: https://www.hnreplies.com/ https://www.hnreplies.com/
- CrypticShift 4y ago
  Or if you prefer RSS : https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds Also good for following particular threads : https://hnrss.github.io/#thread-feeds https://hnrss.github.io/#thread-feeds

Kaibeezy 4y ago

Agree. It’s hard to have a conversation here, but I don’t know exactly why. I suggested once that if usernames were just bolder it would make a difference. Avatars seem like fluff, but I think they really do make it easier to spot a familiar “face”. Oh, also… I do check “threads” sometimes if I want to keep up with a conversation.

shadowofneptune 4y ago
To me, the nested format of comments is the issue. In a flat format like a forum, people are forced to stay on a main line of conversation, with occasional tangents using quotes or new threads. In the HN style, everyone peels away into their own little side discussions, which themselves generate side discussions. It's almost like socialization at a party, and it's encouraged by the heirarchical structure. A detailed one-on-one conversation rapidly runs off to the right side, which discourages it.
- krapp 4y ago
  Hacker News has a weird cultural dissonance where it's designed to encourage tangential conversations as you mention, but also has numerous features designed to discourage engagement and casual style for the sake of maintaining quality and avoiding the Eternal September effect. It wants to be a water cooler or a pub where people discuss interesting things, but no one polices the conversations in a pub or around a water cooler for topicality, novelty or substance. It really should use a flat format to that end, but it's written in a lisp, so not having it render a tree view is probably sacrilege.
kelseyfrog 4y ago
The difficulty in having conversations reduces the tendency for people to get caught up in the cycle of reactive response. Were to introduce response notification, the engagement metrics would rise, but so would the number of fights. Given that HN isn't incentivized to increase engagement to sell ads, posing such an impediment isn't clearly tied to a dollar valued opportunity cost and therefore easier to swallow.
- krapp 4y ago
  >The difficulty in having conversations reduces the tendency for people to get caught up in the cycle of reactive response. The increasingly frequent multi-thousand comment long garbage fire political threads disagree with you.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - kelseyfrog 4y ago
    Right, I'm comparing the design effects of different social media platforms, while you're looking at HN over time. We're not really talking about the same things.
    - krapp 4y ago
      I think we are talking about the same things. I'm claiming the design being discussed doesn't have the effect you believe it does, with the growth of contentious threads being evidence to the contrary.
      - mountainriver 4y ago
        If you want a dumpster fire you can head to Reddit. I greatly prefer what HN does to reduce that
      - kelseyfrog 4y ago
        This is like me saying that the cost of living has certain geographical causes and you saying that's not true because housing prices are rising in Miami. Are living related and housing price changes related? Sure, but that's not how one would dispell a statement about the former.

tkjef 4y ago

You can get notifications of replies to your own comments with this service: https://www.hnreplies.com/ https://www.hnreplies.com/

CrypticShift 4y ago
Or if you prefer RSS : https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds Also good for following particular threads : https://hnrss.github.io/#thread-feeds https://hnrss.github.io/#thread-feeds