12 ms·

Ask HN: Do you feel that comment quality on HN is diminishing lately?

7 points by g4zj 3y ago

api 3y ago
Yes, and I see a lot more repeat stories too. The glory days of HN were really in the 2000s and 20-teens. It’s been very slowly going downhill for a while. It’s still better than almost all other open sites in its subject area though. All open forums and open social media has been going downhill.
- g4zj 3y ago
  > All open forums and open social media has been going downhill. Are there _closed_ alternatives that you can recommend?
h2odragon 3y ago
could be worse, not a lot of "hot grits" yet. people are still fascinated with their new catbots, hopefully that'll fade out in a bit too.
mikece 3y ago
[flagged]
bob1029 3y ago
Do you have any specific recommendations for improving HN discourse that we could discuss? The only thing that ever worked in my mind: "Become the change you want to see". The rules are already out there and are pretty good, IMO. Beyond that, the entire experience is a result of audience participation.
- g4zj 3y ago
  > Do you have any specific recommendations for improving HN discourse that we could discuss? Not at this time. I'm still working out whether the trend is actually occurring as perceived, or if something else is happening, such as a steadily-increasing personal standard on my end. > "Become the change you want to see". This has actually been my personal motto for quite some time. While I don't always succeed, I make a conscious effort to practice what I would otherwise only preach.
  - bob1029 3y ago
    > a steadily-increasing personal standard on my end. This is what I observed it as. My own standards increased substantially because of the quality of HN. It's like augmented reality where I can see rule violation tags over human interactions in real-time now. Becoming aware of this is really important. It will allow you to back-off in the moment and let the journeyman pass without a full audit. For me, I was the person writing many of those comments in the past. Unless the comment is a bald-faced rule violation, I really do try to take it in good faith and guide towards the light.
fsflover 3y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26278011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26278011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1198041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1198041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8947549 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8947549
ianai 3y ago
Personally I've begun limiting my time here. It has gotten worse. Just my .02. Things that could make it better, maybe: -more aggressively axing topics that are outright divisive. -maybe sticky-ing major topics together more often. Maybe by day?
- g4zj 3y ago
  How would you feel about lowering the amount of karma required to downvote comments? I'd like to downvote and move on when I see low-quality comments, but I'll probably never be able to.
  - ianai 3y ago
    Downvote by replying to a sibling comment of higher quality or making one yourself. Or strongman their point and show it’s false. Downvotes are already handed out like participation trophies.
paulcole 3y ago
Yes, HN was at its peak around the time I signed up for it. It started to go downhill after that. It’s kind of like how SNL was at its peak when I was 17 years old and hasn’t been the same since.
reportgunner 3y ago
Nope, I've been reading HN almost daily since my account was created and it feels the same. I remember people wondering the same as you not long after I started going to HN.
hodgesrm 3y ago
Overall Hacker News is still very good. Two things I've noticed over the past few years. 1.) There are more low-value comments like flip two-word answers or blindly pushing wackadoodle conspiracy theories. They are pervasive in social media, but the moderation on HN keeps them largely in check. That fact is encouraging. HN is an existence proof that you can still have productive discussion and curious inquiry in spite of a flood of misinformation running through Western societies. 2.) On the other hand, HN has a libertarian hive mind that tends to drown out nuance in many of the conversations. There's a constant thread that vested interests are behind corporate decisions such as work from home or media coverage of practically any topic. (Example from today's home page: [0]). Simpler explanations like managers struggling with incomplete information or balancing competing interests tend to get drowned out. This perspective has always been present on HN, but I notice it more and now skip discussions where it seems to be getting out of hand. These are blips, especially compared to the alternatives. Hacker News has a wonderful diversity of topics and is a great place to learn about new things, aided by insightful commentary from people who actually know what they are talking about. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37023400 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37023400 Edit: clarity
lusus_naturae 3y ago
Is there an outlet for kinda mindless shitposting that isn't reddit or chanish? Because my M.O. is basically the aforementioned when I post here, and I really don't know of any alternatives. If you have any, advertise them because I don't think I am alone in wanting a space for semi-mindless shitposting. Outside of creating my own instance (eh, maybe), I don't know what to do.

