5 ms·

Why those articles are immediately flagged? It is tech related.

• dang 2y ago
  The title is inflammatory and the topic is inflammatory/repetitive. That's enough to explain why users flag these. In fact, if they didn't, then HN's front page would consist of little else.
  • bongodongobob 2y ago
    Yep, all the times presidents of countries make scam coins for their citizens. Amongst other current events. This shit isn't normal.
    • bigyabai 2y ago
      Hey, at least we got to see what NetBSD looked like on a JavaStation before the collapse. I'm sure voting-age US citizens will really appreciate the tech caucus' focus on the real issues facing a rapidly modernizing society. "bongodongobob, why is the president's decentralized technology defrauding American citizens?" "Dunno, haven't you ever wondered why FastDOOM is fast though?"
      • johnnyanmac 2y ago
        [flagged]
        • bigyabai 2y ago
          Render forth the samizdat, Americans. > intrigued that in all my years here, this is the first comment I see flagged. FWIW I'm pretty confused too. My parent comment is sitting at a cool -3, but not flagged somehow. You must be getting brigaded, sorry.
    • dang 2y ago
      I don't think I said it was normal.
  • dredmorbius 2y ago
    These are not normal times, dang. You're normalising them. (Not in the financial sense.)
    • dang 2y ago
      The alternative is to allow this site to burn itself to a crisp, an irreversible outcome. Perhaps you think the this-time-is-differentness of this time is different enough to justify it, but (a) none of us can actually know that in advance, (b) the impact of getting it wrong is existential (if one can use that word about a relatively trivial thing like an internet forum), (c) people have often said such things in the past and it's clear that we were right not to pull the plug when they did, and (d) my job hasn't changed.
      • cratermoon 2y ago
        OP here: if stories like these will cause HN to burn to a crisp, it's worth talking 'why?'. We all know YC is a crypto backer, and if crypto is the problem, then maybe HN is part of the problem.
        • dang 2y ago
          It hasn't got to do with cryptocurrency—it's the same with any major ongoing topic (MOT), especially when the stories are sensational, inflammatory, and/or divisive. This is about internet forum dynamics and our attempt to have a forum that's optimized for intellectual curiosity [1]. To achieve that means we have to limit the amount of repetition [2]. If you want further explanation, the links in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43272671 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43272671 should take you to plenty. If you read some of that and then have a question I haven't answered yet, I'd be happy to take a crack at it. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=curiosity%20optimiz%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=curiosity%20repetition%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...
  • ddxv 2y ago
    Is the flagging of articles an absolute number? How does the article get 100+ upvotes but still flagged? Does it mean it early hit the flag threshold to get flagged and later got the votes, or that the flags continue to outweigh the upvotes?
    • dang 2y ago
      I'm happy to answer but I don't think I quite understand your question!
      • ddxv 2y ago
        I was curious if the 'flagged' note that is added to articles is triggered based on a ratio of "flag"/upvotes or if it is a flat number. To clarify an example of what I mean: For example, if the maximum flag ratio: is 0.5, and if an article has 10 flags / 19 upvotes, then the ratio of 10/19 is > 0.5 and the flag gets triggered. Or maybe it's just a flat number, such that any article with >20 flags is flagged. I'm sure it's more complicated than either example, but was just curious if you could share the approximate way the 'flagged' note is added to articles?
        • dang 2y ago
          Ah ok. It's definitely not a flat number—it depends on both flags and upvotes. As you say, it's more complicated than a simple ratio, but I guess you could call it ratio-like :)
          • ddxv 2y ago
            Thank you for the reply.
  • sillyfluke 2y ago
    Hi dang, is a user with similar karma levels as the flagging user able to unflag a post? If so, can you mention that in the FAQ as well? You may think it's obvious but I think it would have a calming effect on the meta-thread if people know that another user with the same amount of cred could theoretically unflag the post. There is information in the FAQ about how to flag a post and who gets to do it, but it's unclear, at least to me, if another user with a similar karma level is able to unflag it. I agree that a user may find the title inflammatory because it's an opinionated accusation without an explicit court decision backing it up, but I want to emphasize that official HN moderators should not be able flag this specific post as Coinbase is a YC company and happens to be one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, hence the conflict of interest in burying this story. I can't see any way how someone could contest the fact that this story presents a conflict of interest for YC.
    • dang 2y ago
      No, we don't have that feature yet. Users can vouch for [dead] posts, but that's not the same thing as [flagged].
  • johnnyanmac 2y ago
    I argue that is most crypto stories period. Good to know that politics is the line people die on though when the predient does it and then we just have to ignore it.
    • dang 2y ago
      It really depends on the specific story. I agree that most of those threads are as you describe.