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Just for myself: most of the smarta$$ remarks waste my time. I'm looking for interesting information, and they don't provide any.
by adamc 17y ago
Just for myself: most of the smarta$$ remarks waste my time. I'm looking for interesting information, and they don't provide any.
- Radix 17y agoI don't know. Generally I agree, but did you see this http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079 I don't know anywhere else that this would have happened. On HN if it isn't genuinely funny then it gets voted down so I'm ok with it. I made a completely useless comment yesterday that was down voted; I won't do that again so easily.
- russell 17y agoSame experience for me, but the HN karma system has made me a more thoughtful commenter. Humor within a substantive comment is a whole lot more work than a one-liner, but I'll work at it.
- trickjarrett 17y agoA corollary. As you noted, humor on its own is usually regarded as noise in the HN environment, but if it is tagged onto an insightful comment then it tends to be better received.
- boundlessdreamz 17y agoExactly. The problem is that "smart$$ comments" are easier to write than a thoughtful reply. So pretty soon everyone gets into a game of one upmanship and every thread will have 80% "smart$$ comments". This why I no longer read reddit comments. On slashdot I browse at +5 keeping out much of the noise. Thankfully in HN, I was relieved to know that such comments are not tolerated by majority. I have downvoted quite a lot of "smart$$" comments but never something that added original thought. I come to HN for comments that educate, inform and make me think. If i wanted a good laugh I would go to bash.org
- Angostura 17y agoThat's why on Slashdot a +1 Funny vote will not earn the poster any karma.
- tptacek 17y agoYou know what's even less valuable than smarta$$ remarks? Dumba$$ responses to them. I disagree with edw519; not all downmods require explanatory comments.
- physcab 17y agoIs anyone else getting sick of all the "Ask HN: [complaining]" threads? I understand the situation. People need to chill out. If you've got some beef with another user, just contact them personally. I, like you, just want to read interesting things. Maybe there should be a sticky thing like in other forums for personal conduct expectations.
- amackera 17y agoIf there is one thing above all else that hackers love to do, it's self-reflect. The "Ask HN" threads are just extending this self-reflection to this special something we all love and enjoy (HN!).
- badger7 17y agoThere's a world of difference between self-reflection and self-congratulation, seldom noticed by those practising the latter.