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That seems to be especially true on HN. Other forums there is some of that as well, but HN it seems nearly every single comment section is like 75% (random numb
by byryan 11mo ago
That seems to be especially true on HN. Other forums there is some of that as well, but HN it seems nearly every single comment section is like 75% (random number) pointing out faults in the posted article.
- bdangubic 11mo agoI find that endearing for two reasons: - either critique is solid and I learn something - or commenter is clueless which makes it entertaining there is very seldom a “middle”
- gaudystead 11mo agoAlthough I normally loathe pedantic assholes, I've found the ones on HN seem to be more tolerable because they typically know they'll have to back up what they're saying with facts (and ideally citations). I've found that pedantic conversations here seem to actually have a greater potential for me to learn something from them than other forums/social platforms. On other platforms, I see someone providing a pedantic response and I'll just keep moving on, but on HN, I get curious to not only see who wins the nerd fight, but also that I might learn at least one thing along the way. I like that it's had an effect on how I engage with comment sections.
- password4321 11mo agoAnd the worst of it gets flagged and even dead-ed so most skip it after a bit, as I assumed would happen recently https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45649771 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45649771
- imcritic 11mo agoYes, flagging mechanism on HN is evil.
- kergonath 11mo agoIt’s a blunt tool, but quite useful for posts. I read most dead posts I come across and I don’t think I ever saw one that was not obviously in violation of several guidelines. OTOH I don’t like flagging stories because good ones get buried regularly. But then HN is not a great place for peaceful, nuanced discussion and these threads often descend into mindless flame wars, which would bury the stories even without flagging. So, meh. I think flagging is a moderately good thing overall but it really lacks in subtlety.
- freedomben 11mo agoAgreed, flagging for comments seems to function pretty well for the most part, and the vouch option provided a recourse for those that shouldn't have been killed. On stories however, I think the flag system is pretty broken. I've seen so many stories that get flagged because people find them annoying (especially AI-related things) or people assume it will turn into a flame war, but it ends up burying important tech news. Even if the flags are reversed, the damage is usually done because the story fell off the front page (or further) and gets very little traction after that.
- imcritic 11mo agoJust imagine this comment of yours would get flagged. Was it something very valuable and now the discussion is lacking something important? Surely not, but how would you feel? So what that you have some not so mild and not so "pleasant" opinion on something - why flag the comment? Just let people downvote it!
- Mawr 11mo agoThat's a sampling bias. You're not seeing the opinions of every single person who has viewed an article, just the opinions of those who have bothered to comment. People who agree with an article will most likely just upvote. Hardly anyone ever bothers to comment to offer praise, so most comments that you end up seeing are criticisms.