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My main issue with HN comments is that the threading display tends to cause focus on a very small number of high ranking comments along with their threads. Thi

by Lerc 3y ago

My main issue with HN comments is that the threading display tends to cause focus on a very small number of high ranking comments along with their threads. This leads to potentially insightful comments on the original article being largely unread. It's a problem where the solution is not obvious. There is perhaps an an opportunity to cycle through a series of candidate solutions. I imagine something like placing a single comment at the top of comments selected from some formula of view-count and score, so that comments at least get some views to get the chance of being upvoted to the point of being seen by the wider community.

sillysaurusx 3y ago
It’s better not to worry about it so much. Yes, top comments are exponentially more read than the rest. But HN is so big now that even the bottom comments get a large number most of the time. It’s also up to the commenters to strategically place their comments if they care that much. No one forces you to write a toplevel comment when there are already 80. If you have something to say in that situation, and you really want a lot of people to hear it, and you’re pretty sure it’s a good fit for HN (the hardest part), then it usually pays off to post a reply instead. You’ll need to morph what you’re saying slightly so that it doesn’t sound weird, but there are tricks to do so.
DarkNova6 3y ago
I doubt a comment section will ever be more than just that. I still mourn the death of traditional internet forums. There you had long-running threads of proper discussions and exchange. After some time you got a sense of community and started to see the personalities of each individual. And if things ever got out of hand, you had moderation that would keep everybody in check. But that was when the web was P2P.
Grimblewald 3y ago
Why not just minimize comments as you finish with a thread you find interesting? I start with a root comment, go down the chains as long as they remain interesting, then go back up the to the top level comment at which an interesting branch was and keep reading down it, minimizing branches as I go. Eventually the entire comment section is collapsed and I am done. Miss nothing, and no additional algorithms needed.

by Lerc 3y ago

sillysaurusx 3y ago

It’s better not to worry about it so much. Yes, top comments are exponentially more read than the rest. But HN is so big now that even the bottom comments get a large number most of the time. It’s also up to the commenters to strategically place their comments if they care that much. No one forces you to write a toplevel comment when there are already 80. If you have something to say in that situation, and you really want a lot of people to hear it, and you’re pretty sure it’s a good fit for HN (the hardest part), then it usually pays off to post a reply instead. You’ll need to morph what you’re saying slightly so that it doesn’t sound weird, but there are tricks to do so.

DarkNova6 3y ago

I doubt a comment section will ever be more than just that. I still mourn the death of traditional internet forums. There you had long-running threads of proper discussions and exchange. After some time you got a sense of community and started to see the personalities of each individual. And if things ever got out of hand, you had moderation that would keep everybody in check. But that was when the web was P2P.

Grimblewald 3y ago

Why not just minimize comments as you finish with a thread you find interesting? I start with a root comment, go down the chains as long as they remain interesting, then go back up the to the top level comment at which an interesting branch was and keep reading down it, minimizing branches as I go. Eventually the entire comment section is collapsed and I am done. Miss nothing, and no additional algorithms needed.