4 ms·

> Hacker News, probably noticeably since 2016 or so, has been a negative, curmudgeonly place. It has become political (toward the left), sclerotic, and bitterly

> Hacker News, probably noticeably since 2016 or so, has been a negative, curmudgeonly place. It has become political (toward the left), sclerotic, and bitterly nostalgic. It's bad and no longer represents the future. I notice it every time I visit. It's sad. An easy way to help with the negativity is to stop leaving bait comments

bbor 9mo ago
Reminds me of on interaction a few months ago where I mentioned the left-right spectrum in passing and someone accused me of making HN a worse place, only to call me a "snowflake" in their very next response! As usual, "things shouldn't be so political" is often uttered from a highly-political sense of discomfort. The quintessential example for me was its usage in US anti-desegregation rhetoric in the 1960s, alongside its resurgence in the anti-DEI movement today -- demanding that no one discuss our shared institutions is too often an endorsement of them, rather than an honest effort to focus on something else. "toward the left" aside, it's always a little frustrating to read the ubiquitous "this place sucks" comments on here and Reddit. I have tons of problems with HN--both petty (markdown when??) and fundamental (SV/PE has metastasized in a discomforting way...)--but I'm still here because I love it, and think it's one of the best communities the internet has to offer. Specific critiques of specific people or ideas are always welcome, but comments like "everyone here is curmudgeonly" just makes me wonder why they bother to log on in the first place...
- jimbokun 9mo ago
  [flagged]
  - 100721 9mo ago
    Genuinely curious: would you mind please explaining to me how your contributions are more productive than the person you are responding to (read: attacking)? It reads like you are upset at the poster using "DEI" and projecting your own behaviors onto them ("tedious and unproductive political discourse", "immune from critique or any burden of evidence").
    - jimbokun 9mo ago
      Fair enough.
  - bbor 9mo ago
    ...huh? Your takeaway from my comment was that I'm pro DEI, or that I intended my comment to be related to DEI in some way? I can't quite tell if you're trying to support or attack that concept/acronym/cultural flash point, but regardless: kinda besides the point :)
- ErroneousBosh 9mo ago
  > "things shouldn't be so political" Skunk Anansi would likely disagree with that.

bbor 9mo ago

Reminds me of on interaction a few months ago where I mentioned the left-right spectrum in passing and someone accused me of making HN a worse place, only to call me a "snowflake" in their very next response! As usual, "things shouldn't be so political" is often uttered from a highly-political sense of discomfort. The quintessential example for me was its usage in US anti-desegregation rhetoric in the 1960s, alongside its resurgence in the anti-DEI movement today -- demanding that no one discuss our shared institutions is too often an endorsement of them, rather than an honest effort to focus on something else. "toward the left" aside, it's always a little frustrating to read the ubiquitous "this place sucks" comments on here and Reddit. I have tons of problems with HN--both petty (markdown when??) and fundamental (SV/PE has metastasized in a discomforting way...)--but I'm still here because I love it, and think it's one of the best communities the internet has to offer. Specific critiques of specific people or ideas are always welcome, but comments like "everyone here is curmudgeonly" just makes me wonder why they bother to log on in the first place...

jimbokun 9mo ago
[flagged]
- 100721 9mo ago
  Genuinely curious: would you mind please explaining to me how your contributions are more productive than the person you are responding to (read: attacking)? It reads like you are upset at the poster using "DEI" and projecting your own behaviors onto them ("tedious and unproductive political discourse", "immune from critique or any burden of evidence").
  - jimbokun 9mo ago
    Fair enough.
- bbor 9mo ago
  ...huh? Your takeaway from my comment was that I'm pro DEI, or that I intended my comment to be related to DEI in some way? I can't quite tell if you're trying to support or attack that concept/acronym/cultural flash point, but regardless: kinda besides the point :)
ErroneousBosh 9mo ago
> "things shouldn't be so political" Skunk Anansi would likely disagree with that.