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Hey, I think you're a superhero for making this place such wonderful forum for deep and interesting conversation, but isn't there some point where you might con

by smw 9mo ago

Hey, I think you're a superhero for making this place such wonderful forum for deep and interesting conversation, but isn't there some point where you might consider putting your finger on the scale to help stop the slide into authoritarianism? This seems like the moment, maybe?

jLaForest 9mo ago
It's a matter of taking his finger off the scale... Stop taking down threads with productive discussion just because they conflict with your worldview (and financial interests)
- dang 9mo ago
  What you call "taking finger off scale" would turn HN into a politics / current affairs site. I know that some of you want that, and a few even wonder how we can possibly be so evil as not to do it, but it is simply not the kind of site that HN is. That is the case regardless of what terminology you use - fingers on scales, curation, moderation, - which are different ways of describing the same thing. I'm not sure why you need to invoke cynical motives for us running HN this way, since the reasons we give for this (which are quite real) explain things better. (for example, if we only cared about suppressing this stuff, why would HN be having frontpage threads about it at all? that doesn't make much sense.) But that's just me. I think it would help you guys to understand that most of the HN community, even most who agree with you politically, do not want us to throw in the towel and let HN become like the rest of the internet. Only a small portion of users want this, though they do post intense (and sometimes even aggressive) comments about it. Given that HN has always stuck to its mandate and that the community wants us to keep doing so, I don't see this as a close call.
  - LexiMax 9mo ago
    Most of the social spaces that I frequent don't have the amount of political topics posted as HN. Would you like to know the difference between those spaces and here? It's that in those spaces, regardless of if the members are left right or center, the community is on the same page in terms of authoritarians, and authoritarian apologia will get you tossed. Therefore, there isn't the same sort of desire - or need - to point out the obvious and show the uncomfortable realities to the crowd. Refusing to take a stand on this sort of thing and leaving it for the community to sort out will only make things worse. It's functionally no different than the kind of combative environment you get on major social media networks; the only difference is the amount of tone policing caused by the user-facing moderation tools.
  - jLaForest 9mo ago
    Currently there is not a single remotely political post on the front page, as the moderators intended. But yes I should believe you and not my lying eyes Not only could you not allow the article posted, but even my comment on your actions was flagged. Stop censuring criticism because it makes you uncomfortable
    - dang 9mo ago
      > Currently there is not a single remotely political post on the front page, as the moderators intended. But yes I should believe you and not my lying eyes This was on the frontpage for 18 hours yesterday: ICE using Palantir tool that feeds on Medicaid data - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756117 - Jan 2026 (861 comments). 18 hours is about as much coverage as any frontpage story gets. It was there when I posted my GP comment and for a good 7 or 8 hours after that. What you call "believing your eyes" depends on what you notice, which depends on how you feel (and particularly on what you dislike [1]). If you felt differently, you would notice different things and make different generalizations. (I don't mean you personally, of course—we're all this way.) Your comment seems to assume that there must be one or more political stories on HN's front page at all times. There's no such rule. I get that you want more—everyone wants more of their preferred topics on HN's front page, including me. You're simply at odds with the kind of site this is and what we optimize it for [2], as well as with the bulk of the community, which wants something different than what you want. Treating that as moral failings of evil admins, accusing us of lying and so on, is not an interpretation I think most people here would agree with. > even my comment on your actions was flagged. Stop censuring criticism because it makes you uncomfortable Most of your comments aren't flagged. If you're talking about https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758424 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758424, I imagine users flagged that one for being both false and aggressive. Anyone who reads HN regularly knows that there's tons of criticism here of the site, the admins, the community - in fact, every aspect of HN is constantly being criticized and complained about. It's a bit odd to call that "killing all discussion that is critical." [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20notice%20dislike&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que..., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=curiosity%20optimiz%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
Redoubts 9mo ago
> isn't there some point where you might consider putting your finger on the scale to help stop the slide into authoritarianism? This seems like the moment, maybe? posting isn't praxis. what do you think more articles on this site will achieve?

by smw 9mo ago

jLaForest 9mo ago

It's a matter of taking his finger off the scale... Stop taking down threads with productive discussion just because they conflict with your worldview (and financial interests)

dang 9mo ago
What you call "taking finger off scale" would turn HN into a politics / current affairs site. I know that some of you want that, and a few even wonder how we can possibly be so evil as not to do it, but it is simply not the kind of site that HN is. That is the case regardless of what terminology you use - fingers on scales, curation, moderation, - which are different ways of describing the same thing. I'm not sure why you need to invoke cynical motives for us running HN this way, since the reasons we give for this (which are quite real) explain things better. (for example, if we only cared about suppressing this stuff, why would HN be having frontpage threads about it at all? that doesn't make much sense.) But that's just me. I think it would help you guys to understand that most of the HN community, even most who agree with you politically, do not want us to throw in the towel and let HN become like the rest of the internet. Only a small portion of users want this, though they do post intense (and sometimes even aggressive) comments about it. Given that HN has always stuck to its mandate and that the community wants us to keep doing so, I don't see this as a close call.
- LexiMax 9mo ago
  Most of the social spaces that I frequent don't have the amount of political topics posted as HN. Would you like to know the difference between those spaces and here? It's that in those spaces, regardless of if the members are left right or center, the community is on the same page in terms of authoritarians, and authoritarian apologia will get you tossed. Therefore, there isn't the same sort of desire - or need - to point out the obvious and show the uncomfortable realities to the crowd. Refusing to take a stand on this sort of thing and leaving it for the community to sort out will only make things worse. It's functionally no different than the kind of combative environment you get on major social media networks; the only difference is the amount of tone policing caused by the user-facing moderation tools.
- jLaForest 9mo ago
  Currently there is not a single remotely political post on the front page, as the moderators intended. But yes I should believe you and not my lying eyes Not only could you not allow the article posted, but even my comment on your actions was flagged. Stop censuring criticism because it makes you uncomfortable
  - dang 9mo ago
    > Currently there is not a single remotely political post on the front page, as the moderators intended. But yes I should believe you and not my lying eyes This was on the frontpage for 18 hours yesterday: ICE using Palantir tool that feeds on Medicaid data - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756117 - Jan 2026 (861 comments). 18 hours is about as much coverage as any frontpage story gets. It was there when I posted my GP comment and for a good 7 or 8 hours after that. What you call "believing your eyes" depends on what you notice, which depends on how you feel (and particularly on what you dislike [1]). If you felt differently, you would notice different things and make different generalizations. (I don't mean you personally, of course—we're all this way.) Your comment seems to assume that there must be one or more political stories on HN's front page at all times. There's no such rule. I get that you want more—everyone wants more of their preferred topics on HN's front page, including me. You're simply at odds with the kind of site this is and what we optimize it for [2], as well as with the bulk of the community, which wants something different than what you want. Treating that as moral failings of evil admins, accusing us of lying and so on, is not an interpretation I think most people here would agree with. > even my comment on your actions was flagged. Stop censuring criticism because it makes you uncomfortable Most of your comments aren't flagged. If you're talking about https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758424 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758424, I imagine users flagged that one for being both false and aggressive. Anyone who reads HN regularly knows that there's tons of criticism here of the site, the admins, the community - in fact, every aspect of HN is constantly being criticized and complained about. It's a bit odd to call that "killing all discussion that is critical." [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20notice%20dislike&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que..., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=curiosity%20optimiz%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...

Redoubts 9mo ago

> isn't there some point where you might consider putting your finger on the scale to help stop the slide into authoritarianism? This seems like the moment, maybe? posting isn't praxis. what do you think more articles on this site will achieve?