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Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

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Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#51

Post by verdverm »

raxxorrax wrote: post #28
itsbits wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very difficult in HN to put comment and gain points. Atleast for me. Tried couple of times. Downvoted most of times. So I just visit and read comments. Have been doing same for more than 7 years now. I am sure there are lots of readers like me.

It really depends on the topic as well. In the vast majority of cases people are reluctant to dish out any karma and your comment stays at one point. But that changes for some topics. I guess if you want to get more upvotes, articles about new Apple releases and similar stuff is most rewarding.

The best is to comment early on a front page story, not necessarily a top-level, but if you land within a few folds of the top, more eyes more votes.

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#52

Post by noduerme »

mattowen_uk wrote: post #26
Semaphor wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither US, nor startup, nor caring about YC, rank 1174 ;)

#1194 here, same situation. I feel slightly less irrelevant now. ;)

Well - yeah! Jeez. I never thought about relevance. I quit all my social media years ago. Buy I guess technically that puts our opinions in the top 0.01% of the internet; HN usually surfaces things about six hours ahead of the mob ;)

FWIW, everyone I know who worries about their irrelevance to humanity or the zeitgeist is already someone who's contributed way more imagination and creativity than most other people. I feel irrelevant, too; I got to that feeling by proving to myself how little it means to build even the grandest projects, in the medium we work in (code). Recording music again, painting again, just remind me how irrelevant we all are. That's okay. It's in line with realizing you're not the only person with brains on earth; the dude your girlfriend leaves you for might have some brains too, he's not just a cartoon. There's a glimmer of reassurance there when you realize we're all just human. It means you're not expected to be relevant like Julius Caesar, just, it's enough be a good and humble craftsman who's appreciated and compensated for his work.

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#53

Post by arkj »

itsbits wrote: post #24
notRobot wrote: post #9

Heh, the fact that (IMO) I don't comment that often but still am in the top 5k (rank 4228, 185 comments) just goes to show how all things considered HN is still a very niche/small community.

It's very difficult in HN to put comment and gain points. Atleast for me. Tried couple of times. Downvoted most of times. So I just visit and read comments. Have been doing same for more than 7 years now. I am sure there are lots of readers like me.

> It's very difficult in HN to put comment and gain points

One can have better luck in getting noticed if you are early on the thread.

In a way those members who pickup new threads for discussion are pivotal for a community to thrive.

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#54

Post by noduerme »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #40
noduerme wrote: post #34

It would really scare me if dang wasn't the first one. But at the same time, I feel immense pain thinking about what he has to deal with on a daily basis. Literally the entire functioning of the last somewhat civil, fully moderated, independent, anon-friendly board on the internet in 2021 on the shoulders of one admin. I'd like to say how a million flowers should bloom from this shining example, but it seems more lik…

> Literally the entire functioning of the last somewhat civil, fully moderated, independent, anon-friendly board on the internet in 2021 I recognize an hyperbole when I see one, but this one is kinda of a big one.

Name one that's apolitical, anonymous, and personally moderated post by post? Some reddit subs might fit the bill, or some car enthusiast forums or something where wide-ranging conversations are banned. But this is a hard, hard thing to mod. I don't think we have anything else like it these days. That's why I'm actually here.

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#55

Post by baxtr »

noduerme wrote: post #34

It would really scare me if dang wasn't the first one. But at the same time, I feel immense pain thinking about what he has to deal with on a daily basis. Literally the entire functioning of the last somewhat civil, fully moderated, independent, anon-friendly board on the internet in 2021 on the shoulders of one admin. I'd like to say how a million flowers should bloom from this shining example, but it seems more lik…

By now, there should be enough data to automate dang? On a more serious note: Is he really doing this all by himself? If so, I am sure he could train some junior people to off-load the work.

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#56

Post by [deleted] »

noduerme wrote: post #52
mattowen_uk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#1194 here, same situation. I feel slightly less irrelevant now. ;)

Well - yeah! Jeez. I never thought about relevance. I quit all my social media years ago. Buy I guess technically that puts our opinions in the top 0.01% of the internet; HN usually surfaces things about six hours ahead of the mob ;) FWIW, everyone I know who worries about their irrelevance to humanity or the zeitgeist is already someone who's contributed way more imagination and creativity than most other people. I…

[deleted]

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#57

Post by birracerveza »

vmception wrote: post #44
itsbits wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very difficult in HN to put comment and gain points. Atleast for me. Tried couple of times. Downvoted most of times. So I just visit and read comments. Have been doing same for more than 7 years now. I am sure there are lots of readers like me.

There is an art to it. Although if a new account got negative karma early on, I would just abandon it. Selective evolution towards an account with comments that hit well enough.

No, it's selective evolution towards comment that appease the majority of the commenters, which is different. It's how you end up with reddit-like echo chambers.

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#59

Post by noduerme »

caslon wrote: post #49
itsbits wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very difficult in HN to put comment and gain points. Atleast for me. Tried couple of times. Downvoted most of times. So I just visit and read comments. Have been doing same for more than 7 years now. I am sure there are lots of readers like me.

The formula is pretty simple: Write cool comments about things you know about in threads that aren't dead yet. If you're really trying, you can accumulate over a hundred points in a day without posting any articles. The site is basically a game if you're optimizing for points, and it's better designed than reddit because you have to actually know things to get them. Have a niche programming language you like? Talk ab…

You're totally right, we all see that happening as far as it goes. But how far does it go? I've only ever posted on controversial topics. Usually when I post, I'm prepared to be downranked, and I'm mildly surprised when I get upvotes. I try to stay away from the dang-hammer. And on code or business subjects, I only ever go deep into things I have obsessive opinions about, popular or not. And that seems to rank OK.

I do see bot/troll type attempts on this board all the time, but they usually rack up a lot of points in a short span and can't sustain because they're not real people, or not actually saying something coherent besides "look at me".

The "Show HN" aspect is fantastic. You do see some wild stuff every day. I wouldn't deprive those people of their moment of glory.

But in the long run, I don't know what the point farming points would be, and neither does anyone else. If someone with 40k points disagrees with me, it's not like I think they have a more valid opinion. This, again, is a testament to the style of moderation on this board more than anything else, because it doesn't gamify herd mentality in the way reddit or even SO does.

Re: Top Hacker News commenters of 2021

#60

Post by noduerme »

baxtr wrote: post #55
noduerme wrote: post #34

It would really scare me if dang wasn't the first one. But at the same time, I feel immense pain thinking about what he has to deal with on a daily basis. Literally the entire functioning of the last somewhat civil, fully moderated, independent, anon-friendly board on the internet in 2021 on the shoulders of one admin. I'd like to say how a million flowers should bloom from this shining example, but it seems more lik…

By now, there should be enough data to automate dang? On a more serious note: Is he really doing this all by himself? If so, I am sure he could train some junior people to off-load the work.

>> I am sure he could train some junior people to off-load the work.

I'm sure he does, and I don't know. But that way lies every other site on the internet...

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