This is just the type of blog post that we don't need on HN. People said some mean things in that thread, they basically all got downvoted and the top comment i

This is just the type of blog post that we don't need on HN. People said some mean things in that thread, they basically all got downvoted and the top comment is one admonishing them (so do we need it to be dug up again by this article?). Isn't that the comment system working well? Isn't that the proof of where the balance in the community lies? It's a forum open to anyone, not some elite club; if it were a invite only real-name club the voting would hardly be necessary. If it gets to the point of reddit, where ugly things (often disguised as or put inside jokes) are upvoted, then there'd be a point. But it's not at that point and this article is just moral high horsing, performing moral purity in front of an audience. I see one annoying meme comment per HN session (so maybe 20 comment threads/2-300 comments), and that's only when I choose to highlight the down-voted text myself usually. In an open pseudonymous/anonymous forum that's a pretty decent signal-to-noise ratio. Use the voting system, ban repeat offenders, keep calm and carry on.