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The problem, as with all great communities, seems to be the abundance of new users and, thus, the widening of scope on submissions and comments. To me, it seem
by rlt3 14y ago
The problem, as with all great communities, seems to be the abundance of new users and, thus, the widening of scope on submissions and comments.
To me, it seems obvious that to improve HN, the community needs to stop expanding as much and get its main user base back to a niche.
The only tried and true method (that I know of) would be to follow Something Awful and start charging for an account. Something trivial, like $2, would be fine.
Of course, this will never happen. This isn't really something I want to happen, but, to me, it seems to be the only way of limiting the user base in an effective manner.
- abailin 14y agoAlthough what's $2 for a site that I check every day?
- sgdesign 14y agoWhy not just have optional pro accounts that people can get for a fee? "Pro" tags would be a quick way to make "serious" posters visually distinctive.
- rlt3 14y agoI feel that this creates elitism. Anyone can buy a 'Pro' tag. What makes a person's comments, who is willing to spend money, better than one who is not?
- Spearchucker 14y agoI think that brings up new problems, e.g. dealing with someone with a paid account/subscription that submits enough posts or comments to get that person banned or hell-banned. Or a scenario in which a hell-banned user wants to upgrade to a paid account.
- verroq 14y agoI disagree, it has to be something substantial, at least $10. The more you charge, the more value it has.