4 ms·

Is there any online discussion place that isn't to some degree an echo chamber?

by jiggy2011 13y ago

afreak 13y ago
That is exactly it. We're all here to discuss the same thing and as a result you begin to see traits of an echo chamber within the comments. It's unavoidable really. What I think HN's biggest problem is story repetition, which can lead to the echo chamber being enlarged. It's not a problem today, but when Snowden's news began to hit HN for days on end, it would have been nice to combine the discussion for all the news stories in order to avoid having other stories drowned out. I am certain that other important news stories were drowned out when the front page was effectively 100% Snowden. This isn't to say that Snowden's story wasn't important (it was and still is), but similar stories from other sources should be able to keep it at the top instead of having multiple discussions on the same topic coming about.
lmm 13y ago
4chan. Anonymous (well, you can use a trip, but you'll be mocked for it). No downvotes. Very limited moderation, and what there is has a lot of transparency. There's, inevitably, a lot of low-level trolling, but you also get some amazingly original insights.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  4chan [...] amazingly original insights. On /b/? Where?
  - VLM 13y ago
    I believe the signal to noise ratio hovering around -20 dB has some inherent linkage with what we're discussing. Different behavior results, sure, but look at the cost. Whats the SNR on HN, -3 dB, -6 dB maybe? Would HN readers tolerate HN turning into mostly garbage with a handful of precious gems?
  - kybernetyk 13y ago
    /b/ is not 4chan. I for one find the /int/ board pretty interesting (less the racist bullshit that's posted from time to time to troll people).
  - angersock 13y ago
    /diy/ has some really great maker resources, /g/ has good consumer information (mixed in with a lot of flamebait; daily programming threads are useless), the cooking board and the comics board have some good stuff. Basically, the reason it can do these things is that nobody takes themselves too seriously--the whole affair is rather tongue in cheek.
- nether 13y ago
  /trv/ has a remarkable ongoing discussion on living and working in Antarctica: https://boards.4chan.org/trv/res/751390 https://boards.4chan.org/trv/res/751390. There was also one about working on freight ships.
- simias 13y ago
  Yes and no, maybe on /b/ but not really on the other boards. For instance /v/ is mostly very sexist, /pol/ is mostly very antisemitic. Even when there's no voting/karma of any sort if an idea gets a lot of traction at some point people who disagree will get flamed and passed a certain point will give up/stop discussing the topic/leave the forum for some other place. When someone posts a very unpopular opinion it can't be downvoted, of course, but it will either be ignored or flamed until the thread gets completely train-wrecked/expired/killed by the mods.
kmfrk 13y ago
Communities with good moderation, yes. Something Awful and certain subreddits for example.
- jiggy2011 13y ago
  Which subreddits in particular?
- afreak 13y ago
  SA moderation is only successful because it costs you at least $10 USD to restore a banned account.
  - 011011100 13y ago
    And that's a great policy.

Is there any online discussion place that isn't to some degree an echo chamber?

That is exactly it. We're all here to discuss the same thing and as a result you begin to see traits of an echo chamber within the comments. It's unavoidable really. What I think HN's biggest problem is story repetition, which can lead to the echo chamber being enlarged. It's not a problem today, but when Snowden's news began to hit HN for days on end, it would have been nice to combine the discussion for all the news stories in order to avoid having other stories drowned out. I am certain that other important news stories were drowned out when the front page was effectively 100% Snowden. This isn't to say that Snowden's story wasn't important (it was and still is), but similar stories from other sources should be able to keep it at the top instead of having multiple discussions on the same topic coming about.

lmm 13y ago

4chan. Anonymous (well, you can use a trip, but you'll be mocked for it). No downvotes. Very limited moderation, and what there is has a lot of transparency. There's, inevitably, a lot of low-level trolling, but you also get some amazingly original insights.

sillysaurus2 13y ago
4chan [...] amazingly original insights. On /b/? Where?
- VLM 13y ago
  I believe the signal to noise ratio hovering around -20 dB has some inherent linkage with what we're discussing. Different behavior results, sure, but look at the cost. Whats the SNR on HN, -3 dB, -6 dB maybe? Would HN readers tolerate HN turning into mostly garbage with a handful of precious gems?
- kybernetyk 13y ago
  /b/ is not 4chan. I for one find the /int/ board pretty interesting (less the racist bullshit that's posted from time to time to troll people).
- angersock 13y ago
  /diy/ has some really great maker resources, /g/ has good consumer information (mixed in with a lot of flamebait; daily programming threads are useless), the cooking board and the comics board have some good stuff. Basically, the reason it can do these things is that nobody takes themselves too seriously--the whole affair is rather tongue in cheek.
nether 13y ago
/trv/ has a remarkable ongoing discussion on living and working in Antarctica: https://boards.4chan.org/trv/res/751390 https://boards.4chan.org/trv/res/751390. There was also one about working on freight ships.
simias 13y ago
Yes and no, maybe on /b/ but not really on the other boards. For instance /v/ is mostly very sexist, /pol/ is mostly very antisemitic. Even when there's no voting/karma of any sort if an idea gets a lot of traction at some point people who disagree will get flamed and passed a certain point will give up/stop discussing the topic/leave the forum for some other place. When someone posts a very unpopular opinion it can't be downvoted, of course, but it will either be ignored or flamed until the thread gets completely train-wrecked/expired/killed by the mods.

kmfrk 13y ago

Communities with good moderation, yes. Something Awful and certain subreddits for example.

jiggy2011 13y ago
Which subreddits in particular?
afreak 13y ago
SA moderation is only successful because it costs you at least $10 USD to restore a banned account.
- 011011100 13y ago
  And that's a great policy.