2 ms·

Wait is THAT why this got taken off the front page? Because it was on there for a couple minutes.

PaulHoule 2y ago
Personally I am inclined to flag any link to X, but especially any link to an Elon Musk post. I'd have no problem with the content if it was in the mainstream media or some kind of analysis on a blog. My own taxes are crazy because my wife runs a riding academy, we have a rental house, etc. My son was a candidate for the 1040EZ back in the day (he only had a W-2) but Direct File was an unmitigated disaster for him last year because he had trouble creating an account, probably because he'd never filed a tax return. While we were on the phone trying to get support (we put it off too long) I was able to download the 1040 and the corresponding form from New York and we filled it out, hung up, and mailed it the next day.
- elicash 2y ago
  I often find primary sources of news more interesting than analysis that mostly summarizes widely-known facts. Nothing against, say, The Verge -- but their article about this will probably just summarize things folks here already know about the program. I also don't think, for example, linking here is a better experience for HN: https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-irs-easy-filing/ https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-irs-easy-filing/ or the right wing version: https://nypost.com/2025/02/03/us-news/elon-musk-claims-far-left-tech-team-that-helped-build-elizabeth-warrens-tax-website-has-been-deleted/ https://nypost.com/2025/02/03/us-news/elon-musk-claims-far-l... And with traditional news outlets, sometimes they make it impossible to find the actual primary source because they refuse to hyperlink things (though the Verge is good about that). Then again, if the entire front page were X links, I'd find that less interesting than more thoughtful, longer analysis. So I agree and disagree.
  - PaulHoule 2y ago
    My take is that POSSE [1] is the way to go. (Though I really should get back to blogging to prove my commitment) Big F Federation in the Fediverse is less important in my mind than the small-f federation that I see something cool on Mastodon I should be able to link to it from Bluesky or Threads or whatever. The notifications and all that are just the cherry on top. The principled reason to "never link to X" is that X will suppress your visibility if you link out of X. If X punishes you from linking to an HN discussion I think HN shouldn't be linking back to X. The same holds true for Facebook, Threads and Instagram, though it is unusual for someone to get the idea that the HN audience would care about any content on those sites. [1] https://indieweb.org/POSSE https://indieweb.org/POSSE
dang 2y ago
No, that was imaginary. If you want to know what's going on with flags and these stories on HN, I've written quite a bit about it over the last couple days. There's a shorter version at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42922234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42922234 and two longer ones at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42911011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42911011 (including a later reply). If you (or anyone) read those and still have a question that isn't answered there, I'd be happy to take a crack at it.
- elicash 2y ago
  The problem with heavy-handed moderating, rather than relying on upvotes/downvotes/flags, is that it is more subject to bias. I'm happy to stipulate that bias didn't play a role here -- I googled around and your reputation in this space is quite high! -- but it's also unknowable. Btw, I'm pretty confident this getting removed from the front page before it was flagged wasn't "imaginary."
  - dang 2y ago
    The post fell off the front page because it set off the flamewar detector and also was flagged by lots of users. Moderators turned those penalties off after a while. (What I called imaginary was attributing HN outcomes to Elon, Garry, or Austen Allred (?!)) I'm not sure what heavy-handed moderating you might be referring to but if you want to mention some specific examples, I can try to respond. Mostly what people are complaining about right now is that mods aren't overriding user flags actively enough, so your comment seems a bit counter-trend (which is fine!)

Personally I am inclined to flag any link to X, but especially any link to an Elon Musk post. I'd have no problem with the content if it was in the mainstream media or some kind of analysis on a blog. My own taxes are crazy because my wife runs a riding academy, we have a rental house, etc. My son was a candidate for the 1040EZ back in the day (he only had a W-2) but Direct File was an unmitigated disaster for him last year because he had trouble creating an account, probably because he'd never filed a tax return. While we were on the phone trying to get support (we put it off too long) I was able to download the 1040 and the corresponding form from New York and we filled it out, hung up, and mailed it the next day.

elicash 2y ago
I often find primary sources of news more interesting than analysis that mostly summarizes widely-known facts. Nothing against, say, The Verge -- but their article about this will probably just summarize things folks here already know about the program. I also don't think, for example, linking here is a better experience for HN: https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-irs-easy-filing/ https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-irs-easy-filing/ or the right wing version: https://nypost.com/2025/02/03/us-news/elon-musk-claims-far-left-tech-team-that-helped-build-elizabeth-warrens-tax-website-has-been-deleted/ https://nypost.com/2025/02/03/us-news/elon-musk-claims-far-l... And with traditional news outlets, sometimes they make it impossible to find the actual primary source because they refuse to hyperlink things (though the Verge is good about that). Then again, if the entire front page were X links, I'd find that less interesting than more thoughtful, longer analysis. So I agree and disagree.
- PaulHoule 2y ago
  My take is that POSSE [1] is the way to go. (Though I really should get back to blogging to prove my commitment) Big F Federation in the Fediverse is less important in my mind than the small-f federation that I see something cool on Mastodon I should be able to link to it from Bluesky or Threads or whatever. The notifications and all that are just the cherry on top. The principled reason to "never link to X" is that X will suppress your visibility if you link out of X. If X punishes you from linking to an HN discussion I think HN shouldn't be linking back to X. The same holds true for Facebook, Threads and Instagram, though it is unusual for someone to get the idea that the HN audience would care about any content on those sites. [1] https://indieweb.org/POSSE https://indieweb.org/POSSE

dang 2y ago

No, that was imaginary. If you want to know what's going on with flags and these stories on HN, I've written quite a bit about it over the last couple days. There's a shorter version at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42922234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42922234 and two longer ones at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42911011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42911011 (including a later reply). If you (or anyone) read those and still have a question that isn't answered there, I'd be happy to take a crack at it.

elicash 2y ago
The problem with heavy-handed moderating, rather than relying on upvotes/downvotes/flags, is that it is more subject to bias. I'm happy to stipulate that bias didn't play a role here -- I googled around and your reputation in this space is quite high! -- but it's also unknowable. Btw, I'm pretty confident this getting removed from the front page before it was flagged wasn't "imaginary."
- dang 2y ago
  The post fell off the front page because it set off the flamewar detector and also was flagged by lots of users. Moderators turned those penalties off after a while. (What I called imaginary was attributing HN outcomes to Elon, Garry, or Austen Allred (?!)) I'm not sure what heavy-handed moderating you might be referring to but if you want to mention some specific examples, I can try to respond. Mostly what people are complaining about right now is that mods aren't overriding user flags actively enough, so your comment seems a bit counter-trend (which is fine!)