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The reactions are typical US behavior. People will rate you because of the one thing you did wrong and not even take into account the years before, where you di

by bluelu 18y ago

The reactions are typical US behavior. People will rate you because of the one thing you did wrong and not even take into account the years before, where you did a perfect job. (Think about President Clinton and the Lewinski affaire...).

unalone 18y ago
There's always a temptation to say something stupid. And online, when there's really no social barrier that immediately stops you when you've said something you shouldn't, it's incredibly easy to get carried away. I saw somebody on the other thread saying they were shocked, that it sounded like Reddit rather than Hacker News. And I thought: why wouldn't it sound like Reddit? The same users are crossing over. This is just the next stop for a lot of people. HN has no special checks encouraging better posting; it's up to the users. And a lot of users don't really care about this ideal of Hacker News as enlightened and thoughtful. They just see it as another place to post whatever comes to mind and to find good news stories. If Hacker News is going to stay high-quality, then it requires every single user's being dedicated to its staying that way. That's not an easy task, especially not when a lot of users are joining right now, as HN is visibly declined. (Not much, but it's certainly not as good now as it was three months ago.) It means somehow convincing every user that this is not only worthwhile but necessary. That's not likely: it's far too easy to slip up. I'm hoping, and I think Hacker News is a good place to make a stand - it's done incredibly well for the last two years - but I don't have any illusions about what the odds are of it staying like this.
Prrometheus 18y ago
You bake one cake, and nobody calls you a baker. You mix one drink, and nobody calls you a bartender. But you fuck one sheep....
- nostrademons 18y ago
  ...and people think you're from New Zealand. ;-) (Apologies to any Kiwi friends out there...I loved the semester I spent in your country. And no, I didn't see any sheepfuckers. Lots of sheep, though.)

by bluelu 18y ago

unalone 18y ago

There's always a temptation to say something stupid. And online, when there's really no social barrier that immediately stops you when you've said something you shouldn't, it's incredibly easy to get carried away. I saw somebody on the other thread saying they were shocked, that it sounded like Reddit rather than Hacker News. And I thought: why wouldn't it sound like Reddit? The same users are crossing over. This is just the next stop for a lot of people. HN has no special checks encouraging better posting; it's up to the users. And a lot of users don't really care about this ideal of Hacker News as enlightened and thoughtful. They just see it as another place to post whatever comes to mind and to find good news stories. If Hacker News is going to stay high-quality, then it requires every single user's being dedicated to its staying that way. That's not an easy task, especially not when a lot of users are joining right now, as HN is visibly declined. (Not much, but it's certainly not as good now as it was three months ago.) It means somehow convincing every user that this is not only worthwhile but necessary. That's not likely: it's far too easy to slip up. I'm hoping, and I think Hacker News is a good place to make a stand - it's done incredibly well for the last two years - but I don't have any illusions about what the odds are of it staying like this.

Prrometheus 18y ago

You bake one cake, and nobody calls you a baker. You mix one drink, and nobody calls you a bartender. But you fuck one sheep....

nostrademons 18y ago
...and people think you're from New Zealand. ;-) (Apologies to any Kiwi friends out there...I loved the semester I spent in your country. And no, I didn't see any sheepfuckers. Lots of sheep, though.)