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Re: undefined

#11
post #6

Can we also skip the submissions asking people not to post things instead of just letting the community decide the same way it's been done for years?

Ha ha...you almost had me there. I get it: your april fool's joke is that you're imagining that the community has a history of dealing with these things without going meta.

Good one!

Re: undefined

#13
post #6

Can we also skip the submissions asking people not to post things instead of just letting the community decide the same way it's been done for years?

Meta-discussions can be tiresome, but communities die if content is chosen strictly by popularity. Some moderation must be applied, and the most important things to moderate are the things that are popular but subtly undermine the site's purpose.

In this particular case the poster is being very reasonable: no lame submissions. "Joel on Coal" is a good example. That might have been funny as h*ll back when Joel was blogging. Now that he's no longer blogging, it doesn't work nearly as well as a satire. But it is funny, and perhaps worth an upvote nearly any other day of the year.

But on this day? No. It isn't actually going to "fool" anyone. April first isn't a generalized satire day, it's about pranks. And "Joel on Coal" isn't a prank, nobody is going to read that and wonder if Joel Spolsky is writing about Coal.

p.s. If you pranked me by pretending that HN has a good track record for dealing with OT submissions, I say "well-played" and redouble my argument in favour of moderating April 1st submissions: Your comment is funnier than most of the so-called prank posts I've seen.

Re: undefined

#15

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Please, please, quit submitting this inane crap to HN!!! If you must share this stuff, there's always /. and Reddit for your convenience.

I think you'll be happier if you just unplug today.

Re: undefined

#16
It's one freaking day of the year. If you insist on being a total curmudgeon, can't you just skip the internet for a day? Come back tomorrow. If you miss one real article, the world will not come to a screeching halt.

Re: undefined

#17

Personally I like the Apple Fool's submissions. I've even been tricked by a few. It's all in good fun and puts some heart in the cold machine that is technology news.

Personally I like the Apple Fool's submissions. I've even been tricked by a few.

+1 for articulating an excellent standard for April Fool's submissions: If you are tricked by a post, it's worth submitting and seeing what other people think.

But honestly, anyone looking at a post and seeing right through it, don't bother submitting it to HN. If it doesn't fool you, it isn't that interesting.

Re: undefined

#20
I don't think so. Also, I predict the same sort of submissions will happen next year - and there will be a post just like this, and the comments to follow will have roughly the same set of opinions.. It's almost as if it all happened about this time last year. Spooky.
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