3 ms·

One option would be non-alias usernames. Youtube seems to think this is the answer to poor-quality comments there, although I can see benefit for some HN posts

by graeham 14y ago

One option would be non-alias usernames. Youtube seems to think this is the answer to poor-quality comments there, although I can see benefit for some HN posts being anonymous. The world is a tough place and life is too short to get worn down by a few jerks on the internet hiding behind their keyboards. It can be tough to take criticism on work you spend hours writing, and someone writes a nasty comment having spent only minutes or seconds reading it. And even with dozens of good comments, one bad one can make you feel crumby. It is a shame because it discourages people from submitting good content, but I think its best to just ignore bad comments.

DanBC 14y ago
> One option would be non-alias usernames. Youtube seems to think this is the answer to poor-quality comments there YouTube also provides an excellent example of the total failure of the "real names improve comments". I strongly agree with the rest of your comment. Some people are jerks. One technique that it useful to ignore jerks is to take just a few moments to help control the thoughts caused. You sit with the unpleasant thoughts for a few moments. You work out what the "hot thought" is; you work out what the emotion is. You then work out what the evidence is for those, and how strongly you feel it. Then you think about the person making the comment, about why they might have made those comments (are they attacking you for a realistic reason, or are they just attacking a block of text on a screen, etc), you think about the good comments, and then you assess how strongly you still feel your hot thought and emotion. This process should be enough to interrupt the negative thoughts, which can sometimes churn and stay with people.
Semaphor 14y ago
While it would probably help on Reddit (though it'd be impossible to implement there), I think it mostly helps against pure trolls and hateful comments. I don't think that's a major problem on HN. The bad comments here (I'd say) are mostly people who are simply not that friendly in their personality and very direct in what they say. Now on HN most readers can't downvote but personally I prefer some bad comments being higher than they should to Reddits mainstream-opinions only approach. edit: Just realized that my HN account is from a time I used this pseudonym, pretty much everywhere else I'm found under my real name;)

by graeham 14y ago

DanBC 14y ago

> One option would be non-alias usernames. Youtube seems to think this is the answer to poor-quality comments there YouTube also provides an excellent example of the total failure of the "real names improve comments". I strongly agree with the rest of your comment. Some people are jerks. One technique that it useful to ignore jerks is to take just a few moments to help control the thoughts caused. You sit with the unpleasant thoughts for a few moments. You work out what the "hot thought" is; you work out what the emotion is. You then work out what the evidence is for those, and how strongly you feel it. Then you think about the person making the comment, about why they might have made those comments (are they attacking you for a realistic reason, or are they just attacking a block of text on a screen, etc), you think about the good comments, and then you assess how strongly you still feel your hot thought and emotion. This process should be enough to interrupt the negative thoughts, which can sometimes churn and stay with people.

Semaphor 14y ago

While it would probably help on Reddit (though it'd be impossible to implement there), I think it mostly helps against pure trolls and hateful comments. I don't think that's a major problem on HN. The bad comments here (I'd say) are mostly people who are simply not that friendly in their personality and very direct in what they say. Now on HN most readers can't downvote but personally I prefer some bad comments being higher than they should to Reddits mainstream-opinions only approach. edit: Just realized that my HN account is from a time I used this pseudonym, pretty much everywhere else I'm found under my real name;)