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Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

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Re: Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

#141

Post by bluedays »

Terry_Roll wrote: post #125
berkut wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to disagree... Things aren't that bad, but I've definitely noticed a lot more cases of downvoting of "against the grain" comments or opinions with often very few responses in the last couple of years. Previously, I rarely noticed heavily downvoted comments, and in the cases they were, there were almost always reply comments explaining the opposite side, leading to IMO much better disc…

There is online manipulation here and pretty much everywhere else where people can discuss things. It can come in a variety of forms. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/109634/1/MPRA_paper_109634.p... https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-op... Reputation Management https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management which obviously protects income streams for entities, but the military also protect…

I have noticed the same, but when I have mentioned this in the past I have been downvoted and told that I am being "conspiratorial". This is definitely a problem on Hacker News, because it is a website beholden to a company (YCombinator). This company has a vested interest in ensuring that the messages on Hacker News reflect what the popular narrative is as it reflects upon them personally. In other words as long as large companies control the medium the messages will be controlled by said company. There is only the illusion of free speech on the Internet. You can say whatever you want, but don't be surprised if nobody can hear you.

Re: Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

#142

Post by sillysaurusx »

drumhead wrote: post #83

HN is what reddit used to be like when it first started. Links to interesting Tech, programming and science stories and high quality discussion compared to something like Digg. Thankfully HN hasnt dropped in quality on that front unlike reddit. Its still so good I dont even click on the link I click on comments to get a HN summary which gives me a pretty good idea if its worth reading or not. Most of the time the com…

I guess I'll chime in and say that I, too, have noticed more downvotes when I wouldn't normally predict them.

Unlike the other commenters, I'm not worried about it. It's just a sign of growth and HN going mainstream. The mods keep everyone on a tight leash, so I think the content will remain good.

It is a bit frustrating to post something that feels high quality but people disagree. But that's the price you pay for not being perfect to everyone all the time. (You see? It's impossible.) So don't let it bug you.

Re: Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

#143

Post by sillysaurusx »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #57
jeffwass wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa! So weird to see pg and sama usernames as green!

And Arrington voted down to 'dead'.

Fun fact, I'm pretty sure that was the first troll account. I.e. the first account made explicitly to troll.

Arrington was something of a meme back in those days.

Re: Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

#144

Post by sph »

cakeman wrote: post #134
drumhead wrote: post #83

HN is what reddit used to be like when it first started. Links to interesting Tech, programming and science stories and high quality discussion compared to something like Digg. Thankfully HN hasnt dropped in quality on that front unlike reddit. Its still so good I dont even click on the link I click on comments to get a HN summary which gives me a pretty good idea if its worth reading or not. Most of the time the com…

I have to agree with berkut. I had to stop using a previous hn account because it was so incredibly frustrating when people would downvote me with no explanation. I would cite my comments with reputable sources but that never helped. It was enough to prevent me from contributing to the discussion until recently. Certain beliefs or opinions in the minority are not very well tolderated here. It's still certainly better…

I don't blame HN, I blame the invention of the downvote button.

I find it easier to hold a slightly controversial opinion here than it has ever been possible on Reddit, especially the programming and tech subreddits which are very low quality in general.

The downvote button is awful, but why is it surprising that controversial opinions are downvoted? Being downvoted is the proof the opinion is controversial. It would be better if people weren't cancelled because they go against the grain, sure, but we don't live in a perfect utopia of perfectly rational beings.

Re: Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

#145

Post by dncornholio »

sharken wrote: post #94
tkanarsky wrote: post #4

It's remarkable how unchanged the community feel has been on HN -- those headlines would not be out of place on today's front page if you change the company names and tech stacks a bit :) Doesn't seem like there's been an eternal September moment in the past decade and a half (like Reddit's push for mobile adoption, for example). Really a testament to the mods' consistency, thanks @dang!

Dang is a key factor in the success of HN, no doubt about it. Another part is the consistent website design, it helps in focusing on the essentials, i.e. the articles and the discussions. And last but not least i try to be the best I can when posting here.

The consistent design is what's holding HN back. The worst is when the top comment has so many replies, the first page is only reactions on that comment. Someone actually needs to sticky a comment saying there's a next page button with links to it. Oh and the links are unclickable on mobile.

Re: Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

#146

Post by dang »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #57
jeffwass wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa! So weird to see pg and sama usernames as green!

And Arrington voted down to 'dead'.

I've been meaning to do something about those troll comments because they were posted several years after the original threads and people are still getting confused by them. (Needless to say, Arrington wasn't Arrington.) There were 500+ comments all posted within an hour, obviously by script. They were dead not because they were voted down, but because we killed them years later. I thought that would be sufficient but it wasn't.

I have a hunch that was what prompted pg ("I never write a line of code unless I have to") to close old threads to new comments.

Edit: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30387562

Re: Happy 15th birthday Hacker News

#150

Post by unethical_ban »

Covzire wrote: post #118
berkut wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to disagree... Things aren't that bad, but I've definitely noticed a lot more cases of downvoting of "against the grain" comments or opinions with often very few responses in the last couple of years. Previously, I rarely noticed heavily downvoted comments, and in the cases they were, there were almost always reply comments explaining the opposite side, leading to IMO much better disc…

I've only been browsing here for about 10 of the 15 years, but I remember a time when the discussions closely matched what I and the public at large could discuss in private without fear. But there has been a chilling effect in recent years where more and more topics become verboten and someone will get downvoted, at a minimum, for even bringing them up. Interesting topics and child threads go missing on the regular.…

I've been thinking of building an HN clone for politics and society. The requirement to post would be an account of the same name on HN, validated through something like a code on your profile, and only for users above a certain karma threshold.

It basically outsourced the work of making sure users are of decent tech savviness and good faith.

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