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I've seen anti-AI comments here disappear within minutes of posting. I'm honestly surprised to see one at the top of this thread. What causes comments to disap

I've seen anti-AI comments here disappear within minutes of posting. I'm honestly surprised to see one at the top of this thread. What causes comments to disappear? Is that what flagging does?

mrspuratic 6mo ago
showdead=no in user settings hides flagged & moderator killed posts
- maplethorpe 6mo ago
  I tried setting showdead=yes but two comments I remember seeing earlier today (as replies to one of my comments) are still gone. Does anyone what else might have happened to them?
  - netruk44 6mo ago
    Maybe the posters might have deleted the comments themselves? I often post comments on HN, just to delete them 5 minutes later when I realize I don’t care to deal with the replies I’ll eventually get. You have to be quick because if someone does reply, you can no longer delete your message.
    - maplethorpe 6mo ago
      I didn't realise messages even had a delete button. I'm going to reply here so I can check. edit: you're right, there's a delete button.
    - bluebarbet 6mo ago
      One benefit of this forum is that they purposely passed over notifications precisely to save us from the temptation to "deal with" replies.
      - netruk44 6mo ago
        And I very much appreciate that feature, and hope it never changes. However when I make comments here, I do it with the intention of reading what people have to say in response. If I am making a comment with the intention to ignore the responses to it, then that’s a good signal for myself that what I am writing is likely not an appropriate comment for HN, and then delete it.
api 6mo ago
You probably see that because many are low effort Reddit level comments. I’ve seen lots of long AI skeptic threads and people talking about the likely negatives of AI.
lxgr 6mo ago
I see properly argued positions, even if very anti-AI, hang around, but cheap tribalist takes usually get downvoted pretty quickly.
- rasKqa 6mo ago
  Cheap pro-AI comments don't get flagged though. You can repeat the same talking points forever: - "Artists have always been exploited" (patently false since at least 1950, it was a symbiosis with the industry). - "Humans have always done $X". - "You are a Luddite." - "This is inevitable."
  - lxgr 6mo ago
    Personally I’d downvote these if not further substantiated. Flags are reserved for outright rage bait or personal insults for me. At least I hope; can’t say I always perfectly follow “up/downvote doesn’t indicate (dis)agreement but rather contribution to the discussion” perfectly.

I've seen anti-AI comments here disappear within minutes of posting. I'm honestly surprised to see one at the top of this thread. What causes comments to disappear? Is that what flagging does?

mrspuratic 6mo ago

showdead=no in user settings hides flagged & moderator killed posts

maplethorpe 6mo ago
I tried setting showdead=yes but two comments I remember seeing earlier today (as replies to one of my comments) are still gone. Does anyone what else might have happened to them?
- netruk44 6mo ago
  Maybe the posters might have deleted the comments themselves? I often post comments on HN, just to delete them 5 minutes later when I realize I don’t care to deal with the replies I’ll eventually get. You have to be quick because if someone does reply, you can no longer delete your message.
  - maplethorpe 6mo ago
    I didn't realise messages even had a delete button. I'm going to reply here so I can check. edit: you're right, there's a delete button.
  - bluebarbet 6mo ago
    One benefit of this forum is that they purposely passed over notifications precisely to save us from the temptation to "deal with" replies.
    - netruk44 6mo ago
      And I very much appreciate that feature, and hope it never changes. However when I make comments here, I do it with the intention of reading what people have to say in response. If I am making a comment with the intention to ignore the responses to it, then that’s a good signal for myself that what I am writing is likely not an appropriate comment for HN, and then delete it.

api 6mo ago

You probably see that because many are low effort Reddit level comments. I’ve seen lots of long AI skeptic threads and people talking about the likely negatives of AI.

lxgr 6mo ago

I see properly argued positions, even if very anti-AI, hang around, but cheap tribalist takes usually get downvoted pretty quickly.

rasKqa 6mo ago
Cheap pro-AI comments don't get flagged though. You can repeat the same talking points forever: - "Artists have always been exploited" (patently false since at least 1950, it was a symbiosis with the industry). - "Humans have always done $X". - "You are a Luddite." - "This is inevitable."
- lxgr 6mo ago
  Personally I’d downvote these if not further substantiated. Flags are reserved for outright rage bait or personal insults for me. At least I hope; can’t say I always perfectly follow “up/downvote doesn’t indicate (dis)agreement but rather contribution to the discussion” perfectly.