4 ms·

A great take, and thanks for your all hard work dang. Yesterday the top comment on two stories I went to discuss had deep and meaningful content, before the la

A great take, and thanks for your all hard work dang. Yesterday the top comment on two stories I went to discuss had deep and meaningful content, before the last line which was a "and I talk about this stuff all the time on my newsletter [link]", and I was conflicted. Same poster each time. The poster had done the HN thing: responded with thoughtful examination of TFA, unique and interesting insight, and I don't feel it was AI generated. And then they marred it. They pushed something just slightly out of context. Not entirely, just a smidge. I hope we can keep an eye on that sort of thing around here, it feels like it could slide into something...

silisili 10mo ago
Not a mod, but I do hope you flag comments like that. Dang is awesome, but it is user moderation that makes a giant difference.
- jacquesm 10mo ago
  Done.
- tptacek 10mo ago
  You flagged an otherwise good comment because it linked out to a newsletter?
  - huhtenberg 10mo ago
    Not the GP, but, yeah, because it is still a form of spam.
    - tptacek 10mo ago
      If it's only a link to a newsletter, sure. And "signing" a comment breaks a norm here. But if it's otherwise a good comment, seems like a poor use of "flag"; one of the rare instances where maybe you want to leave a short, polite note ("don't sign off with links to your newsletter, we don't sign things here"). Flagging deprives everyone else of the comment, and is especially hostile if there's already a thread sprouting from that comment.
  - silisili 10mo ago
    It's really contextual so... maybe? A good comment that just happens to do it once, likely not. But OP saw it multiple times in a short time from the same user, so probably. Constant self promotion is what is hurting so many other platforms, I'd hate to see this one take even a step in that direction.
armchairhacker 10mo ago
I have a different take. If someone uses effort to post something genuinely interesting just so they can advertise their blog, good. You don't have to click the link, and it's better than nothing (assuming other comments here aren't as interesting). Like https://xkcd.com/810/ https://xkcd.com/810/
- dredmorbius 10mo ago
  That is one xkcd which I feel has aged exceptionally poorly. Cf: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46303291 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46303291>.
matsemann 10mo ago
Yeah, this "btw I have a newsletter here" seems overly promotional. HN as a forum doesn't have support for "signatures", then it feels a bit off to end every post with something not really relevant. The grey area is people constantly linking to their own blog, but the linked post is relevant (example [0]). Like, it's good when people post relevant links to diver deeper, but when it's constantly your own content, that irks me a bit. [0]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=simonwillison.net%20simonw&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
- darkwater 10mo ago
  > [0]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... simonw is a smart guy, definitely an HN darling for anything LLM related nowadays but at the same time he is constantly pushing for his personal brand, IMO. Maybe unconsciously and just because he is very prolific but still, I get that feeling.
  - tptacek 10mo ago
    He writes because he loves writing. People can tell, and thus like reading it. If that creates a "brand", there's not much he can do about it. He's an active, valuable, good-faith participant here, has a subject matter expertise in something HN obviously cares very deeply about, and isn't going anywhere.
    - nickthegreek 10mo ago
      Agreed. Simonw comments and posts are always on discussion and insightful. Never once have they come off as some sort of linkedin influencer bs.
    - darkwater 10mo ago
      I'm not denying that, in fact I think it's basically because he writes a lot and participates a lot. But yet, it can give the feeling that he is curating his own brand. But probably it's just an organic thing, not a fabricated one.
oska 10mo ago
The appropriate place to link to your website, newsletter, whatever is on your bio page (which people have to actively click into, specifically because they want to know more about you and potentially find such links). I agree that linking to your own work in comments is generally bad form.
squigz 10mo ago
> Yesterday the top comment on two stories I went to discuss had deep and meaningful content, before the last line which was a "and I talk about this stuff all the time on my newsletter [link]", and I was conflicted. Same poster each time. In my opinion, if they put thought into a deep and meaningful answer, then I think that's fine. If they say "Oh yeah I talked about this in my blog [link]" that's totally different.
_jsmh 10mo ago
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silisili 10mo ago

Not a mod, but I do hope you flag comments like that. Dang is awesome, but it is user moderation that makes a giant difference.

jacquesm 10mo ago
Done.
tptacek 10mo ago
You flagged an otherwise good comment because it linked out to a newsletter?
- huhtenberg 10mo ago
  Not the GP, but, yeah, because it is still a form of spam.
  - tptacek 10mo ago
    If it's only a link to a newsletter, sure. And "signing" a comment breaks a norm here. But if it's otherwise a good comment, seems like a poor use of "flag"; one of the rare instances where maybe you want to leave a short, polite note ("don't sign off with links to your newsletter, we don't sign things here"). Flagging deprives everyone else of the comment, and is especially hostile if there's already a thread sprouting from that comment.
- silisili 10mo ago
  It's really contextual so... maybe? A good comment that just happens to do it once, likely not. But OP saw it multiple times in a short time from the same user, so probably. Constant self promotion is what is hurting so many other platforms, I'd hate to see this one take even a step in that direction.

armchairhacker 10mo ago

I have a different take. If someone uses effort to post something genuinely interesting just so they can advertise their blog, good. You don't have to click the link, and it's better than nothing (assuming other comments here aren't as interesting). Like https://xkcd.com/810/ https://xkcd.com/810/

dredmorbius 10mo ago
That is one xkcd which I feel has aged exceptionally poorly. Cf: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46303291 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46303291>.

matsemann 10mo ago

Yeah, this "btw I have a newsletter here" seems overly promotional. HN as a forum doesn't have support for "signatures", then it feels a bit off to end every post with something not really relevant. The grey area is people constantly linking to their own blog, but the linked post is relevant (example [0]). Like, it's good when people post relevant links to diver deeper, but when it's constantly your own content, that irks me a bit. [0]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=simonwillison.net%20simonw&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

darkwater 10mo ago
> [0]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... simonw is a smart guy, definitely an HN darling for anything LLM related nowadays but at the same time he is constantly pushing for his personal brand, IMO. Maybe unconsciously and just because he is very prolific but still, I get that feeling.
- tptacek 10mo ago
  He writes because he loves writing. People can tell, and thus like reading it. If that creates a "brand", there's not much he can do about it. He's an active, valuable, good-faith participant here, has a subject matter expertise in something HN obviously cares very deeply about, and isn't going anywhere.
  - nickthegreek 10mo ago
    Agreed. Simonw comments and posts are always on discussion and insightful. Never once have they come off as some sort of linkedin influencer bs.
  - darkwater 10mo ago
    I'm not denying that, in fact I think it's basically because he writes a lot and participates a lot. But yet, it can give the feeling that he is curating his own brand. But probably it's just an organic thing, not a fabricated one.

oska 10mo ago

The appropriate place to link to your website, newsletter, whatever is on your bio page (which people have to actively click into, specifically because they want to know more about you and potentially find such links). I agree that linking to your own work in comments is generally bad form.

squigz 10mo ago

> Yesterday the top comment on two stories I went to discuss had deep and meaningful content, before the last line which was a "and I talk about this stuff all the time on my newsletter [link]", and I was conflicted. Same poster each time. In my opinion, if they put thought into a deep and meaningful answer, then I think that's fine. If they say "Oh yeah I talked about this in my blog [link]" that's totally different.

_jsmh 10mo ago

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