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Dead Internet Theory

kudmitry.com

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Re: Dead Internet Theory

#61

Post by dang »

bakugo wrote: post #46
f311a wrote: post #44

> The use of em-dashes, which on most keyboard require a special key-combination that most people don’t know Most people probably don't know, but I think on HN at least half of the users know how to do it. It sucks to do this on Windows, but at least on Mac it's super easy and the shortcut makes perfect sense.

Now I'm actually curious to see statistics regarding the usage of em-dashes on HN before and after AI took over. The data is public, right? I'd do it myself, but unfortunately I'm lazy.

Someone did just that!

Show HN: Hacker News em dash user leaderboard pre-ChatGPT - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45071722 - Aug 2025 (266 comments)

... which I'm proud to say originated here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45046883.

Re: Dead Internet Theory

#62

Post by _zagj »

chrisjj wrote: post #2

> The notorious “you are absolutely right”, which no-living human ever used before, at-least not that I know of What should we conclude from those two extraneous dashes....

Those are hyphens.

Re: Dead Internet Theory

#63

Post by swed420 »

b65e8bee43c2ed0 wrote: post #53
swed420 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bots have ruined reddit but that is what the owners wanted. Adding the option to hide profile comments/posts was also a terrible move for several reasons.

given the timing, it has definitely been done to obscure bot activity, but the side effect of denying the usual suspects the opportunity to comb through ten years of your comments to find a wrongthink they can use to dismiss everything you've just said, regardless of how irrelevant it is, is unironically a good thing. I've seen many instances of their impotent rage about it since it's been implemented, and each time…

The wrongthink issue was always secondary, and generally easy to avoid by not mixing certain topics with your account (don't comment on political threads with your furry porn gooner account, etc). At a certain point, the person calling out a mostly benign profile is the one who will look ridiculous, and if not, the sub is probably not worth participating in anyway.

But recently it seems everything is more overrun than usual with bot activity, and half of the accounts are hidden which isn't helping matters. Utterly useless, and other platforms don't seem any better in this regard.

Re: Dead Internet Theory

#65

Post by flopslop »

This website absolutely is social media unless you’re putting on blinders or haven’t been around very long. There’s a small in crowd who sets the conversation (there’s an even smaller crowd of ycombinator founders with special privileges allowing them to see each other and connect). Thinking this website isn’t social media just admits you don’t know what the actual function of this website is, which is to promote the views of a small in crowd.

Re: Dead Internet Theory

#66

Post by rsch »

f311a wrote: post #44

> The use of em-dashes, which on most keyboard require a special key-combination that most people don’t know Most people probably don't know, but I think on HN at least half of the users know how to do it. It sucks to do this on Windows, but at least on Mac it's super easy and the shortcut makes perfect sense.

I can’t be the only one who has ever read https://practicaltypography.com/hyphens-and-dashes.html

Re: Dead Internet Theory

#67

Post by [deleted] »

chao- wrote: post #47
f311a wrote: post #44

> The use of em-dashes, which on most keyboard require a special key-combination that most people don’t know Most people probably don't know, but I think on HN at least half of the users know how to do it. It sucks to do this on Windows, but at least on Mac it's super easy and the shortcut makes perfect sense.

I don't have strong negative feelings about the era of LLM writing, but I resent that it has taken the em-dash from me. I have long used them as a strong disjunctive pause, stronger than a semicolon. I have gone back to semicolons after many instances of my comments or writing being dismissed as AI. I will still sometimes use a pair of them for an abrupt appositive that stands out more than commas, as this seems to t…

[deleted]

Re: Dead Internet Theory

#68

Post by kelseydh »

rsch wrote: post #66
f311a wrote: post #44

> The use of em-dashes, which on most keyboard require a special key-combination that most people don’t know Most people probably don't know, but I think on HN at least half of the users know how to do it. It sucks to do this on Windows, but at least on Mac it's super easy and the shortcut makes perfect sense.

I can’t be the only one who has ever read https://practicaltypography.com/hyphens-and-dashes.html

This would have been very helpful three years ago, before I permanently stopped using em-dashes to not have my writing confused with LLM's.

Re: Dead Internet Theory

#69

Post by kelseydh »

chao- wrote: post #47
f311a wrote: post #44

> The use of em-dashes, which on most keyboard require a special key-combination that most people don’t know Most people probably don't know, but I think on HN at least half of the users know how to do it. It sucks to do this on Windows, but at least on Mac it's super easy and the shortcut makes perfect sense.

I don't have strong negative feelings about the era of LLM writing, but I resent that it has taken the em-dash from me. I have long used them as a strong disjunctive pause, stronger than a semicolon. I have gone back to semicolons after many instances of my comments or writing being dismissed as AI. I will still sometimes use a pair of them for an abrupt appositive that stands out more than commas, as this seems to t…

One way to use em-dash and look human is to write it incorrectly with two hyphens: --
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