tokenadult, from all of the things I've read from you over the years, I believe you are too kind and well intentioned to notice the reality of the situation. T

tokenadult, from all of the things I've read from you over the years, I believe you are too kind and well intentioned to notice the reality of the situation. Then again, maybe I'm too harsh and jaded. If you're as jaded as I am, you've already realized that the ancient days when people put great stuff on the Internet because they enjoyed working on it are long gone. The commercial interest of the web combined with human vanity have transformed the Internet into a for-profit popularity contest. The vast bulk of submissions to HN support this, both the stuff on the front page, and all of the countless things that have slid off of the 'newest' page into oblivion. A large part of the supposed "sentiments" show in comments, submissions, and voting/flagging are really just playing to the crowd. Though it might be offensive to some, the typical phrase is "karma whoring." It's really just human nature at work; if you buy or buy into some expensive widget, you promote your choice publicly to gather the esteem of your peers. Similarly, if you abandon something, you disparage it publicly to promote your choice and gather the esteem of your peers. Using gmail/google? Bought an Apple? Programming in javascript? Love/Hate copyrights? All of the "consensus" issues boil down to pimping for profit and praise, or resisting the resentments of others. A prime example is, when was the last time you saw someone really speak out against javascript? It does happen on occasion, but voicing a negative opinion of javascript is always severely punished -- negative comments threatens the capacity of js coders to make a living, so they respond harshly. As noted by others, positive opinions of javascript are promoted endlessly, and for the opposite reason -- positive comments increase the value/income of js coders, so they respond beneficially. There are plenty of people on HN that work for the big companies (Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and gasp, Microsoft), so the pimping and punishing is rampant on every mention of any of them. As harsh as it might sound, the people employed by these companies have vested interest in promoting and protecting them. If someone disparaged the value of the skill you use to make a living, how would you react? On the flip side, if someone praised the value of the skill you use to make a living, how would you react? (For the record, I'm a typical human language monoglot, so I absolutely envy your skill with the Chinese language!) ... ... ... ... ... Did my admission of envy for your skills make you feel good or proud of your abilities? ... ... ... ... ... Maybe that was just what I wanted you to feel... If you have far too much free time and spend it watching the /newest queue, you'll see the attempted manipulation of HN by both vested parties and professional marketers. Their efforts are continuous, and their goal is manufacturing "consensus" by any means possible. The self-reinforcing echo chambers seen on HN and elsewhere are entirely intentional, completely dubious in nature, and created specifically for the sake of profit. When you hear an echo, the only rational question is, "Who profits from this?" With all of the above said, we still see people asking tough questions and others responding in an honest attempt to contribute help. It's the very best part of HN. Unfortunately, the bright sparks of HN have been slowly fading in the face of contentious discussions, ever falling average technical acumen, and of course, the self-centered motivations behind promoting and punishing. I honestly don't know if the trend of decline is inevitable or reversible, but surprisingly, I like to believe the latter.