I know I'll get downvoted to hell for this reddit-like behaviour, but...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDr0mPuyQc
Others have already stated the specific reasons why this isn't a good idea very clearly and concisely.
Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
431–440 of 854 posts
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#432My may concern with this system: Sledgehammer meets tack. The comments on HN aren't perfect, but they're far from bad when compared to other sites of this nature. There has been a downwards trend most probably due to the increasing popularity of HN. A response is warranted. However, this system has the potential to silence a lot of high quality comments on any threads that aren't on the front-page for an extended per…
For note, HN isn't necessarily increasing in popularity. Number of HN submissions over 3 years: http://i.imgur.com/r9Ayvb1.png Number of HN comments over 3 years: http://i.imgur.com/4FwglA8.png
It's possible for HN to be increasing in popularity while decreasing in # of submissions. For instance, if more users are coming to the site, the site is growing in popularity. If the X percent of users who normally submit the most frequently are decreasing their submission rates, submissions will go down despite the user growth.
Of course, this scenario assumes that # of submissions follows a power law distribution: a small percentage of posters make the majority of submissions. That pattern emerges on many content sites, especially sites with active forms of communal self-moderation. I have no idea if it's the case here, but it seems feasible.
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#433I find these changes to be very degrading of what I love about HN. Regardless of objective truth or upmost importance being the defining characteristics of comments, I happen to enjoy the quirky humor and general remarks of fellow HNer's. Very disappointing, PG.
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#434Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. It should be possible to endorse something without agreeing with it.
It should be possible to endorse something without agreeing with it. You honestly think that's going to happen? Thanks for the chuckle Paul.
That doesn't have to be common for the system to work. I'm just explaining why they're separate.
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#435Earlier quoted context omitted.
A shame. Whilst I am always intrigued with what hits the front-page, I rather more often than occasionally, find myself getting to page 10 or so on the weekends. Just to see what has been going on that I missed. Your change will basically mean that someone like me who might have something to add to an existing conversation might as well not bother. It'll be years before I have enough karma on ycombinator's hackernews…
> Your change will basically mean that someone like me who might have something to add to an existing conversation might as well not bother. That is already the case. Very few people read or participate in threads more than 24 hours old. You're already walking into an empty room and having a conversation with yourself; all this change does is lock the door.
If that were the case then wouldn't a more appropriate solution be to lock commenting altogether after a particular time since thread creation (or an expiry after falling off of the front page?).
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#436You should rather try to make the comments sound less robotic and more human.
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#437Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is, actually. Comments by users with over 10k karma go live immediately.
Really? Are you sure about that decision? If it were my site, I'd decide the other way, if only because I'd worry about the interaction between high-karma commenters that can rapid-fire respond and normal users who have to wait.
I don't think people will have to wait so much they'll notice, but we'll see.
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#438Earlier quoted context omitted.
As I understand the idea, endorsing a comment doesn't mean you agree with it. It just means you think it deserves to be in the thread. That should leave room for unpopular views as long as they're respectfully expressed.
> As I understand the idea, endorsing a comment doesn't mean you agree with it. Yeah, that's exactly how it will be used. Sarcasm aside, the word "endorse" has a very specific definition which basically guarantees how this system will be used, intentions or not. I think about every single grayed-out comment I've seen, downvoted simply because it shared an opinion that made people feel uncomfortable but was nonetheles…
This is related to the problem I have. I think endorsing something, or upvoting it, or downvoting it is too ambiguous. I try to treat things like that the same way I would when I name something coding. I want the intent to be unambiguous.
That's why I think the notion of giving a really limited subset of reasons to upvote or downvote something could be potentially useful. "Inflammatory" or some other, much better word, would better describe why I downvoted something, and might make it easier to take appropriate action on that, or figure out if the post is a one off for the user, or typical of their habits.
All of this, of course, if heavily dependent on the moderators/creators of the community deciding what exactly they're trying to drive, as far as specific behavior (with or without the input of the community--it's their ship to guide).
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#439Earlier quoted context omitted.
For note, HN isn't necessarily increasing in popularity. Number of HN submissions over 3 years: http://i.imgur.com/r9Ayvb1.png Number of HN comments over 3 years: http://i.imgur.com/4FwglA8.png
It's possible for HN to be increasing in popularity while decreasing in # of submissions. For instance, if more users are coming to the site, the site is growing in popularity. If the X percent of users who normally submit the most frequently are decreasing their submission rates, submissions will go down despite the user growth. Of course, this scenario assumes that # of submissions follows a power law distribution:…
Whoops, it should be noted that the spam algorithm changed at around the peak, which also explains the decrease. (I made the chart)
Re: Coming Soon to Hacker News: Pending Comments
#440I have ~1900 karma so I'll be one of the endorsers ... but I am not sure I want to be. I think this is a very aggressive change and one that puts too much power in the hands of people like me. Just because I have enough free time to sit around and rack up HN Karma doesn't mean I should control the speech of other, newer users.
Also I think the delay caused by waiting for endorsements on comments will really kill a lot of fast-moving comment threads. it will make it harder for people to have a discussion until the 1000+ karma gods take notice of the thread and throw enough endorsements around to make the comments visible.