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A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

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Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#171

Post by dbaupp »

Alex3917 wrote: post #169
chris_wot wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh Wikipedia is the worst. I feel like half the time I post something intelligent I basically get a bunch of people calling me a faggot for reading books, more often than not with 'references' to Wikipedia to explain why I'm wrong. I feel the need to point out that this is not, in fact, a problem with Wikipedia.

Maybe not entirely, but Wikipedia being wrong about lots of basic things is certainly a problem.

[citation needed]

If I recall correctly, there have been studies comparing Wikipedia and "proper" encyclopediae that suggest the error rates are about equal, and quite low in both.

Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#172

Post by jseliger »

shin_lao wrote: post #12

The downward spiral feeling comes from after reading HN for a while, you start to reread the same articles and same comments. It does not mean HN gets worse and worse, it means you extract less and less value.

It does not mean HN gets worse and worse, it means you extract less and less value.

Maybe someone (me?) should write "HN: The Book." Chapters might include:

1. Silicon Valley life.

2. Structured/conventional education versus self-education.

3. What you do with your tools is more interesting than the tools themselves, and many people have used bad tools to make cool things, though that in itself isn't an excuse for bad tools.

4. Problems with politics.

5. Commenting on commenting.

Actually, I started this list as a joke, but I'm starting to wonder if it shouldn't be. . .

Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#173

Post by unreal37 »

danso wrote: post #46
bluedanieru wrote: post #34

Am I the only one who hasn't noticed this huge drop in quality that has everyone bitching and moaning lately? The signal-to-noise ratio has dropped slightly compared to when I started reading about four years ago, but this is still a great place for technical discussion. Comparisons to Reddit and other such nonsense are baseless. HN does not need any major overhaul or whatever else. I think a lot of this is just old-…

I'm relatively new here so I readily admit to having a very limited perspective: I used reddit years before I came here, and now I use reddit for just a few specific subreddits; HN has more than enough technical and bigger-picture pieces to occupy me. Certainly, the discussion threads are consistently of the highest quality, so much that I have to fight to read the OP first rather than jumping to the comments. I also…

Can someone summarize what the "penalty for posting too frequently" is these days?

Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#174

Post by doktrin »

sstrudeau wrote: post #145
larrys wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what might that "n" be that lets the last man over the bridge?

I just checked mine ... 1337 days seems like a good number :)

First of all : fantastic age - congrats :)

Secondly, I know your comment was tongue-in-cheek, but that would actually be a very appropriate age cut-off for what strikes me as a remarkably elitist endeavor.

Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#176

Post by WaltDaniels »

crisnoble wrote: post #164
WaltDaniels wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that you are talking about an issue that is MUCH BIGGER than HN story replies. Society, as a whole has become much ruder. I attribute it to the passive-aggressive frenzy that is Social Media. All of a sudden you can call someone ANYTHING YOU WANT without fear of direct (and many times indirect) retribution. This phenomenon has saturated our daily interactions. Now, instead of a courteous phone call requesting…

Your all caps typing could be considered rude, unless you are actually meaning to shout those words.

Touché. Caps were just meant to share my frustration ... no yelling.

Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#177

Post by Alex3917 »

dbaupp wrote: post #171
Alex3917 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not entirely, but Wikipedia being wrong about lots of basic things is certainly a problem.

[citation needed] If I recall correctly, there have been studies comparing Wikipedia and "proper" encyclopediae that suggest the error rates are about equal, and quite low in both.

'Wrongness' is an abstract concept that can't really be measured, let alone with something as simplistic as an error rate. An article can be 100% factually accurate, yet still be entirely wrong.

Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#178

Post by guelo »

bluedanieru wrote: post #34

Am I the only one who hasn't noticed this huge drop in quality that has everyone bitching and moaning lately? The signal-to-noise ratio has dropped slightly compared to when I started reading about four years ago, but this is still a great place for technical discussion. Comparisons to Reddit and other such nonsense are baseless. HN does not need any major overhaul or whatever else. I think a lot of this is just old-…

These conversations about the declining conversation have been happening for at least the last 3 years since I started reading. I wonder how soon after the start of HN the first of these conversations came up.

Re: A proposal for improving HN : it should cost a user Karma to post

#180

Post by lotharbot »

tokenadult wrote: post #30

From the submitted blog post: "I have a suggestion for improvement: it should cost Karma to comment, and when your Karma drops below a certain threshold you can no longer comment. "My reasoning is that the trash comments we all hate are kneejerk criticisms with little thought put into them, which I suspect are largely made for the sake of saying something and collecting Karma." I agree with the rationale for the prop…

The problem is comments that are mean, dumb, and massively upvoted. Or, really, upvoted at all.

This suggests that at least part of the problem is the voters, who haven't learned that comments of that sort do not belong on HN. I submit the following proposal:

If a comment is sufficiently mean/dumb to be killed by flagging or moderators, everyone who upvoted that comment should be penalized and warned

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