When I read the article I had the same thought. Of course, I didn't actually say it, but I think that people were a little over-sensitive about this. You shouldn't have to apologize.
My Public Apology
31–40 of 116 posts
Re: My Public Apology
#32There are things in life that matter more than others. Startups, money, reputation; all that shit is worthless once you need to deal with the pain of someone dying. Someone taking their own life is one of those things that should cause you to stop and think of his family, friends and wonder what pushed him to this. I dunno man, maybe you haven't experienced it, but once you do (and everyone does), I hope you forgive…
I assure you I have seen much suffering and death in my life.
Re: My Public Apology
#33I think that it also exposes some of the crazy group think going on here, so maybe it wasn't all bad. I mean, You're an idiot isn't supposed to be a +5 comment on this site. And reasoned discourse like It doesn't really matter what the Justin.tv CEO said. He pasted some boiler plate because there's nothing more to be said; the deed had been done. What do you want? An apology for not finding the video? For not policin…
The rabid responses to Tom's post both shocked and surprised me as well. They just seemed a little bit more spirited than I would expect. It was a little schadenfreude-infused, to say the least.
I wasn't shocked at all. My favorite thing about HN is the community and the discussion that goes on here. I don't have comments on my blog for a reason, and it is precisely so that I don't have to deal with anonymous trolls that don't think before they comment. To me, Tom's comment was highly reminiscent of why I can't stand Reddit or Digg or YouTube comments. I expect more from HN discussions. This community has built something special. I enjoy discussing my own blog posts here specifically because trollish comments are punished.
I think the reason that the downmodding was so agressive on this specific comment was that people wanted to express that actions have consequences. You post a thoughtless, off-color comment that does not legitimately address the topic at hand, and you will pay dearly for it.
That being said, I applaud Tom's apology. He made a mistake in making the comment and several of the followups. We are all stupid sometimes, and it takes balls to fess up to that fact. So I forgive his remark and hope that we've all learned something from this.
Let's keep HN a place where real discussions about hacking and startups can take place. Think before you comment. Is your comment contributing to the discussion, or would it be better placed on Reddit?
Re: My Public Apology
#34Coward. Your next submission should have been Maddox's "How to kill yourself like a man." http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=manly_suicid...
Something tells me that might have exacerbated the issue ;)
Re: My Public Apology
#35There are things in life that matter more than others. Startups, money, reputation; all that shit is worthless once you need to deal with the pain of someone dying. Someone taking their own life is one of those things that should cause you to stop and think of his family, friends and wonder what pushed him to this. I dunno man, maybe you haven't experienced it, but once you do (and everyone does), I hope you forgive…
I assure you I have seen much suffering and death in my life.
Did they use pills, or were theirs "more interesting than watching paint dry"? Oh, zing!
Hehe, sorry. I think it would be beneficial if we all loosened up a little. Personally, if I was going to do the suicide dance, I'd try to find the most creative way to go. Like the one where you put on a noose made out of thin (but sturdy) wire, attach the other end to a bridge, glue your hands to your face, then jump off the bridge. You'll end up holding your own head, which would really confuse whoever found you. I'd also make the ":P" face before jumping so that it looked like I was blowing a raspberry.
Re: My Public Apology
#36I think that it also exposes some of the crazy group think going on here, so maybe it wasn't all bad. I mean, You're an idiot isn't supposed to be a +5 comment on this site. And reasoned discourse like It doesn't really matter what the Justin.tv CEO said. He pasted some boiler plate because there's nothing more to be said; the deed had been done. What do you want? An apology for not finding the video? For not policin…
I mean, You're an idiot isn't supposed to be a +5 comment on this site.
Shoot. I tried to downvote it only to find that I can only UPvote. Maybe that's also the problem for others.
Re: My Public Apology
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I for one don't think that a self serving apology is in line with his posting history. A unsubstantiated comment, on the other hand, is in line with yours.
thats harsh
It was not meant to be harsh, simply a statement of fact. I certainly don't share the "Life is [harsh]. Adapt." mentality. I do believe in judging opinions based on how well they are substantiated. If you post an argument that is backed up by some sort of reasoning or proof, I'll be upvoting you whether I agree with you or not :-).
