Why I stopped reading HN (2010) • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#11

Post by the-dude » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:32 AM UTC

tom_mellior wrote: post #9

httpsterio wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the best thing here is active moderation weeding out the most negative and unhelpful comments, trying to keep the discussions civil. It's hard and requires a lot of effort but HN is a good example of what it can look like at best.

It could be better. Slashdot has (or maybe had, I haven't checked in a while) a way of associating votes with tags. So upvotes could be tagged "insightful" or "funny" or whatever, and downvotes tagged "flamebait" or "off-topic" or others. Especially for downvotes I would often be interested in this kind of quick feedback.

But did it actually work better? I am inclined to think not as lots of people moved from ./ to HN.

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#12

Post by cheschire » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:33 AM UTC

LeCow wrote: post #5

dwrodri wrote: post #3

I uninstalled my 3rd party reddit app the other day for very similar reasons. I love reddit as a way for getting my tech news, but there's just so much about the platform that I don't like which is becoming harder and harder to avoid. The communities I really enjoy (r/cpp, r/MachineLearning, r/DataScience) are still for the most part wonderful communities and they provide killer feeds that let me stay up to date with…

Ditto. On Reddit even a percieved differing opinion results in hate mail, insulting and shouting. It's one of the reasons I never signed up to Twitter.

Passively getting news that starts to include more political op-eds is a very different issue than actively participating in a toxic community though.

Not saying either of you are wrong. Just saying they are different issues.

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#13

Post by timonoko » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:33 AM UTC

I remember in Usenet there was often a competition how much you expand a thread sideways. This might the optimal format. A discussion board with only one thread branching infinite. You could then search for significant node points, which have created more discussion and node points. Now to avoid endless wallowing in same shit year after year, I suggest automatic AI system, which does not cancel anything, but moves an arcticle to the node it mostly belongs. And as high as possible regardless of creation time.

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#14

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:35 AM UTC

httpsterio wrote: post #6

bot41 wrote: post #4

The post and it's content is exactly what I would expect to find here. From my experience reading HN, I think it is the best community of comments online. I am creating an online Reddit-style web app at the moment and I am going to borrow a lot of things I think HN does right.

the best thing here is active moderation weeding out the most negative and unhelpful comments, trying to keep the discussions civil. It's hard and requires a lot of effort but HN is a good example of what it can look like at best.

[deleted]

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#15

Post by gherkinnn » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:37 AM UTC

LeCow wrote: post #5

dwrodri wrote: post #3

I uninstalled my 3rd party reddit app the other day for very similar reasons. I love reddit as a way for getting my tech news, but there's just so much about the platform that I don't like which is becoming harder and harder to avoid. The communities I really enjoy (r/cpp, r/MachineLearning, r/DataScience) are still for the most part wonderful communities and they provide killer feeds that let me stay up to date with…

Ditto. On Reddit even a percieved differing opinion results in hate mail, insulting and shouting. It's one of the reasons I never signed up to Twitter.

Twitter has to be the worst major platform. It is a rollercoaster of misery, disgust, and annoyance.

And there isn’t even a proverbial nugget in the turd to make it worth it.

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#16

Post by echelon » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:38 AM UTC

tom_mellior wrote: post #9

httpsterio wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the best thing here is active moderation weeding out the most negative and unhelpful comments, trying to keep the discussions civil. It's hard and requires a lot of effort but HN is a good example of what it can look like at best.

It could be better. Slashdot has (or maybe had, I haven't checked in a while) a way of associating votes with tags. So upvotes could be tagged "insightful" or "funny" or whatever, and downvotes tagged "flamebait" or "off-topic" or others. Especially for downvotes I would often be interested in this kind of quick feedback.

Slashdot is insufferable trash today. If you read the comments, every article gets sniped by Nazi swastika ASCII art, which they still haven't bothered to ban. (You would have thought the teenagers doing this in the 90's would have grown up by now...)

How hard is it to ban the same post being made repeatedly, over and over?

Slashdot stopped trying.

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#17

Post by cinntaile » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:38 AM UTC

tom_mellior wrote: post #9

httpsterio wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the best thing here is active moderation weeding out the most negative and unhelpful comments, trying to keep the discussions civil. It's hard and requires a lot of effort but HN is a good example of what it can look like at best.

It could be better. Slashdot has (or maybe had, I haven't checked in a while) a way of associating votes with tags. So upvotes could be tagged "insightful" or "funny" or whatever, and downvotes tagged "flamebait" or "off-topic" or others. Especially for downvotes I would often be interested in this kind of quick feedback.

From what I have seen downvotes get used a lot here on posts that users disagree with, which seems like an unfortunate side-effect. You'd want to reserve them for rude posts or other posts that aren't helpful to a discussion.

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#18

Post by raverbashing » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:40 AM UTC

LeCow wrote: post #5

dwrodri wrote: post #3

I uninstalled my 3rd party reddit app the other day for very similar reasons. I love reddit as a way for getting my tech news, but there's just so much about the platform that I don't like which is becoming harder and harder to avoid. The communities I really enjoy (r/cpp, r/MachineLearning, r/DataScience) are still for the most part wonderful communities and they provide killer feeds that let me stay up to date with…

Ditto. On Reddit even a percieved differing opinion results in hate mail, insulting and shouting. It's one of the reasons I never signed up to Twitter.

There are two/three groups of users on twitter:

- the "celebs" (anyone which is moderately famous)

- the "old school" (which usually forms tight groups and doesn't get as much hate mail)

- the newcomers (anyone that joined, let's say < 5yr ago). Those are mostly wallowing in a pit of sadness

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#19

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:43 AM UTC

echelon wrote: post #16

tom_mellior wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be better. Slashdot has (or maybe had, I haven't checked in a while) a way of associating votes with tags. So upvotes could be tagged "insightful" or "funny" or whatever, and downvotes tagged "flamebait" or "off-topic" or others. Especially for downvotes I would often be interested in this kind of quick feedback.

Slashdot is insufferable trash today. If you read the comments, every article gets sniped by Nazi swastika ASCII art, which they still haven't bothered to ban. (You would have thought the teenagers doing this in the 90's would have grown up by now...) How hard is it to ban the same post being made repeatedly, over and over? Slashdot stopped trying.

[deleted]

Re: Why I stopped reading HN (2010)

#20

Post by friendlybus » Thu, Oct 08, 2020, 8:44 AM UTC

echelon wrote: post #16

tom_mellior wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be better. Slashdot has (or maybe had, I haven't checked in a while) a way of associating votes with tags. So upvotes could be tagged "insightful" or "funny" or whatever, and downvotes tagged "flamebait" or "off-topic" or others. Especially for downvotes I would often be interested in this kind of quick feedback.

Slashdot is insufferable trash today. If you read the comments, every article gets sniped by Nazi swastika ASCII art, which they still haven't bothered to ban. (You would have thought the teenagers doing this in the 90's would have grown up by now...) How hard is it to ban the same post being made repeatedly, over and over? Slashdot stopped trying.

I feel slashdot stopped trying ages ago when the editor had to fight to not put ads (or excessive ads) on the site. They were bought up and its been on autopilot for years.