Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#1

Post by rgarcia » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 2:17 AM UTC

Lately it seems like every article I read on TC devolves into some sort of speculation or gossip. I can't help but feel like the quality of HN goes down a little bit every time one of these articles gets to the front page. For example, currently #1 on the front page is a completely tabloid-esque TC article about Google making counteroffers to key employees getting courted by Twitter. It's almost like the "who's dating who" section in US Magazine.

Certainly I find some of the content on TC useful (for example, launch announcements), but I feel like a lot would be gained if the median TC article just never showed up on HN.

Thoughts?

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#2

Post by js3309 » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 2:41 AM UTC

I don't think any domain should be blocked.

Feel free to post any link, the community will decide.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#3

Post by rgarcia » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 2:45 AM UTC

js3309 wrote: post #2

I don't think any domain should be blocked. Feel free to post any link, the community will decide.

Tell that to pg: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499044

To be fair the majority of those sites are spam sites, but I see Valleywag as a notable/relevant exception.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#4

Post by huwshimi » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 2:48 AM UTC

One of the great things about HN is how organic it is in nature. HN is loosely about startups and hacking, but really it's about what people in the startup/hacking world find interesting.

HN is self moderating (or rather community moderated). If people don't like certain posts they won't vote for them. If HN starts banning websites because some people don't like them then it takes the power away from the community and then you are on a slippery slope of moderated content and a world of approval conflicts and power struggles.

You or I might not agree with every post on HN but we have the power to not vote, or if you've contributed enough to downvote.

Of course there are always exceptions. Spam and illegal content are examples of this. But then we have the ability to flag those posts.

A moderated HN is one I would not use.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#5

Post by ry0ohki » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 2:56 AM UTC

Even though the quality has degraded, there's no doubting it still gets exclusives and is still one of the premier sources for startup info, seems to early too write it off entirely.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#6

Post by jacoblyles » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 2:58 AM UTC

I think we need more good content to encourage the culture of makers we want (e.g. regular "erlang days"). Banning junk sites is helpful, but probably not as much.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#7

Post by jacoblyles » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 2:59 AM UTC

huwshimi wrote: post #4

One of the great things about HN is how organic it is in nature. HN is loosely about startups and hacking, but really it's about what people in the startup/hacking world find interesting. HN is self moderating (or rather community moderated). If people don't like certain posts they won't vote for them. If HN starts banning websites because some people don't like them then it takes the power away from the community an…

>" If people don't like certain posts they won't vote for them."

That's an excellent recipe for the Lowest Common Denominator. Welcome to the internet, where it is September all the time.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#8

Post by petercooper » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 3:00 AM UTC

We've been there, done that: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=625255

Anything that isn't spam shouldn't be "banned". It's all down to what people vote up. If people are voting up TechCrunch stories as opposed to flagging them, that's your poll result right there in real life action rather than indignant votes.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#9

Post by redthrowaway » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 3:00 AM UTC

No, if only because it still (occasionally) breaks interesting startup news. Most of the articles are either speculation or outright flaming (Arrington, I'm looking at you), but there are some nuggets that would be lost if we banned it altogether. Instead, I'd simply recommend the community flag less substantive submissions, and let the mods sort it out.

Re: Poll: Should TechCrunch articles be banned from HN?

#10

Post by petercooper » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 3:03 AM UTC

rgarcia wrote: post #3

js3309 wrote: post #2

I don't think any domain should be blocked. Feel free to post any link, the community will decide.

Tell that to pg: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499044 To be fair the majority of those sites are spam sites, but I see Valleywag as a notable/relevant exception.

Valleywag doesn't exist anymore as an independent site so its ban is now meaningless.