4 ms·

How did this get on the front page with 3 points and no comments? I see much higher point counts with comments that are still in new.

xqcgrek2 4y ago
- chrisbaker98 4y ago
  By whom?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
    Dang and co. You can read his comment history for explanations if you're curious, using https://hn.algolia.com/ https://hn.algolia.com/ to search. It's not nefarious as is implied here, but it's not totally "organic".
  - BetaDeltaAlpha 4y ago
    The HN Algorithm, Dang, PG, and the HN users.
    - dang 4y ago
      If you include software, mods, and community, that's the totality of the system, in which case I don't think you can call it manipulation; can the system manipulate itself? But it's not clear to me what the GP meant by that word.
- dang 4y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean by "manipulated"? unless you mean the general category of "curated", "moderated", "censored", etc., all of which seem to have the same factual component and vary mostly by the feeling they express. I don't mind which word you use but I do want the community to understand what we do and that we're open about it, at least in the sense that when people ask questions, we answer them.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
msbarnett 4y ago
It’s not just the number of points that matter, it’s points over time. 3 points very quickly will rocket you over 20 points in 4 hours or something. And comments factor in too, so commenting “why is this on the front page” just helps it be on the front page
- dang 4y ago
  That bit about comments is not true, and is rather important, because adding noise comments damages the signal/noise ratio of discussion.
- daveguy 4y ago
  Not to mention this was at 23 points just 3 minutes after the GP post. It's a technology and business story of general interest. Right in line with HN.
  - omgwtf1000 4y ago
    >> Right in line with HN. It is unquestionably that.
    - dang 4y ago
      It was heavily flagged by users, so I'd question that. Sensational partisan stories are nearly always off topic.
      - msbarnett 4y ago
        An extremely partisan voting block heavily flagging something is a piss-poor signal for on-topicness, come on. That kind of sloppy logic is a great way to let organized voting rings suppress uncomfortable news, though. Incredibly embarrassing statement for someone moderating this place to be making.
        dang 4y ago
        Sorry, I'm not following you here. The sensational-indignant OP, just like anything sensational-indignant of whatever political flavor, is obviously not in line with HN. That should be obvious both in theory (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) and in practice (https://news.ycombinator.com/front https://news.ycombinator.com/front). So it was correct for users to flag the submission. If people hadn't been flagging such things for well over a decade, HN wouldn't still exist. I mean, if you want to argue that the story is actually a substantive and intellectually interesting one, containing significant new information (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=%22significant%20new%20information%22%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...), and it's just the title that's sensational-indignant, that would be fine. But that bar is necessarily pretty high when it comes to garden-variety political pieces. If it weren't, then HN would just be a political site. Edit: btw, adding comments definitely does not help a post stay on the front page - see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34041016 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34041016.
themitigating 4y ago
Let me ask you a question, why are so concerned about it being on the front page?

xqcgrek2 4y ago

chrisbaker98 4y ago
By whom?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- SpeedilyDamage 4y ago
  Dang and co. You can read his comment history for explanations if you're curious, using https://hn.algolia.com/ https://hn.algolia.com/ to search. It's not nefarious as is implied here, but it's not totally "organic".
- BetaDeltaAlpha 4y ago
  The HN Algorithm, Dang, PG, and the HN users.
  - dang 4y ago
    If you include software, mods, and community, that's the totality of the system, in which case I don't think you can call it manipulation; can the system manipulate itself? But it's not clear to me what the GP meant by that word.
dang 4y ago
I'm not sure what you mean by "manipulated"? unless you mean the general category of "curated", "moderated", "censored", etc., all of which seem to have the same factual component and vary mostly by the feeling they express. I don't mind which word you use but I do want the community to understand what we do and that we're open about it, at least in the sense that when people ask questions, we answer them.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

msbarnett 4y ago

It’s not just the number of points that matter, it’s points over time. 3 points very quickly will rocket you over 20 points in 4 hours or something. And comments factor in too, so commenting “why is this on the front page” just helps it be on the front page

dang 4y ago
That bit about comments is not true, and is rather important, because adding noise comments damages the signal/noise ratio of discussion.
daveguy 4y ago
Not to mention this was at 23 points just 3 minutes after the GP post. It's a technology and business story of general interest. Right in line with HN.
- omgwtf1000 4y ago
  >> Right in line with HN. It is unquestionably that.
  - dang 4y ago
    It was heavily flagged by users, so I'd question that. Sensational partisan stories are nearly always off topic.
    - msbarnett 4y ago
      An extremely partisan voting block heavily flagging something is a piss-poor signal for on-topicness, come on. That kind of sloppy logic is a great way to let organized voting rings suppress uncomfortable news, though. Incredibly embarrassing statement for someone moderating this place to be making.
      - dang 4y ago
        Sorry, I'm not following you here. The sensational-indignant OP, just like anything sensational-indignant of whatever political flavor, is obviously not in line with HN. That should be obvious both in theory (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) and in practice (https://news.ycombinator.com/front https://news.ycombinator.com/front). So it was correct for users to flag the submission. If people hadn't been flagging such things for well over a decade, HN wouldn't still exist. I mean, if you want to argue that the story is actually a substantive and intellectually interesting one, containing significant new information (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=%22significant%20new%20information%22%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...), and it's just the title that's sensational-indignant, that would be fine. But that bar is necessarily pretty high when it comes to garden-variety political pieces. If it weren't, then HN would just be a political site. Edit: btw, adding comments definitely does not help a post stay on the front page - see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34041016 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34041016.

themitigating 4y ago

Let me ask you a question, why are so concerned about it being on the front page?