7 points by g4zj 3y ago

api 3y ago

Yes, and I see a lot more repeat stories too. The glory days of HN were really in the 2000s and 20-teens. It’s been very slowly going downhill for a while. It’s still better than almost all other open sites in its subject area though. All open forums and open social media has been going downhill.

g4zj 3y ago
> All open forums and open social media has been going downhill. Are there _closed_ alternatives that you can recommend?

h2odragon 3y ago

could be worse, not a lot of "hot grits" yet. people are still fascinated with their new catbots, hopefully that'll fade out in a bit too.

mikece 3y ago

[flagged]

bob1029 3y ago

Do you have any specific recommendations for improving HN discourse that we could discuss? The only thing that ever worked in my mind: "Become the change you want to see". The rules are already out there and are pretty good, IMO. Beyond that, the entire experience is a result of audience participation.

g4zj 3y ago
> Do you have any specific recommendations for improving HN discourse that we could discuss? Not at this time. I'm still working out whether the trend is actually occurring as perceived, or if something else is happening, such as a steadily-increasing personal standard on my end. > "Become the change you want to see". This has actually been my personal motto for quite some time. While I don't always succeed, I make a conscious effort to practice what I would otherwise only preach.
- bob1029 3y ago
  > a steadily-increasing personal standard on my end. This is what I observed it as. My own standards increased substantially because of the quality of HN. It's like augmented reality where I can see rule violation tags over human interactions in real-time now. Becoming aware of this is really important. It will allow you to back-off in the moment and let the journeyman pass without a full audit. For me, I was the person writing many of those comments in the past. Unless the comment is a bald-faced rule violation, I really do try to take it in good faith and guide towards the light.

fsflover 3y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26278011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26278011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1198041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1198041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8947549 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8947549

ianai 3y ago

Personally I've begun limiting my time here. It has gotten worse. Just my .02. Things that could make it better, maybe: -more aggressively axing topics that are outright divisive. -maybe sticky-ing major topics together more often. Maybe by day?

g4zj 3y ago
How would you feel about lowering the amount of karma required to downvote comments? I'd like to downvote and move on when I see low-quality comments, but I'll probably never be able to.
- ianai 3y ago
  Downvote by replying to a sibling comment of higher quality or making one yourself. Or strongman their point and show it’s false. Downvotes are already handed out like participation trophies.

paulcole 3y ago

Yes, HN was at its peak around the time I signed up for it. It started to go downhill after that. It’s kind of like how SNL was at its peak when I was 17 years old and hasn’t been the same since.

reportgunner 3y ago

Nope, I've been reading HN almost daily since my account was created and it feels the same. I remember people wondering the same as you not long after I started going to HN.

hodgesrm 3y ago

Overall Hacker News is still very good. Two things I've noticed over the past few years. 1.) There are more low-value comments like flip two-word answers or blindly pushing wackadoodle conspiracy theories. They are pervasive in social media, but the moderation on HN keeps them largely in check. That fact is encouraging. HN is an existence proof that you can still have productive discussion and curious inquiry in spite of a flood of misinformation running through Western societies. 2.) On the other hand, HN has a libertarian hive mind that tends to drown out nuance in many of the conversations. There's a constant thread that vested interests are behind corporate decisions such as work from home or media coverage of practically any topic. (Example from today's home page: [0]). Simpler explanations like managers struggling with incomplete information or balancing competing interests tend to get drowned out. This perspective has always been present on HN, but I notice it more and now skip discussions where it seems to be getting out of hand. These are blips, especially compared to the alternatives. Hacker News has a wonderful diversity of topics and is a great place to learn about new things, aided by insightful commentary from people who actually know what they are talking about. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37023400 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37023400 Edit: clarity

lusus_naturae 3y ago

Is there an outlet for kinda mindless shitposting that isn't reddit or chanish? Because my M.O. is basically the aforementioned when I post here, and I really don't know of any alternatives. If you have any, advertise them because I don't think I am alone in wanting a space for semi-mindless shitposting. Outside of creating my own instance (eh, maybe), I don't know what to do.