7 ms·
Here or elsewhere I’ve long followed these rules for commenting: 1. Be respectful. 2. Stay on topic. 3. Move the conversation forward. This sounds like a rep
by NaOH 3y ago
Here or elsewhere I’ve long followed these rules for commenting:
1. Be respectful.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Move the conversation forward. This sounds like a repetition of #2 but there is often a distinction in that, say, a discussion about a new product feature is likely not the time to discuss the company’s history with features. Going in that direction is moving the conversation sideways.
4. Provide supporting evidence for what is said. Claiming something like, “I’d never buy this from Company X” is a baseless statement compared to “I’d never buy this from Company X because A, B, and C are an indication I won’t get much support beyond the 90-day warranty and that’s not enough at that price point.” The trick I use for this is to include a word like because since it compels an explanation.
5. Avoid attempts at humor. For one, text mediums like HN can easily lead to misinterpretations; there are many people reading for whom English is a second language, so being clever can cause confusion for those readers; if my humor were so good to be worthwhile for the amount of readers a place like HN has then I should be a comedian. I'm not a comedian.
- Savely 3y agoBut humour is half the reason I read HN and 3/4 the reason I comment!
- 1letterunixname 3y agoMade with 125% organic love and infotainment value. (By weight, not by volume. Some contents may have settled during transport.) Edit: Maybe we need an overlay meta HumorNews to channel all of our distracting banter lest the people who yell at you for daring to ask a question in a source repository issue declare "you are wrong, stop being you, stay in your lane, and follow the rules precisely".
- janalsncm 3y agoOn 5, I will avoid humor directed at a user and usually humor related to the ambiguity in headlines, however poorly written. I won’t shy away from mocking soulless PR statements or silly public figures.
- 0xdeadbeefbabe 3y ago5 oughta have a caveat like only pg can attempt humor
- the_arun 3y ago@0xdeadbeefbabe Good sense of humor!
- Uehreka 3y agoMy most upvoted comment on HN by a mile was a joke about Siri. A lot of my other most upvoted comments are either jokes or humorous exaggerations or other silly stuff. The guidelines may say that humor should be avoided, but the readership (the people who, in the end, decide what HN is) seems to disagree.
- gretch 3y ago> the people who, in the end, decide what HN is I don’t agree with this position. There is a place for administrators to shape the place they want to build for the world and have it be differentiated from other places. As a thought experiment: HN could turn into a TikTok clone and it would be wildly popular. It will be decided by the users, but the user base will be 100% different. And the world would have lost a unique place for yet another clone. So I appreciate it when the site owners are opinionated and proactive about maintaining this space.
- jjav 3y ago> HN could turn into a TikTok clone and it would be wildly popular. As a strictly text-only medium that would be difficult. That's why I vastly prefer text-only media. Email lists (without attachments), Usenet, or even forums that only do text. The written word requires more effort than just posting pics so quality is almost inevitably better.
- another-dave 3y agoBut there's a healthy tension between "moderator and moderated" — people come to a place because it's being shaped in a certain way, but bring their own expectations. And in tandem, the guidelines grow with the community to reinforce behaviour that's seen to be fruitful and disincentivise behaviour that's derailing.
- 1letterunixname 3y agoNotes on this: We're not fucking robots and data is cold and boring. If people can't be free to be themselves, I don't see the value and suspect egotistical/protofascist-esque attempts to control others. The best conversations include stories and have a sense of humor. People lacking a sense of humor tend to be the most dramatic and problematic.
- aequitas 3y agoAs a personal rule I only upvote humor on fridays, which I sometimes break if a joke is really really good.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- TurkishPoptart 3y agoAll attempts at humor should be made. If they fail, a simple apology or explanation should be fine. Otherwise, offended parties should kindly exfiltrate themselves back to Reddit.
- AlbertCory 3y ago> Avoid attempts at humor. For one, text mediums like HN can easily lead to misinterpretations; there are many people reading for whom English is a second language, so being clever can cause confusion for those readers; On behalf of ESL people, you're offended? Maybe you should let them speak for themselves. Humor is a big part of what makes life worth living. I love it when someone makes me LOL. Maybe the non-native English speakers just think, "Well, I don't get that, but whatever." In their other reading, they'll run across idiomatic English sooner or later, too. Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out of it alive.
- lazyasciiart 3y agoIf you read that line as "someone is offended", you might be over-estimating when people are offended.