Ask HN: How do we stop the polarization/toxicicity filling the web?

Post by pnako » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 12:41 AM UTC

asdf21 wrote: post #430

oneplane wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't find a recent article on HN containing debates on/against/about/for socialism with banned accounts in them, so it's hard to see the content/context that would then be called toxic, but I do see in your reply that you mention "tedious" and "idealogical flamebait" which is not mutually exclusive to toxic behaviour. I suppose someone could write flamebait or be tedious without being toxic.

How would you know? You can't see any of the comments because the mods generally remove them all.. The reason why YC seems more left-leaning nowadays compared to a few years ago, is exactly what the grandparent of this thread suggested, anyone right-leaning (or libertarian) has been harassed off the site / strongly discouraged from sharing their perspectives.

Post by imgabe » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 12:51 AM UTC

eqdw wrote: post #274

Discussions like this are frustrating to me because they always seem to skip over what feels like a crucial element: Do you know _why_ this uptick has happened? Does anyone? I get the feeling, in general, when people talk about wanting to "Do Something" about this sort of thing, they are always focused on managing the symptom and never focused on addressing the cause. Frequently, when I try to bring this up, the caus…

Post by ebg13 » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 12:57 AM UTC

cr0sh wrote: post #500

ebg13 wrote: post #421

> Before, around 2010-2012, people who disagreed would usually leave it at that and walk away respectfully. I don't know what internet you were using, but this does not match my experience. The internet has been a dickfighting playground since at least the 90s. The biggest difference is that comment threads are the majority of how people create content on the internet now and they weren't before.

> The biggest difference is that comment threads are the majority of how people create content on the internet now and they weren't before. Were you not around for newsgroup flame-wars of the early 90s (and probably long before that, if you were among the lucky few that had access)...?

Post by ebg13 » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 12:58 AM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #505

ebg13 wrote: post #421

> Before, around 2010-2012, people who disagreed would usually leave it at that and walk away respectfully. I don't know what internet you were using, but this does not match my experience. The internet has been a dickfighting playground since at least the 90s. The biggest difference is that comment threads are the majority of how people create content on the internet now and they weren't before.

The term "flamewar" predates all social networks except Usenet. It was not an isolated occurrence in the early days of the net.

Post by chadmeister » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:03 AM UTC

andy_ppp wrote: post #616

reaperducer wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Encourage people to participate in physical social gatherings that center around non-political issues, like hobbies. I think there is a lot more to this than many people think. If more people participated in hobbies, then they would spend less time on the internet. The time they do spend would be more targeted and focused instead of mindlessly scrolling and scrolling and getting baited and agitated. They would also f…

Damn, this is a great idea... I’m going to try woodworking and make the shoddiest set of chairs one can imagine, but they’ll be my chairs. Could take up to a year maybe of practice but who cares!