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This is something I’ve been contemplating way too much lately. I’m 37, but I look back at the internet I don’t really remember anything feeling like an overnig

This is something I’ve been contemplating way too much lately. I’m 37, but I look back at the internet I don’t really remember anything feeling like an overnight paradigm shift. But, revisiting moments like this buttocks post are like relics frozen in time — and I definitely feel like things are different and more streamlined in the internet now. The internet became a streamlined hate-filled echo chamber so slowly that I never saw it happening.

Cthulhu_ 4y ago
It was a slow process, usually following money; you see it in communities like Stack Overflow and even moreso Reddit, the latter of which started out as a "bastion of free speech", but after a while they started to crack down; first on hate subreddits and speech, then de-prioritizing NSFW content from /r/all (the only way to get everything without publically subscribing to porn subreddits) (and I'm sure that will be removed entirely if they want to go public). I'm not sure what happened to SO, I can imagine their intent was to improve quality and reduce duplication - both bad for e.g. Google ratings or returning users. But the funny posts made it a living community. Removing the fun parts of a site like that makes it sterile. I mean there's still e.g. codegolf, worldbuilding or the D&D spaces that are kinda funny sometimes.
- Cupertino95014 4y ago
  You're overlooking the obvious answer: some people think humor itself is offensive.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - CodeMage 4y ago
    I wouldn't call that "obvious". For starters, it's incomplete. Yes, "some" people think humor itself is offensive. I would wager that there have always been some people like that, since humor itself was invented. How does that relate to what happened to Stack Overflow? To make your answer complete, you have to connect the remaining dots, and there are multiple ways to do that. Thing is, none of those ways are "obvious". For example, you could posit that the majority of people find humor offensive today, as opposed to 2014, but I don't see any evidence that's even true, much less obvious. More likely, you're implying that the majority of people who have influence over Stack Overflow's tone consider the humor itself offensive. If that's obvious to you, it sure isn't to me.
    - Cupertino95014 4y ago
      It's an opinion and an open-ended discussion topic. I have my opinion, and you apparently have yours. Are you expecting a link to a scientific study proving it, or what?
      - CodeMage 4y ago
        I'm not. I was just trying to find out what you're actually trying to say, instead of going against HN "most generous take" policy and assuming it's a political stance ;)
        Cupertino95014 4y ago
        > what you're actually trying to say .. is what I said. Why can't you just leave it at that? Most of this thread is humorous, or trying to be. I don't see you answering every other post in it.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]

Cthulhu_ 4y ago

It was a slow process, usually following money; you see it in communities like Stack Overflow and even moreso Reddit, the latter of which started out as a "bastion of free speech", but after a while they started to crack down; first on hate subreddits and speech, then de-prioritizing NSFW content from /r/all (the only way to get everything without publically subscribing to porn subreddits) (and I'm sure that will be removed entirely if they want to go public). I'm not sure what happened to SO, I can imagine their intent was to improve quality and reduce duplication - both bad for e.g. Google ratings or returning users. But the funny posts made it a living community. Removing the fun parts of a site like that makes it sterile. I mean there's still e.g. codegolf, worldbuilding or the D&D spaces that are kinda funny sometimes.

Cupertino95014 4y ago
You're overlooking the obvious answer: some people think humor itself is offensive.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- CodeMage 4y ago
  I wouldn't call that "obvious". For starters, it's incomplete. Yes, "some" people think humor itself is offensive. I would wager that there have always been some people like that, since humor itself was invented. How does that relate to what happened to Stack Overflow? To make your answer complete, you have to connect the remaining dots, and there are multiple ways to do that. Thing is, none of those ways are "obvious". For example, you could posit that the majority of people find humor offensive today, as opposed to 2014, but I don't see any evidence that's even true, much less obvious. More likely, you're implying that the majority of people who have influence over Stack Overflow's tone consider the humor itself offensive. If that's obvious to you, it sure isn't to me.
  - Cupertino95014 4y ago
    It's an opinion and an open-ended discussion topic. I have my opinion, and you apparently have yours. Are you expecting a link to a scientific study proving it, or what?
    - CodeMage 4y ago
      I'm not. I was just trying to find out what you're actually trying to say, instead of going against HN "most generous take" policy and assuming it's a political stance ;)
      - Cupertino95014 4y ago
        > what you're actually trying to say .. is what I said. Why can't you just leave it at that? Most of this thread is humorous, or trying to be. I don't see you answering every other post in it.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]