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Abundance of throw-away accounts to express a potentially unpopular opinion is a good evidence of a groupthink environment. People either afraid to lose karma o

by znowi 13y ago

Abundance of throw-away accounts to express a potentially unpopular opinion is a good evidence of a groupthink environment. People either afraid to lose karma or be scrutinized or otherwise upset the mods. I can often see people opening their comments with a hefty preamble, which goal is to justify the following controversial opinion, in hopes that it will not bring or at least lessen the wrath of the mob. And of course people like their idols, too. When PG makes a comment - it's a godsend and instantly attracts the fervent following. In a similar manner, there's no lack of ardent supporters of Google that will rationalize any move by the company in a way that is good for the world.

crusso 13y ago
Yeah, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes people support PG, Google, Apple, etc. because those people or organizations have a proven track record and despite stock market legal disclaimers, past history is indicative of future results. The funny thing is that HN is the ultimate in technical austerity. The only thing it really has going for it is the influence of PG and the moderators... yet there are those who call out those things as being a problem.
jlgreco 13y ago
> Abundance of throw-away accounts to express a potentially unpopular opinion is a good evidence of a groupthink environment. It is evidence of nothing more than somebody wanting to make a poorly considered comment without the negative ramifications associated with typing before you think. HN loves people who are willing to be contrarian. The 'leaders' list is absolutely littered with people who spend most of their time disagreeing with the bulk of the site. They get upvoted, not downvoted, because they express their disagreement well. Throwaway commenters typically get downvoted not because they are going against the grain but because they make very low quality comments.

by znowi 13y ago

crusso 13y ago

Yeah, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes people support PG, Google, Apple, etc. because those people or organizations have a proven track record and despite stock market legal disclaimers, past history is indicative of future results. The funny thing is that HN is the ultimate in technical austerity. The only thing it really has going for it is the influence of PG and the moderators... yet there are those who call out those things as being a problem.

jlgreco 13y ago

> Abundance of throw-away accounts to express a potentially unpopular opinion is a good evidence of a groupthink environment. It is evidence of nothing more than somebody wanting to make a poorly considered comment without the negative ramifications associated with typing before you think. HN loves people who are willing to be contrarian. The 'leaders' list is absolutely littered with people who spend most of their time disagreeing with the bulk of the site. They get upvoted, not downvoted, because they express their disagreement well. Throwaway commenters typically get downvoted not because they are going against the grain but because they make very low quality comments.