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My first though after reading your comment was that there's probably a very small number of people that read HN and support SOPA. After thinking about it a litt
by foob 15y ago
My first though after reading your comment was that there's probably a very small number of people that read HN and support SOPA. After thinking about it a little bit more I realize that my dismissive attitude was inappropriate.
When Reddit goes down there are going to be news stories about it and these will raise awareness about the issue to people who aren't Reddit users. If HN or any other sites join in then they will most likely be mentioned in these articles and to the casual reader this will only make the message stronger even if they aren't familiar with the actual sites. In addition, HN has a huge audience of people who are in a position to blackout their own sites. If HN were to join in then I think that this could be influential in making these people consider more seriously whether they should follow suit which will only further the reach of these actions. At the very least, HN being down could serve as a good reminder that opposing SOPA isn't enough by itself and that if we really care about this then we should be contacting representatives or doing something else that could have even a small impact.
For these reasons, I would also be in favor of HN joining in support.
- skymt 15y agoOn the other hand, with the common understanding of the word "hacker", do we really want news stories mentioning a site called Hacker News opposing SOPA?
- PhearTheCeal 15y agoHow about a site called Y Combinator opposing SOPA?
- AgentConundrum 15y agoIt's up to the media, not us, what we're called when this is reported. It's much more likely that they would just go with 'Hacker News', as that's what it's known as.
- hessenwolf 15y agoI was initially worried about looking up Hacker News at all from a work computer due to the name. Then my lack of caring overtook my concern.
- nikatwork 15y agounless an official HN person sends out a press release, or asks the reddit people to include it in their press release (assuming they do one).
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- hack_edu 15y agoIts high time that we stop worrying about this.
- jilebedev 15y agoI doubt I'm the only one to suppose that people who do not understand SOPA also have an outdated or narrow definition of "hacker". Both of those are unfortunate, but if we're being constructive about one (through our combined voices), we may as well take a moment to be constructive about the other - perhaps calling HN "Y Combinator News Aggregator, popularly referred to as 'Hacker News'".
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- zerostar07 15y agoGood point. Many people have remarked it when they see me browsing the site.
- cheald 15y agoI think it's also easier for the "opposed-but-lethargic" crowd to get involved when they lose their favorite toy. I don't think there are likely to be a lot of SOPA supporters on HN, but it might help spur people to action. The point of the blackouts should be to make people uncomfortable and inconvenienced enough that it sticks. It's not just to educate, it's to motivate.
- nextparadigms 15y agoIt would be huge if Google search, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter would be blacked out.