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Don't be a jerk

news.ycombinator.com

41–50 of 135 posts

Re: Don't be a jerk

#41
Welcome to the internet.

Maybe they erased the post by accident? How do you know that your answer solved their issue or was relevant? You might think that was the case but it might not be.

In general, I think this is a extremely silly.

I had instances where I would post about cloud infrastructure and somebody would crawl out of their hole to 'educate' me on colocation, thinking they are solving a ground breaking issue.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#42

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but HN doesn't notify me when someone responds or something like other communication platforms do. If and when someone responds to a question on here I assume they are not ever going to check it again. I know I almost never do. The only exception is if there's sort of a conversation going on with responses every few minutes. Once it's been a few hours, or god forbid the next day, I'm h…

There's a 'comments' link in your profile. I check it religiously, there are very often interesting responses.

Say thanks by upvoting.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#43

I know I've had times when the answer/response made me look dumb, arrogant, etc, and I've been tempted to delete my comment. In those cases, it wouldn't have been the jerk thing to do, but the cowardly thing to do: if you say, own it, regardless of how it makes you look.

Or, you know, reword it with the edit button. You'll probably get a better, more helpful response with a well-worded comment.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#44
post #13
post #8

I took the time to email someone about a specific problem and didn't hear back - how long does it take to hit reply and type "Thx"? The effects are corrosive: why should I bother to reply next time ?

I will confess to being someone that often forgets to say thanks. My thought process runs something like "Gosh, that was really helpful, I should say thankyou. But thankyou isn't enough, I should think of a better way of saying thankyou." Then I forget to say anything at all for some time, and then I feel awkward because I left it so long to say thankyou. That's not an excuse. It's a total failure that I forget to sa…

I have this issue too but more so because I feel like I am just adding to the noise when I don't have anything more substantial to say other than Thank You. "People are already overloaded with the amount of emails they get, do I need to it?" is how I've looked at it but perhaps but that's not the best approach.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#45

It seems like this is an instance of a more general trend: The commenting ecosystem is in decline. It's better than Reddit, but it's a shadow of what it once was. I've noticed downvotes are trending now. The downvotes do correct themselves... most of the time. But there's a lot more frivolous downvoting due to the influx of people that have attained downvote privileges but haven't really shunned the mindset of other…

Give me a break. You sound exactly like the elderly folks you always hear saying "things used to be so much better, nobody saying "Sir" and "Ma'am" anymore...kids these days have no manners." The commenting ecosystem on the internet has always been a coarse and insensitive place, and it always will be. This is not a new thing.

Ironically, this is a perfect example of a comment that never would have been written in the old days.

There may have been an instance here or there of HN being coarse or insensitive, but it was the exception and not the rule. Evidently, that has reversed.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#46
May be that person felt embarrassed/stupid after asking the question. Personally, it wouldn't compel me to write a post about it.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#47
There always seems to be a touch of nostalgia for the good old days when situations like this come up. People undoubtedly yearn for the time when Hacker News was smaller and more close knit community. Ive been a member here for about 3 and a half years. I suppose that in that time, some of the quality has declined, but I really cant even say for sure that is the case. I think I have learned a lot here, and because of that I may perceive certain topics and discussions here not as stimulating as I did back when I joined.

As for downvotes, I reserve that for obvious trolling and overly snarky comments that just seem to be aimed at stirring the pot. I have noticed that some genuinely funny comments or puns based on the discussion get downvoted, which I disagree with. It may not add to the intellectual value, but I enjoy a good laugh as much as I enjoy learning.

I would agree with some of the sentiments here that the person probably deleted their question out of fear that they would "look dumb". I think experience has taught me that while Im not the smartest person out there, when something doesnt make sense to me, there is usually someone else that doesnt get it either. Ive also learned that people that react poorly to "stupid questions" are probably feeling defensive of their own knowledge/incompetence.

Anyway, I agree Colin, there is basic courtesy that if you are asking for help, it should be acknowledged and thanked when its provided. Nobody knows everything, and asking for help isnt a bad thing. So OWN your questions folks!!!

Re: Don't be a jerk

#48

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but HN doesn't notify me when someone responds or something like other communication platforms do. If and when someone responds to a question on here I assume they are not ever going to check it again. I know I almost never do. The only exception is if there's sort of a conversation going on with responses every few minutes. Once it's been a few hours, or god forbid the next day, I'm h…

One of the handful of pinned tabs in my browser is my HN Threads page. I don't comment that much so the first page of that section can go back 4-5 days. I usually refresh that a couple times a day (when I have recently posted) just to make sure I don't miss a reply to one of my comments. I don't go back further than page 1 so if you reply to a few days later I am likely to miss that. But since HN moves in hours not days, I don't really see that as a problem. If you are not actively looking at responses to your comments then you don't seem very interested in discussion.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#49
I wouldn't take it personally. It was kind of you to answer the question, but take into account that while you are (evidently) HN savvy, many are not and perhaps lack the skills to send you a personal note about them having to delete the question quickly.

Re: Don't be a jerk

#50

It seems like this is an instance of a more general trend: The commenting ecosystem is in decline. It's better than Reddit, but it's a shadow of what it once was. I've noticed downvotes are trending now. The downvotes do correct themselves... most of the time. But there's a lot more frivolous downvoting due to the influx of people that have attained downvote privileges but haven't really shunned the mindset of other…

How do people attain downvoting privileges? A possible solution would be to simply remove many people's downvoting ability. Reserve the right for an elite few who have insightful things to say and are sparing in their usage. This is a new account and I've found that it's surprisingly liberating to not have a downvote option. When I disagree with someone, I can either reply or I can just ignore the comment. Good conte…

I think you get it at 500 karma.

Maybe it'd be a good idea for the site admins to check the first 5-10 downvotes of someone who just received downvoting privileges, and if they're inappropriately used, take the downvoting privileges away from that person.

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