Re: My Public Apology
#38My only problem with your initial comment is that it does not add much to the discussion; but neither do the comments that merely express sympathy. The story itself is only of interest because any startup may have to deal with similar situations, and hysterical public attention in general. The real issue is how your unpopular comment immediately reflected back on your business. There are several calls to boycott tick…
I was wondering abt the same on how his comment(thought inappropriate) should spur a whole lot of hate on product he builds. I would really down vote the person who first said "Note to self, stop using ticketstumbler". Seems more like an animated irrational crowd. Hard to believe on HN.
Yeah. One of those was me. Sorry about that. Suicide has touched me a little more deeply than most and I'm sorry to say that I shot first and thought later.
Re: My Public Apology
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not what I said. All I said was, if you've never had someone close to you end their life or die suddenly, then you don't get what pain you cause by flippant remarks like he made. So fuck him for feeling bad, cause he should. And you relax dude.
"Not what I said." "... I hope you forgive yourself for the stupid shit you said today." He's asking for your forgiveness, and based on what you're saying, it sounds like you won't forgive him, and you feel that he shouldn't forgive himself . I'm saying, that's a bad mindset to have. That same kind of hatred has spawned many wars, for example. I understand you're emotional about this, and I'm sorry for whatever losse…
Oh, I don't know. I obviously think it was a bit crass, but it probably seemed like a reasonable enough thing to say. Just didn't go over well.
But at the same time, I look back on some of the stupid things I've said and done, and it bothers me again and again. I'll be working on something completely non-related, and some scene of my stupidity pops into my head, and I feel embarrassed all over again. It's not particularly useful, and I would just as soon forget it altogether.
That's how I took the comment about forgiving himself later: he may come to regret making a callous remark, and have a hard time understanding that it was a simple off-the-cuff remark.
Either way, it's not such a big deal. He apologized, took responsibility, and will probably attempt to post with a bit more foresight in the near future.
Re: My Public Apology
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
The rabid responses to Tom's post both shocked and surprised me as well. They just seemed a little bit more spirited than I would expect. It was a little schadenfreude-infused, to say the least.
I wasn't shocked at all. My favorite thing about HN is the community and the discussion that goes on here. I don't have comments on my blog for a reason, and it is precisely so that I don't have to deal with anonymous trolls that don't think before they comment. To me, Tom's comment was highly reminiscent of why I can't stand Reddit or Digg or YouTube comments. I expect more from HN discussions. This community has bu…
Perhaps I should have been more clear: The downvoting of the joke was expected.
The massive upvoting of the snarky "oh, snap" comments that followed, is what was surprising.
You are supposed to upvote intelligent discourse, and downvote the cruft; ie. encourage the "community and the discussion that goes on here", and discourage the "anonymous trolls that don't think before they comment". Or at least that's how I learned it.
The reverse seems to have happened.
See: "indeed" +12
"memo to self: stop using ticketstumbler.com" +34
"Such a shame, but I won't be using it either." +9
"TicketStumbler founders - Get a life." +4
"You think the people on here are dumb enough to believe that what you posted was an "experiment"? You're an asshole." +21
"Just apologize for the comment, man. You're not going to change anyone's mind with a childish rant like this." +20
"Posting comments irrelevant to your initial insensitivity will not help save face, especially when you throw in an attack towards the entire crowd." +18
or the especially ironic "I actually had to scroll up to the banner to make sure I was still on Hacker News and not reddit." +12
As far as I can tell, those are on the same plane as the original comment.
It was the upvoting of these (and similar) inane, and snarky one-liners that I was surprised at, not the downvoting of the comment that set it all off. Although the upvoting of the "golly gee-whiz, that's awful bad, hyuk" type comments, and the intertia of the downvoting of the subsequent comments were also surprising.
It appears as if the score of some of the other comments, ie. "You're an idiot" seem to be stabilizing over time. It's no longer +5, at least.