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Is this seriously what HN has come to recently? Ever since the NSA revelations, that most of us have been assuming for a while anyways, I can't visit this site

by edias 13y ago

Is this seriously what HN has come to recently? Ever since the NSA revelations, that most of us have been assuming for a while anyways, I can't visit this site without seeing a front page articles about abuse by the government or a snarky comment like this. Not saying this particular article is unwarranted but you get my point. Yes, HN is for more than just tech and I love many of the articles that wind up on this site but I disagree that biased politics should be a cornerstone. Yes, the government is far over reaching it's bounds, I don't think many people on this site would disagree with that, but when it gets to the point where I have to read a comment related to the NSA in every single thread, regardless of it's relevance, it gets tiresome. Nothing is being added to the discussion, just emotionally charged comments like the one above. The "preaching to the quire" metaphore could not be more applicable to this situation. HN is not a sight to raise awareness on, we all know. I've only been on this site for about 2.5 years now so I'm far from a veteran, but I have seen two major events that have caused a wave of pointless comments. 1) NSA spying revelations as stated above. 2) Google reader shutting down - Companies discontinue old products in favor of new potentially more popular ones. Get over it, there's plenty of alternatives and I don't care that every time a Google product launches you're hesitant to use it because "what if Google discontinues it?". Just like the NSA, stop bringing up stuff everyone knows. Can we stick to topics that actually raise discussion please.

smokeyj 13y ago
> Can we stick to topics that actually raise discussion please. Is everyone trying to be ironic?
jol 13y ago
>Just like the NSA, stop bringing up stuff everyone knows. Google reader shutdown, ok, many geeks used it, there is alternatives.. blablabla. But are you saying that NSA spying on everyone should be just another minor fact, I don't get it. Doesn't it seem wrong to you that someone is listening to ALL your digital communications/actions?
- edias 13y ago
  I am in no way saying it isn't a problem or we shouldn't talk about it. It's terrible what the NSA is doing. All I'm saying is my HN experience has noticeably decreased do to the massive amount of shallow comments these topics bring. Call your representatives if you want to make a difference, flooding a tech forum with political comments isn't going to do anything.
  - jol 13y ago
    What about persons outside US? the thing is that wile this does not directly influence, there are at least discussion about ethics of this and whether this really right action, thus at least (all else held constant) decreasing pool of IT professionals that are willing to support this with their labor. As side note, this surveillance should not be just noted and forgotten. Most of comments are not much political. (i.e. I see them as discussion of ethics/morales, not as person/party x agenda pushing/discussion)

by edias 13y ago

smokeyj 13y ago

> Can we stick to topics that actually raise discussion please. Is everyone trying to be ironic?

jol 13y ago

>Just like the NSA, stop bringing up stuff everyone knows. Google reader shutdown, ok, many geeks used it, there is alternatives.. blablabla. But are you saying that NSA spying on everyone should be just another minor fact, I don't get it. Doesn't it seem wrong to you that someone is listening to ALL your digital communications/actions?

edias 13y ago
I am in no way saying it isn't a problem or we shouldn't talk about it. It's terrible what the NSA is doing. All I'm saying is my HN experience has noticeably decreased do to the massive amount of shallow comments these topics bring. Call your representatives if you want to make a difference, flooding a tech forum with political comments isn't going to do anything.
- jol 13y ago
  What about persons outside US? the thing is that wile this does not directly influence, there are at least discussion about ethics of this and whether this really right action, thus at least (all else held constant) decreasing pool of IT professionals that are willing to support this with their labor. As side note, this surveillance should not be just noted and forgotten. Most of comments are not much political. (i.e. I see them as discussion of ethics/morales, not as person/party x agenda pushing/discussion)