i stopped using digg 3 months ago and life has been great. this site is about where digg was 2 years ago no. when it first started it was hard core, now its mostly mass interest stuff.
Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
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Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#12Ambivalent. I began reading this site for the startup/programming articles and discussion, and if the site were to adhere strictly to such topics, I wouldn't mind at all.
However, folks here are generally quite intelligent and civil. I do enjoy seeing and participating in discussions on a wide variety of topics here -- from religion to politics to economics to whatever -- where the discussion stays mostly kind and thoughtful. I really can't just "go to Reddit" for that, or to anywhere else for that matter.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#13Let's lighten up.
Stories that some find totally unrelated to HN are probably 1 in 200. In most cases those stories are interesting enough to make it to the top 10.
A little concern to the problems outside tiny SV doesn't hurt anyone. Be concerned.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#14This site is the first place I go every day because it offers enough interesting things about my industry in addition to a smattering of other eye-opening intellectually stimulating items. If anything I think the standard should just be a little higher for anything non-hacker/cs.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#15FWIW, I kinda like the way the site is now, so I voted no, but I promise to still love you if you disagree.
I as well like the site the way it is now. It has a nice array of cs related content to keep me satisfied, but also a lot of other non cs, intelligent articles that I enjoy reading. It reminds me of reddit in the early days. What kinda worries me is that too many political articles/off topic stuff will trickle to the top as more and more users start using the site.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#16I wish I could vote for 1 and 2, like "yes, cs/hacker stuff that's intellectually stimulating." news.ycombinator.com is less interesting to me now than when it was known as Startup News. In the year that it's been called "Hacker News" the posts have been far more general than I'd like. If I wanted that I'd spend time at Reddit.
news.ycombinator.com is less interesting to me now than when it was known as Startup News
aka Evolution.
EDIT: And for every single person who find HN less interesting, there are 100 new users who love what you have helped built. Be happy.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#17My vote goes to "Anything intellectually stimulating that relates to CS/hacker stuff and startups".
But since there's no "Both" option, I'm going with ambivalent.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#18I think how the community defines itself should drive the decisions of what gets submitted.
How would you describe 'hacker news' to a friend who hadn't heard of it before.
I'd say 'it's a social news site like digg or reddit, but it focuses on cs/it/hacking and start-up technology news'.
I think having a tagline which describes hacker news might guide new members to post appropriate items. If you came to Hacker News and didn't know what it was all about, you might be inclined to post anything.
But as rokhayakebe said, the quality is pretty good, now maybe it's just a matter of keeping it that way.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#19It's simple:
Hacker news is an open community right now - and the time policing the content would be a bigger waste of time than the current proportion of less interesting content, which you only need to skip.
I'm glad I don't police the site - because I can't get into LISP and I would block all LISP content. And that might hurt some one's feelings.
Re: Poll: Would you like to see this site become CS/Startup related only?
#20I vote for stronger wording and more moderation of off-topic stuff.
add a caveat to the current description that tells people to strongly consider what they are posting if it isn't CS related.