3 ms·

Don't be combative. It's an American website, created with Americans in mind, with conversation conducted almost entirely in (American) English. Yes it happens

by vsnf 3y ago

Don't be combative. It's an American website, created with Americans in mind, with conversation conducted almost entirely in (American) English. Yes it happens to be owned by a Japanese national now, but that fact doesn't seem to have altered the culture or the discourse much. The minorities in question are clearly minorities to the US, and to a lesser extent minorities to the broader Anglo/English-speaking-Eurosphere.

NoRelToEmber 3y ago
If we're arbitrarily limiting scope to just America, why stop there? Let's drill down further, and say HN is aimed at California, which is only 34% white [1]. Does that get them the coveted minority status? I don't see why the only perspective allowed should be one that maximizes apparent white privilege, especially since in other contexts, Eurocentrism is something that is decried. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_California#Racial/ethnic_makeup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_California#Rac...
- torginus 3y ago
  Most internet websites, such as HN only require an email address to register, beyond that they are totally anonymous and indifferent to the country of origin, religion, gender etc. of their poster. The only hard requirement is that you need to speak English somewhat well, and be interested/willing to join in the discussion (of typically nerdy topics). I'm not sure what are the actual demographics of HN, but I'd be curious to see what is the actual national makeup of people who post here. Probably more info isn't really possible to collect considering the limited data the site has to work with.
- piaste 3y ago
  > Does that get them the coveted minority status? You may have noticed that, over the past few years, the term "minority" has been increasingly often accompanied by qualifications such as "underprivileged", "marginalised", "underrepresented", and I've recently seen "underestimated" popping up as well. I do not think that is a coincidence, especially since how the qualifiers are so exquisitely unfalsifiable. (wer ein Jud' ist, bestimme ich!)
where-group-by 3y ago
4chan and others approach to internet discourse is very approachable for most eastern european millennials. It just works well with their distain for faux/internet personalities, which is something you will end up with when anonymity is not a strong element of a community. But I have no data on visitors or posters, so I might be projecting.
sen_armstrong 3y ago
You must be unaware of the phenomenon of /int/ :DDDD First found on the German site Krautchan, you could hardly describe a forum so inclusive as one dedicated to cultural exchange where anyone may flame in any thread in any language. The concept spread quickly among the chans. And so the users of the /int/ boards became worldwide pollinators of memes, the DNA of the soul. That optimistic era is passed, however /int/ remains the sixth most active board of 4chan.

by vsnf 3y ago

NoRelToEmber 3y ago

If we're arbitrarily limiting scope to just America, why stop there? Let's drill down further, and say HN is aimed at California, which is only 34% white [1]. Does that get them the coveted minority status? I don't see why the only perspective allowed should be one that maximizes apparent white privilege, especially since in other contexts, Eurocentrism is something that is decried. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_California#Racial/ethnic_makeup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_California#Rac...

torginus 3y ago
Most internet websites, such as HN only require an email address to register, beyond that they are totally anonymous and indifferent to the country of origin, religion, gender etc. of their poster. The only hard requirement is that you need to speak English somewhat well, and be interested/willing to join in the discussion (of typically nerdy topics). I'm not sure what are the actual demographics of HN, but I'd be curious to see what is the actual national makeup of people who post here. Probably more info isn't really possible to collect considering the limited data the site has to work with.
piaste 3y ago
> Does that get them the coveted minority status? You may have noticed that, over the past few years, the term "minority" has been increasingly often accompanied by qualifications such as "underprivileged", "marginalised", "underrepresented", and I've recently seen "underestimated" popping up as well. I do not think that is a coincidence, especially since how the qualifiers are so exquisitely unfalsifiable. (wer ein Jud' ist, bestimme ich!)

where-group-by 3y ago

4chan and others approach to internet discourse is very approachable for most eastern european millennials. It just works well with their distain for faux/internet personalities, which is something you will end up with when anonymity is not a strong element of a community. But I have no data on visitors or posters, so I might be projecting.

sen_armstrong 3y ago

You must be unaware of the phenomenon of /int/ :DDDD First found on the German site Krautchan, you could hardly describe a forum so inclusive as one dedicated to cultural exchange where anyone may flame in any thread in any language. The concept spread quickly among the chans. And so the users of the /int/ boards became worldwide pollinators of memes, the DNA of the soul. That optimistic era is passed, however /int/ remains the sixth most active board of 4chan.