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Great move! HN is in dire need of this guideline. Someone could post the most amazing new project that they have worked months/years on, and the comments sectio

Great move! HN is in dire need of this guideline. Someone could post the most amazing new project that they have worked months/years on, and the comments section would inevitably have comments like "this is rubbish, completely unusable, security flaws here and there" etc etc

buckbova 12y ago
Aside from "this is rubbish" the rest of that sounds very constructive. Anyone with a product to share should want feedback. Doesn't mean that person needs to act on it. Also, if you are criticized, take a second to think about it before immediately defending yourself. The worst Show HN threads are where the OP feels the need to respond to every comment on the board to defend his or her project. Learn to take the criticism.
lnanek2 12y ago
People saying it is useless are useful, however, because you can see why it is useless to them and either accept it isn't part of your target market or change the product to include them. People just saying great things when they aren't allowed to be negative is kind of meaningless and unhelpful.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > People saying it is useless are useful, however, because you can see why it is useless to them No, people saying why it is useless (which is grounded, not gratuitous, negativity at worst) are useful for that reason. People merely saying that it is useless are not useful. > People just saying great things when they aren't allowed to be negative is kind of meaningless and unhelpful. A community guideline against gratuitous negativity cannot reasonably be expected to result in "people saying great things when they aren't allowed to be negative" because people are still allowed to be negative, and, in any case, people saying positive things with explanations are just as useful as people saying negative things with explanations.
feybay 12y ago
I'm not really sure what the problem with that is. Security flaws are important to know about, as well as personal opinions. We don't want HN to turn into a hugbox, as that gets rid of all the info that is useful. Positivity is nice, but criticism is what chips away at the block of marble until it becomes a beautiful statue.

buckbova 12y ago

Aside from "this is rubbish" the rest of that sounds very constructive. Anyone with a product to share should want feedback. Doesn't mean that person needs to act on it. Also, if you are criticized, take a second to think about it before immediately defending yourself. The worst Show HN threads are where the OP feels the need to respond to every comment on the board to defend his or her project. Learn to take the criticism.

lnanek2 12y ago

People saying it is useless are useful, however, because you can see why it is useless to them and either accept it isn't part of your target market or change the product to include them. People just saying great things when they aren't allowed to be negative is kind of meaningless and unhelpful.

dragonwriter 12y ago
> People saying it is useless are useful, however, because you can see why it is useless to them No, people saying why it is useless (which is grounded, not gratuitous, negativity at worst) are useful for that reason. People merely saying that it is useless are not useful. > People just saying great things when they aren't allowed to be negative is kind of meaningless and unhelpful. A community guideline against gratuitous negativity cannot reasonably be expected to result in "people saying great things when they aren't allowed to be negative" because people are still allowed to be negative, and, in any case, people saying positive things with explanations are just as useful as people saying negative things with explanations.

feybay 12y ago

I'm not really sure what the problem with that is. Security flaws are important to know about, as well as personal opinions. We don't want HN to turn into a hugbox, as that gets rid of all the info that is useful. Positivity is nice, but criticism is what chips away at the block of marble until it becomes a beautiful statue.