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I think what the commenter did was reasonable, since it also lets other HNers know that this is a behavior to be on the lookout for. I knew people spammed HN wi

I think what the commenter did was reasonable, since it also lets other HNers know that this is a behavior to be on the lookout for. I knew people spammed HN with links to their own websites, but I didn't realize people tried did the same with previously-successful submissions. I agree with the commenter that this isn't appropriate, even if it sometimes leads to good discussions. I appreciate that he posted it here, even if he ultimately has to email HN to get this addressed. Perhaps the best resolution is for a rule to be added to the HN guidelines. I don't mind people submitting a lot, but if you're just recycling old stuff that's not great IMO.

tptacek 3y ago
The guidelines are pretty explicit about asking people not to write comments like this. Either way: "@dang" is not a thing. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- gnicholas 3y ago
  I'm curious to know which of those guidelines covers this somewhat-novel situation. @-ing the mods may not officially be a thing, but I have to say whenever there is a comment starting with that handle that rises up in the comments, it gets attention right quick.
  - akerl_ 3y ago
    > Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something. Send it to hn@ycombinator.com. > Please don't complain that a submission is inappropriate. If a story is spam or off-topic, flag it. Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead. If you flag, please don't also comment that you did. > Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents, and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data.
    - gnicholas 3y ago
      The first guideline is about submissions, not commenting. The second and third are not quite on-point because the commenter is not saying that the post is inappropriate per se, but that it's part of a pattern of inappropriate behavior. I, for one, and glad that the commenter added to the conversation in this way. I can see I'm not alone, as the post was subsequently flagged (to be clear, I didn't flag it).
      - tptacek 3y ago
        They didn't add to the conversation. They inserted an off-topic digression about the submitter of the story, who has nothing to do with the story or with Dan Luu. Before other people downvoted and flagged it, it was sprawling out from the top comment on the thread. That's why we have these guidelines: to keep stuff like this from crudding up threads. I'm also not sure what you mean by flagging; the story isn't flagged, and is on the front page right now.
        gnicholas 3y ago
        If you view this through a micro-lens, then it leads you to focus on the 'crudding up' of the thread. But if you take a macro view, then you consider the bigger-picture impact that the submitter's behavior has on HN as a whole. Could the commenter have just emailed HN? Sure. But by commenting, the commenter shared this information with the community, who were then able to upvote the comment (I did) and flag the post (I did not). This is a valuable service IMO. It provides the HN team with additional feedback and alerts other HNers to a way in which the community is being used, perhaps not for the best.
        pvg 3y ago
        The view has been taken at sufficient zoom levels to have multiple specific guidelines and dozens of moderator comments. It's just not the case that nobody has thought about this much or discussed it on HN repeatedly. As to 'valuable service', what the HN moderators ask in their own guidelines regarding feedback is very likely a better indication of value than 'IYO'.
  - tptacek 3y ago
    In addition to that 'akerl_ comment, Dan has explicitly said, a bunch of times, that they don't monitor "@dang". It's not a thing, but doing it creates the false impression to others that it should work. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26508945 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26508945

tptacek 3y ago

The guidelines are pretty explicit about asking people not to write comments like this. Either way: "@dang" is not a thing. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

gnicholas 3y ago
I'm curious to know which of those guidelines covers this somewhat-novel situation. @-ing the mods may not officially be a thing, but I have to say whenever there is a comment starting with that handle that rises up in the comments, it gets attention right quick.
- akerl_ 3y ago
  > Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something. Send it to hn@ycombinator.com. > Please don't complain that a submission is inappropriate. If a story is spam or off-topic, flag it. Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead. If you flag, please don't also comment that you did. > Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents, and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    The first guideline is about submissions, not commenting. The second and third are not quite on-point because the commenter is not saying that the post is inappropriate per se, but that it's part of a pattern of inappropriate behavior. I, for one, and glad that the commenter added to the conversation in this way. I can see I'm not alone, as the post was subsequently flagged (to be clear, I didn't flag it).
    - tptacek 3y ago
      They didn't add to the conversation. They inserted an off-topic digression about the submitter of the story, who has nothing to do with the story or with Dan Luu. Before other people downvoted and flagged it, it was sprawling out from the top comment on the thread. That's why we have these guidelines: to keep stuff like this from crudding up threads. I'm also not sure what you mean by flagging; the story isn't flagged, and is on the front page right now.
      - gnicholas 3y ago
        If you view this through a micro-lens, then it leads you to focus on the 'crudding up' of the thread. But if you take a macro view, then you consider the bigger-picture impact that the submitter's behavior has on HN as a whole. Could the commenter have just emailed HN? Sure. But by commenting, the commenter shared this information with the community, who were then able to upvote the comment (I did) and flag the post (I did not). This is a valuable service IMO. It provides the HN team with additional feedback and alerts other HNers to a way in which the community is being used, perhaps not for the best.
        pvg 3y ago
        The view has been taken at sufficient zoom levels to have multiple specific guidelines and dozens of moderator comments. It's just not the case that nobody has thought about this much or discussed it on HN repeatedly. As to 'valuable service', what the HN moderators ask in their own guidelines regarding feedback is very likely a better indication of value than 'IYO'.
- tptacek 3y ago
  In addition to that 'akerl_ comment, Dan has explicitly said, a bunch of times, that they don't monitor "@dang". It's not a thing, but doing it creates the false impression to others that it should work. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26508945 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26508945