the comments on this post -- the apologia, the denials, the profusion of fine distinctions -- is a damning and powerful body of evidence for the claim presented.
Congrats, HN. You played yourself.
Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
11–20 of 43 posts
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#12Can HN be toxic? Absolutely. Was it toxic in the situation the author was describing? I think reasonable people can have a discussion about this, but for arguments sake let’s say yes. Is HN generally a positive non toxic environment? Yep! Hugely so. HN is a remarkably diverse community. Perhaps not always from a gender perspective, but definitely in terms of background and means. I can personally attest to this as I…
> Is HN generally a positive non toxic environment? Yep!
Don't kid yourself. HN mods don't tolerate any disagreeable speech. It's very difficult from Reddit in this way, where possible discordant speech is better tolerated. They very commonly shadowban users for it. This must be my fifth HN account! Given that I now posted this disagreeable comment, it probably won't be the last.
> We’re always going to be imperfect as a community
You mean imperfect as mods. The community is what is is.
> Growth comes from points of discomfort
You understand this and I do too, but the mods don't.
The summary verdict is that HN is a bubble.
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#13Does anyone now, why this one is flagged? I don‘t want to contribute to discussion yet and I always tell people about the amazing and open discussions on HN, but seeing this thread flagged feels very strange.
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#14(Hacker news toxic... have you seen twitter...? ;)
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#15[deleted]
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#16Does anyone now, why this one is flagged? I don‘t want to contribute to discussion yet and I always tell people about the amazing and open discussions on HN, but seeing this thread flagged feels very strange.
Because this is HN. It's a forum about tech, startups, and entrepreneurship. If you want polarizing politics go to Reddit.
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
1 - i agree with that sentiment 2 - your comment is exactly why. Let me explain, first you express your opinion as a matter of fact. Their opinion is nonsense? Why not pose a question as to why one may think that? Consider the culture of 4chans various boards and some of the herd mentality you see on hn. I can tangibly see on a daily basis trite comments which add nothing of value be upvoted because it expresses comm…
To claim that Hacker News "is no different than 4chan", a site where one can routinely find the most vile posts of racism, violence, child pornography and so on is utter nonsense, and that is a fact, not merely my opinion.
Agree, this place isn’t remotely like 4chan in any way.
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
1 - i agree with that sentiment 2 - your comment is exactly why. Let me explain, first you express your opinion as a matter of fact. Their opinion is nonsense? Why not pose a question as to why one may think that? Consider the culture of 4chans various boards and some of the herd mentality you see on hn. I can tangibly see on a daily basis trite comments which add nothing of value be upvoted because it expresses comm…
To claim that Hacker News "is no different than 4chan", a site where one can routinely find the most vile posts of racism, violence, child pornography and so on is utter nonsense, and that is a fact, not merely my opinion.
I've seen people support racism, violence and child pornography on this site. More than once.
Perhaps the difference is that, unlike 4chan, such things aren't routine, but I've found that Hacker News tends to segregate itself by subject rather than boards, so the toxic contingent shows up more often in certain threads than others. Hacker News' version of /pol/ would be most threads touching on the sort of subjects that /pol/ is particularly toxic over - race, gender and feminism, nationalism, etc.
But yes, in some ways Hacker News is like 4chan, except when people here argue that Jews should be sent to the ghettos or the gas chambers, they do so politely. Most of the time.
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#19Can HN be toxic? Absolutely. Was it toxic in the situation the author was describing? I think reasonable people can have a discussion about this, but for arguments sake let’s say yes. Is HN generally a positive non toxic environment? Yep! Hugely so. HN is a remarkably diverse community. Perhaps not always from a gender perspective, but definitely in terms of background and means. I can personally attest to this as I…
> Is HN generally a positive non toxic environment? Yep! Don't kid yourself. HN mods don't tolerate any disagreeable speech. It's very difficult from Reddit in this way, where possible discordant speech is better tolerated. They very commonly shadowban users for it. This must be my fifth HN account! Given that I now posted this disagreeable comment, it probably won't be the last. > We’re always going to be imperfect…
[deleted]
Re: Hackers News Is a Toxic Place
#20Does anyone now, why this one is flagged? I don‘t want to contribute to discussion yet and I always tell people about the amazing and open discussions on HN, but seeing this thread flagged feels very strange.
Because this is HN. It's a forum about tech, startups, and entrepreneurship. If you want polarizing politics go to Reddit.
It's about tech and startups only when it suits the mods.