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Something that keeps bringing me back to HN specifically (over the likes of Reddit, Twitter, etc.) is the sheer intelligence of conversations. More often than

by tannerc 12y ago

Something that keeps bringing me back to HN specifically (over the likes of Reddit, Twitter, etc.) is the sheer intelligence of conversations. More often than not I'll find myself skimming through the discussion here before exploring the linked material. The reasoning behind why people feel something deserves to be "front paged" and the insights that domain experts offer in the discussion is what (I feel) makes HN valuable. Taking away the brainy aspect behind how the community works would be an interesting experiment, alas one I wouldn't want to see _replace_ what we have today. "Things smart people think are cool" is nearly an understatement.

gabemart 12y ago
This is exactly what people on reddit used to say about reddit six or seven years ago. I have to believe the decline in general quality, and the quality of the front page most of all, in reddit could happen in some form to HN, without vigilance on the part of users and mods.
- krapp 12y ago
  Ironically, dang himself just got accused of posting something "not worthy" of HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692 There seems to be a remarkable difference between what people feel HN should be, and what it actually is. "Quality" seems to be more of a sliding scale which correlates to personal bias, and perhaps, a feeling of alienation brought about by a diverse community, than anything objective.
- mey 12y ago
  The community will drive to a common form which is shaped by the community managers (mods and power users). I believe @pg gets that and the people taking over also get. Additionally some users may simple outgrow the community even if the community stays exactly the same. I think HN gets a lot of things right to foster what I enjoy, which is intelligent conversations about a wide variety of forward looking topics. I think the biggest risk at the moment is spamming the site with what are essentially targeted ads/click bait because of the user base is, but for the most part the front page is decently curated.
- tannerc 12y ago
  Interestingly, as long as the discussions continue to contain valuable — and often educated — insights, I personally think there's still enough value to keep coming back to HN there alone. The subjective quality of links themselves may shift as the community ages, but it's the well-thought-out discussions and insights within them which are arguably often more worthwhile than the linked content itself. It's worth mentioning that comments which don't seem to add much to the conversation are often down voted lately, which is promising.
zo1 12y ago
Agreed. This used to be the case with Slashdot, but that became a shithole with the new management. Sorry for the language, but as a long-time reader and commenter on Slashdot, I was very bitter when stuff started going downhill. I've found HN to be a very good alternative. The comments/discussions were a bit iffy to get into at first with some trigger-happy downmods, but overall I think the conversation is very constructive. And there is a dearth of information and helpful things being said.
- hessenwolf 12y ago
  Where's the dearth?
  - zo1 12y ago
    [..]being said/posted on HN. Sorry, should have elaborated that sentence.
    - ams6110 12y ago
      Did you mean wealth? Otherwise I'm confused by your statement.
      - zo1 12y ago
        Wow, dearth does NOT mean what I though it does. Anyways, I meant to say "lots", which is the complete opposite of dearth. Thanks for being confused :)
        hessenwolf 12y ago
        Just a subtle prod in the right direction :) I actually went and looked up 'dearth' just to be sure it meant 'lack of'.

by tannerc 12y ago

gabemart 12y ago

This is exactly what people on reddit used to say about reddit six or seven years ago. I have to believe the decline in general quality, and the quality of the front page most of all, in reddit could happen in some form to HN, without vigilance on the part of users and mods.

krapp 12y ago
Ironically, dang himself just got accused of posting something "not worthy" of HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692 There seems to be a remarkable difference between what people feel HN should be, and what it actually is. "Quality" seems to be more of a sliding scale which correlates to personal bias, and perhaps, a feeling of alienation brought about by a diverse community, than anything objective.
mey 12y ago
The community will drive to a common form which is shaped by the community managers (mods and power users). I believe @pg gets that and the people taking over also get. Additionally some users may simple outgrow the community even if the community stays exactly the same. I think HN gets a lot of things right to foster what I enjoy, which is intelligent conversations about a wide variety of forward looking topics. I think the biggest risk at the moment is spamming the site with what are essentially targeted ads/click bait because of the user base is, but for the most part the front page is decently curated.
tannerc 12y ago
Interestingly, as long as the discussions continue to contain valuable — and often educated — insights, I personally think there's still enough value to keep coming back to HN there alone. The subjective quality of links themselves may shift as the community ages, but it's the well-thought-out discussions and insights within them which are arguably often more worthwhile than the linked content itself. It's worth mentioning that comments which don't seem to add much to the conversation are often down voted lately, which is promising.

zo1 12y ago

Agreed. This used to be the case with Slashdot, but that became a shithole with the new management. Sorry for the language, but as a long-time reader and commenter on Slashdot, I was very bitter when stuff started going downhill. I've found HN to be a very good alternative. The comments/discussions were a bit iffy to get into at first with some trigger-happy downmods, but overall I think the conversation is very constructive. And there is a dearth of information and helpful things being said.

hessenwolf 12y ago
Where's the dearth?
- zo1 12y ago
  [..]being said/posted on HN. Sorry, should have elaborated that sentence.
  - ams6110 12y ago
    Did you mean wealth? Otherwise I'm confused by your statement.
    - zo1 12y ago
      Wow, dearth does NOT mean what I though it does. Anyways, I meant to say "lots", which is the complete opposite of dearth. Thanks for being confused :)
      - hessenwolf 12y ago
        Just a subtle prod in the right direction :) I actually went and looked up 'dearth' just to be sure it meant 'lack of'.