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Tell HN: Meta-comments typically suck

It seems unfortunate to me that the top comment on a story is often a meta-comment - someone will complain that a Chrome plug-in doesn't work on Opera, or that a video doesn't have sub-titles, or they don't like the font of the website, etc, etc. We're probably all guilty of doing this to some extent, because it's encouraged by the system - it's an easy way to score some points without thinking too hard. I'd like to see one of the community guidelines be "Don't make meta-comments, and down-vote them where you see them." I think that would go a long way to getting relevant comments to the top of the thread.

wmf 14y ago
I agree. There's a sort of categorical imperative here: imagine if everyone who had a trivial problem with a site posted a comment about it — HN would be nothing but meta. I'd also do away with submissions about sites being down. The Internet is so large that at any moment something is down, and it'll probably be fixed before people have a chance to pile on with unhelpful comments anyway.
sprobertson 14y ago
This post has too many dashes, it interrupts my reading flow.
debacle 14y ago
As a counter point, I think sometimes the meta comments get upvoted more than other comments because they spur the most discussion.
runjake 14y ago
Isn't this a meta-comment (albeit in the form of a post)?
- frou_dh 14y ago
  Sorry, but this type of "attempt to turn the table" retort in online discussion is tiresome and unoriginal. (OMG meta-meta-hypocirspy alert. Pre-emptive medals for all.) I sympathise with the OP, but it seems inevitable that communities largely in the business of making Xs are going to meta-comment incidental Xs. Xs in this case being websites. Your suggestion for the guidelines might help.
mnicole 14y ago
Aren't those all legitimate usability/accessibility concerns? I can understand the "Ugh not another one of these services/apps," but when it comes to actually being able to view data on a site and get a gist of who your visitors are, that kind of stuff is important for the author to know, and often times there isn't a comments section to do so.

wmf 14y ago

I agree. There's a sort of categorical imperative here: imagine if everyone who had a trivial problem with a site posted a comment about it — HN would be nothing but meta. I'd also do away with submissions about sites being down. The Internet is so large that at any moment something is down, and it'll probably be fixed before people have a chance to pile on with unhelpful comments anyway.

sprobertson 14y ago

This post has too many dashes, it interrupts my reading flow.

debacle 14y ago

As a counter point, I think sometimes the meta comments get upvoted more than other comments because they spur the most discussion.

runjake 14y ago

Isn't this a meta-comment (albeit in the form of a post)?

frou_dh 14y ago
Sorry, but this type of "attempt to turn the table" retort in online discussion is tiresome and unoriginal. (OMG meta-meta-hypocirspy alert. Pre-emptive medals for all.) I sympathise with the OP, but it seems inevitable that communities largely in the business of making Xs are going to meta-comment incidental Xs. Xs in this case being websites. Your suggestion for the guidelines might help.

mnicole 14y ago

Aren't those all legitimate usability/accessibility concerns? I can understand the "Ugh not another one of these services/apps," but when it comes to actually being able to view data on a site and get a gist of who your visitors are, that kind of stuff is important for the author to know, and often times there isn't a comments section to do so.