No. I prefer HN to be about the content, not its hominem. If country/etc is relevant for discussion it can be voluntarily mentioned.
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Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
11–20 of 43 posts
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#12No. I prefer HN to be about the content, not its hominem. If country/etc is relevant for discussion it can be voluntarily mentioned.
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>I understand your point, but sometimes the voluntary details are lies.
So?
Hacker News isn't a court of law, we're not under oath, nor are we here to adjudicate truth. People can lie here, and many probably do about numerous things.
Besides, the guidelines say you're always supposed to assume good faith anyway.
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#13The less HN behaves like a social media platform, the better.
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#14[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#15No. I prefer HN to be about the content, not its hominem. If country/etc is relevant for discussion it can be voluntarily mentioned.
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If you're looking to Hacker News comments for political insight like you hint at, you're expectations of the site are misaligned with what it's been established to be and what it's guidelines aim for. Seemingly, it's the same kind of misalignment that makes people loudly complain when political threads get flagged and killed.
This site is specifically a salon where a bunch of pseudonymous "too smart" nerds opine about topics that stimulate their curiosity, following guidelines on best-intent and good-faith that are essentially debate rules. Sometimes, amidst those discussions, you'll witness seemingly personal anecdotes or seemingly insider insights, which you should always be taking as a grain of salt, used only to drive (or repel) your own curiosity and desire for more discussion and debate.
It's not a great place for earnest politics, activism, or anything so serious and existential. And because it doesn't aim to be, it doesn't beg for disclosures like location. As long as you can "talk the talk" here, and follow the guidelines, you're welcome to participate in the discussion how you'd like, without being measured by your person, its history, or its geography. Its great to have a place like that online.
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#16Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#17The less HN behaves like a social media platform, the better.
This.
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#18I would consider this a form of doxing -- to retroactively share information that was nonpublic upon joining would be a serious breach of trust.
Keep in mind things aren't always what they seem -- I remember a heatmap going up of where "MAGA" accounts were operated. Unsurprisingly, there was a big chunk in places like St. Petersburg, but there were also hotspots in several middle eastern countries with have large US troop presence.
Keep in mind the guidelines state:
>Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents, and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data.
Frankly, due to the strict guidlines here I suspect most state sponsored trolls would stick to places like Reddit where it's easier to disrupt things with contentious posts.
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#19No. I prefer HN to be about the content, not its hominem. If country/etc is relevant for discussion it can be voluntarily mentioned.
> I prefer HN to be about the content, not its hominem.
Green accounts come to mind :^)
Re: Ask HN: Should account creation/origin country be displayed on HN profiles?
#20Given Tor and VPN, and the fact that both are fully acceptable to connect to HN - as far as I know - this would add nothing of substance.
The reason why it works on Elon's kingdom is that - as far as I know - the Onion services died when Elon took over (because the people who cared about those simply left) and over at X - as far as I understand - they really, really try and discourage you from connecting and posting from Tor and VPN.
Also, when people turn discussions into absolute flame wars or decide to post stuff which could turn nasty in the comment section there's always dang. And believe me when I say that even when community moderation fails for whatever reason the rules (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) will get enforced when needed.