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Poll: Would HN benefit from Reddit's AMA-style posts from technologists?

news.ycombinator.com

181–187 of 187 posts

Re: Poll: Would HN benefit from Reddit's AMA-style posts from technologists?

#181

Why don't we let Reddit be Reddit, and HN be HN? Why would I want HN to be a megaphone for Famous Joe Blow X when I'd much rather have him actively participating and helping out in the threads with the rest of us? This is a very bad idea in my opinion. Since I have no clue how to run a busy site, that means it'll probably happen. :)

Why would I want HN to be a megaphone for Famous Joe Blow X when I'd much rather have him actively participating and helping out in the threads with the rest of us? Because the odds of getting Famous Joe Blow X to run a HN AMA are much, much higher than getting him to become an active HNer. We're talking about a one-time commitment versus extended involvement in our community. Look at the roster of AMA guests on Redd…

i think a fair few are active redditors but they dont use their anonymous accounts for their AMA for obvious reasons. Perhaps not Woody Harrelson.

Of course there is the reverse, where Will Shatner didnt want to do an AMA as he intended to stick around on a daily basis as opposed to a "one night only" type of event. That sort of thing seems to be what HN would prefer (if it wasnt will shatner but someone more useful).

Re: Poll: Would HN benefit from Reddit's AMA-style posts from technologists?

#182
post #90

Cheap content attracts cheap commenters. The comments and questions in AMAs rarely express novel insight -- usually, someone pipes up with a popular sentiment, like asking President Obama to stop using drone strikes. Commenting in such threads, which are inevitably mobbed, gives you the illusion of significance ("Wow, X answered my question!") or worse yet they give you actual significance ("Wow, it's X, he did an AM…

What if you required a certain amount of points or more to ask a question? HN already has good software to deal with voting rings, so we shouldn't get too much karma whoring in response. Plus, people would have to invest in karma, because once the AMA is announced for the following day, or for right then, it's too late to get 300 (say) more points. I think it's workable.

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Re: Poll: Would HN benefit from Reddit's AMA-style posts from technologists?

#184
Why not leave AMAs where they belong, Reddit?

Call me a hipster, but I like the peace, quiet, and esotericism of HN. Adding AMAs would screw everything up; we'd get tons of new signups and the community would be diluted like Reddit is currently. We'd get immaturity in droves.

Memes on the HN front page... The thought makes me shudder.

Re: Poll: Would HN benefit from Reddit's AMA-style posts from technologists?

#185

Why don't we let Reddit be Reddit, and HN be HN? Why would I want HN to be a megaphone for Famous Joe Blow X when I'd much rather have him actively participating and helping out in the threads with the rest of us? This is a very bad idea in my opinion. Since I have no clue how to run a busy site, that means it'll probably happen. :)

My first reaction was similar. However, I realized that an HN AMA, need not mimic a Reddit AMA. I created a prototype HN AMA here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5250690

It doesn't seem to be very successful. Then again, I'm not that interesting.

Re: Poll: Would HN benefit from Reddit's AMA-style posts from technologists?

#186
"I see the value of an AMA for someone who is never coming back here again but really, is an AMA for someone who is going to stick around necessary? I would much rather just do it more of a grass roots style. Answering things as I go along." - Will I Am Shatner

Re: Poll: Would HN benefit from Reddit's AMA-style posts from technologists?

#187
post #174
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they're more like the "content" that the Reddit community is discussing any given day. I think this sums them up nicely. This is also why I feel they would be out of place in a forum centered around discussion , like HN.

You could see an HN AMA as one person chiming in on multiple discussions in a short time (which may be much more doable for them), this depends on the questions asked, of course. And that is something HN hopefully regulates by itself. Just since the 'setup' is the same, it doesn't mean the results will be the same. HN as a whole vs Reddit is proof of this on itself, I would say.

That's not a half-bad idea at all, actually.
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