Lately I've been wondering after joining Hn and learning about what it is, is it possible to keep an online community from turning into Reddit or even 4chan? The opposite of that is Stack Overflow, which in an attempt to avoid decrease in quality, established itself as a toxic over moderated community, where almost everything gets downvoted and closed, and if not, edited to be so far from the original post that the entire question changes. As opposed to Reddit, which is so full of superficial fluff and under moderation that it is more of a place were people go for like/upvotes/karma. Not for discussing or creating something of actual value. So I ask, do you think it is possible for an online community to keep itself in that sweet spot between Reddit and Stack Overflow for as long as it is relevant? Also, where is Hn in that spectrum?
Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
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Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#2It's down to curation and self-policing. I regard both of those as motivation led and requiring periodic re-inforcement.
Hn is mostly in a sweet spot and moves between brilliant and worrysome.
Some people dislike it intensely, and semi-troll about both "dang is a dictator" and "you are hive mind, you have no freedoms here"
This isn't a free speech channel: its a private domain, it's used under terms, and we respect that to achieve an outcome of mutuality. If you don't like the terms of the mutuality, or the outcome, you probably don't fit, but you arn't excluded as much as you get signals of disrespect and occasionally get told you aren't being heard, noting that there are ways to see everyone, the flagged included.
I don't entirely understand the shadowban method as applied here, I don't even know it exists: It would not necessarily be wrong because its a method, a mechanism which has immense power.
In the forward life of Hn I expect a couple of things. Firstly, it will change. Secondly, it may not change for the better: it's not a given. Thirdly, it could even break down entirely.
It's not a forum, but ALDAILY is an example of an individually curated space which changed hands. An interesting question: can Hn survive a change of hand on the tiller?
George Megalogenis is an Australian political commentator who ran a blog with comments for while which had this header: "My house, my rules" and he admonished posters in public (which is rarely considered appropriate) saying "nope: you're a mind-sucking troll. good bye" and the like. It was a good non-snarky conversation under his house rules.
[Edit: I should add, I've penalised here for being off topic and unhelpful, for being random, reddit-like, for being silly and abusive. I don't approve of my own behaviour all the time, the point is not to be driven away, the point is to learn how to adopt the mode which works here. If that kind of conformity to norms displeases you, then it can be hard to sustain being here, but I don't personally regard it as an onerous burden any more than being asked to be civil in public discourse is. I was also a heckler in my student days, fun times, but I wouldn't do that now]
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#3I actually think reddit is pretty good. Just need to pick the right ones.
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#4I actually think reddit is pretty good. Just need to pick the right ones.
It can be, but the problem is that the good subreddits are only take one click for someone to join them, and thus they are not isolated at all from the broader community of Reddit and the broader community of Reddit being what it is that sub reddit inevitably degrades. But yes, some subreddits are nice.
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#5[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#6Depends on subreddit.
Birds of feather flock together.
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#7It's down to curation and self-policing. I regard both of those as motivation led and requiring periodic re-inforcement. Hn is mostly in a sweet spot and moves between brilliant and worrysome. Some people dislike it intensely, and semi-troll about both "dang is a dictator" and "you are hive mind, you have no freedoms here" This isn't a free speech channel: its a private domain, it's used under terms, and we respect t…
Hm, thats all food for thought. Btw I don't think that you are being off-topic.
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#8Depends on subreddit. Birds of feather flock together.
True, but then this happens: https://theconversation.com/why-do-flocks-of-birds-swoop-and...
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#9It's sad to say but HN won't last forever either.
Re: Ask HN: How to keep an online community from downgrading to Reddit like quality
#10It's down to curation and self-policing. I regard both of those as motivation led and requiring periodic re-inforcement. Hn is mostly in a sweet spot and moves between brilliant and worrysome. Some people dislike it intensely, and semi-troll about both "dang is a dictator" and "you are hive mind, you have no freedoms here" This isn't a free speech channel: its a private domain, it's used under terms, and we respect t…
Hm, thats all food for thought. Btw I don't think that you are being off-topic.
"here" meaning off-topic in HN, for other topics. I've been penalised for my posting behaviour across HN in the wide. I don't wish to complain, I only observe it for completeness' sake.
Most recently I was accused of being ChatGPT. I found it both amusing and chilling: If we're that close to banning people who "look like" a robot, I think we're in a bad place but that said, I would hate to think I'm responding to GPT inputs when I type responses, so I can see why people complain.