4 ms·

Who Cares What People Write?

14 points by peter123 17y ago

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
- pxlpshr 17y ago
  N.B. Although the S/N here is often quite poor, it is at least an order of magnitude better than other places I know about. At least once a day I read an article that is very much worth my time. I think this is a very ego-centric remark that I don't particularly care for given my experience here, especially since it appears you just copy/pasted the same comment from the Dreamers article into this thread. Accident? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=635275 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=635275
  - spitfire 17y ago
    Yes it was. and yes it is. I value my grey matter and time, I don't enjoy wasting it on trivial tat.
vaksel 17y ago
a) seems like a major portion of this article is dedicated for Cuban to coin the "outtie" term. b) Its pretty striking how Cuban's message is pretty much 180 degrees of Gary Vaynerchuk's, one bends over backwards chasing down the most obscure blogger/twitter to try to repair his brand, before it gets damaged, while the other pretty much ignores the little guys until the problem becomes mainstream
madair 17y ago
I write because I like to participate. I think lots of people do. Not everyone cares about being "discovered". Not everyone is hungry. Some of us just want to participate.
- Confusion 17y ago
  That does prompt for some soul searching: why do you 'like to participate'? What is your motivation for spending time and energy to pen down your thoughts? You may not feel the need to answer that question. If (not 'when') the moment comes when you wonder about it, you should realize that 'I just like ...' cannot possibly be the ultimate answer. I think that in the end, most of us (read: I) simply seek confirmation. We like nothing more than approval. That is probably why I actually feel bad when someone shreds my argument or when I'm voted down. If the participation itself was gratifying, that wouldn't be the case. If I was out to teach, I should be happy that someone corrects me. There are many possible motivations for participating online, but only your deepest feelings surrounding your participation can identify your actual motivation.
  - madair 17y ago
    Perhaps a better term is to socialize. In a sense that's simplistic, but I think it has roots in the oldest social behaviors, but I'm no expert.
  - bendtheblock 17y ago
    For me, writing/commenting is a great way of improving my own understanding of the topic, since it requires focus and some research. So in keeping with that, blogging is simply good QA for my writing. Publishing is like the difference between running a site with a large userbase and one that doesn't - in the former you feel more pressure or responsibility to do your best. Confirmation is something that we all seek but arguing online and with friends has also taught me that being challenged can only ever be healthy for your beliefs, to use Mill's words in On Liberty, it yields "[a] clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." - whether the error is the opponent's or my own
    - Confusion 17y ago
      I fully agree that discussions are often very educational and can change your beliefs for the better, but sometimes you aren't so much corrected and taught as disregarded, ridiculed, admonished or beaten down. That doesn't sit well for a short while, even if I agree it was an appropriate response.
madair 17y ago
It will be interesting to see whether history proves him right or wrong in his admonition to not bother responding. The invisible separation between the famous and the not so famous is getting thinner. The cost of not engaging with the commoners may be high. Mark Cuban himself does somewhat engage, perhaps not as much as it might appear he does. However, it's a crowded field, and only getting more crowded, and the ones who do engage may end up with more influence. It's all abstract speculation though, and I think only time will tell.

14 points by peter123 17y ago

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

pxlpshr 17y ago
N.B. Although the S/N here is often quite poor, it is at least an order of magnitude better than other places I know about. At least once a day I read an article that is very much worth my time. I think this is a very ego-centric remark that I don't particularly care for given my experience here, especially since it appears you just copy/pasted the same comment from the Dreamers article into this thread. Accident? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=635275 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=635275
- spitfire 17y ago
  Yes it was. and yes it is. I value my grey matter and time, I don't enjoy wasting it on trivial tat.

vaksel 17y ago

a) seems like a major portion of this article is dedicated for Cuban to coin the "outtie" term. b) Its pretty striking how Cuban's message is pretty much 180 degrees of Gary Vaynerchuk's, one bends over backwards chasing down the most obscure blogger/twitter to try to repair his brand, before it gets damaged, while the other pretty much ignores the little guys until the problem becomes mainstream

madair 17y ago

I write because I like to participate. I think lots of people do. Not everyone cares about being "discovered". Not everyone is hungry. Some of us just want to participate.

Confusion 17y ago
That does prompt for some soul searching: why do you 'like to participate'? What is your motivation for spending time and energy to pen down your thoughts? You may not feel the need to answer that question. If (not 'when') the moment comes when you wonder about it, you should realize that 'I just like ...' cannot possibly be the ultimate answer. I think that in the end, most of us (read: I) simply seek confirmation. We like nothing more than approval. That is probably why I actually feel bad when someone shreds my argument or when I'm voted down. If the participation itself was gratifying, that wouldn't be the case. If I was out to teach, I should be happy that someone corrects me. There are many possible motivations for participating online, but only your deepest feelings surrounding your participation can identify your actual motivation.
- madair 17y ago
  Perhaps a better term is to socialize. In a sense that's simplistic, but I think it has roots in the oldest social behaviors, but I'm no expert.
- bendtheblock 17y ago
  For me, writing/commenting is a great way of improving my own understanding of the topic, since it requires focus and some research. So in keeping with that, blogging is simply good QA for my writing. Publishing is like the difference between running a site with a large userbase and one that doesn't - in the former you feel more pressure or responsibility to do your best. Confirmation is something that we all seek but arguing online and with friends has also taught me that being challenged can only ever be healthy for your beliefs, to use Mill's words in On Liberty, it yields "[a] clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." - whether the error is the opponent's or my own
  - Confusion 17y ago
    I fully agree that discussions are often very educational and can change your beliefs for the better, but sometimes you aren't so much corrected and taught as disregarded, ridiculed, admonished or beaten down. That doesn't sit well for a short while, even if I agree it was an appropriate response.

madair 17y ago

It will be interesting to see whether history proves him right or wrong in his admonition to not bother responding. The invisible separation between the famous and the not so famous is getting thinner. The cost of not engaging with the commoners may be high. Mark Cuban himself does somewhat engage, perhaps not as much as it might appear he does. However, it's a crowded field, and only getting more crowded, and the ones who do engage may end up with more influence. It's all abstract speculation though, and I think only time will tell.