The value of downvoting, or, how Hacker News gets it wrong (2009)

Post by rhizome » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 10:07 PM UTC

LinuxBender wrote: post #174

jvanderbot wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The cause is usually large growth from people with very different mindsets that downvote for essentially political reasons instead of encouraging good discourse. You've quite well described my latest experienced with StackExchange sites that are very popular (like Stack Overflow). The downvotes rain for any question without feedback. A comment provides an answer, but not an "Answer" that can be pinned. Vague "Opinio…

I've had similar experiences on ServerFault part of StachExchange . If I simply answer a question with the correct technical answer, my answer is basically ignored. If I take that exact same answer and add a bold title, some cute paragraph formatting, some no-format text boxes, add some flowery wording like I am giving a Ted Talk, then people love my answers. So that is what I do and why I rarely answer questions any…

Post by burnished » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 10:09 PM UTC

downandout wrote: post #144

joering2 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would actually like to see a list of largest karma-wise HN members who left. By leaving I would say over 180 days inactive. Dang can you post the result please: SELECT hn_name, hn_karma, hn_last_active FROM comments WHERE TIMESTAMPDIFF(DAY, hn_last_active, NOW()) > 180 ORDER BY hn_karma DESC LIMIT 100

I used to be incredibly active on here, and then I started getting downvoted on virtually every comment, likely for political reasons. I have all but stopped commenting compared to my previous activity. It just stopped being fun. Even posts I make that have nothing to do with politics, that only point out provable, factual information, get downvoted. I have over 13K karma, even after losing a few thousand points over…

Post by rocqua » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 10:09 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #122

amznthrwaway wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The notion that HN is well-moderated is bizarre. HN is exceptionally hostile to those who hold beliefs contrary to HN-acceptable norms. If you want to get banned quickly, criticize pg portfolio companies (even politely, with valid criticism), point out that white supremacist and other hate speech is welcomed so long as it is polite; point out that responses to hate speech are _not_ tolerated..... The community here u…

> These days, that doesn’t happen. The discussions are lower value, less open minded, and more strident. It’s a pile of shit. The decline of open-mindedness is what I've noticed the most. The assumption of good intention on the part of someone with an opposing view. The willingness to at least entertain a thought or argument, even if you ultimately don't accept it. Much easier to just hit the down-arrow and move on,…

Post by disgrunt » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 10:10 PM UTC

hellbannedguy wrote: post #148

To those of you addicted to Hacker News; I can offer this tip. Get a Hellban. It's not hard after all. I'll probally get hellbanned over this post? You will find you will still pruse HN, but very rarely will you feel the need to contribute. Your time here will decrease. Hacker News does not need much improvement. It does seem like it's on the back end of it's business cycle though, like all current social sites? I us…

Post by frongpik » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 10:12 PM UTC

benlivengood wrote: post #40

I've been through several forum deaths. The cause is usually large growth from people with very different mindsets that downvote for essentially political reasons instead of encouraging good discourse. This makes the best people leave in short order. In a sense there's no way to structure a forum to avoid this. Being outnumbered by people who don't value open communication is unpleasant with or without downvoting. Fo…