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Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

news.ycombinator.com

41–50 of 294 posts

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm afraid.

Isn't HN becoming enough like Reddit already with the kind of stories that are posted? Last thing we need are the redditors then it's Reddit 2.0.

Do you honestly believe what you wrote here? You see marginal difference between reddit and HN?

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#42
post #24

No because anyone who already reads HN already knows SOPA. The only thing that will be effective is if sites that normal non-tech people visit go dark.

Going dark's is not only about being informative.

Is more valuable than that.

To the eyes of history, you have symbolic value in participating of a protest.

People will talk about what you did or did not in historically important (game changer) times.

So is all about how do you want them to talk about you in relation to this?

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm afraid.

Isn't HN becoming enough like Reddit already with the kind of stories that are posted? Last thing we need are the redditors then it's Reddit 2.0.

"If your account is less than a year old, please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. (It's a common semi-noob illusion.)"

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

http://jacquesmattheij.com/The+Unofficial+HN+FAQ#shark

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#44
Definitely. If we can't even bite the bullet ourselves, how can we expect others to as well? This isn't about HN, this is greater than that. This is about freedom of life as we know it. Without freedom of information, there is no such thing as freedom period. HN going down would be a powerful display of protest and commitment to freedom. Possibly, even the greatest thing HN has ever done.

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#45
post #24

No because anyone who already reads HN already knows SOPA. The only thing that will be effective is if sites that normal non-tech people visit go dark.

Going dark's is not only about being informative. Is more valuable than that. To the eyes of history, you have symbolic value in participating of a protest. People will talk about what you did or did not in historically important (game changer) times. So is all about how do you want them to talk about you in relation to this?

Now I want to change my vote ...

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#46
post #24

No because anyone who already reads HN already knows SOPA. The only thing that will be effective is if sites that normal non-tech people visit go dark.

We can't ask "normal non-tech people" sites to go dark if we're not willing to ourselves. Even if few HNers will learn anything new it still sets a good example.

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#47
post #21

Something to consider - if HN doesn't go dark it may become a refugee camp for a good chunk of bored reddit users (c. 70m daily pageviews), which could lead to a radical change in HN's userbase. Good to support, too.

On the other hand - publicity gained by going dark along with reddit would raise the amount of people who were aware of HN and could cause more people to come here.

Either way, I don't think it's that big of a concern.

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#48
post #32
post #24

No because anyone who already reads HN already knows SOPA. The only thing that will be effective is if sites that normal non-tech people visit go dark.

Agreed. I'm all for raising awareness, but many of the articles surfacing here over the past few weeks have been SOPA related and taking down the whole site to put up one message may actually reduce the amount of SOPA/PIPA-related information people are reading. For reference, all SOPA related articles on HN: http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=SOPA

Maybe instead of "going dark" that should be what the homepage redirects to for that day. That way it raises awareness and provides reading material.

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#49
No. Despite the statement that will be made by HN were it to go dark, this should be done on a website that gets traffic from the general population that is not aware of the situation. Most people on HN know about SOPA, where as most people on FB, Google or Tumblr don't.

Should HN go dark? Yes! Would it be effective? No!

Re: Poll: Do you think HN should go dark in protest of SOPA?

#50
post #24

No because anyone who already reads HN already knows SOPA. The only thing that will be effective is if sites that normal non-tech people visit go dark.

Making a public stand isn't just about using shock-and-awe to create an educational moment. It's also about making headlines and showing solidarity.

Despite the fact that the majority of HN readers already know about SOPA, I think it's an excellent idea for these other reasons.

It might also be an opportunity to get some of us off our butts and use the time we spend reading HN each day to call our representatives in congress instead.

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