HN only works because of supplemental rules and heavy moderation, which both look very different on Reddit. Even if a subreddit reaches a good set of rules, enf

HN only works because of supplemental rules and heavy moderation, which both look very different on Reddit. Even if a subreddit reaches a good set of rules, enforcement is usually poor, due both to mods being volunteers and a generally negative view towards moderation (can you imagine "Mods are gay" flying on HN?) Any moments of "lightning-in-a-bottle" can certainly result in memorable periods where a subreddit truly adds value to one's life, and that can make the whole website hard to give up. However, after a decade of redditing, I never saw one subreddit maintain that momentum once the larger audience poured in, which always came as a result of the perfect balance. Members of /r/subredditA will hear that /r/subredditB is similar but with better discourse, and then the wave of rufugees from /r/subredditA will pour in, ruining /r/subredditB (eg /r/Gaming and /r/Games.) On HN, if you don't like the rules, you go find a different website.