Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#1

Post by zynker » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 8:24 AM UTC

The HN crowd is super diverse, on top of that story comments often reveal there are so many interesting people here.

I often think I'd love to engage with some of them.

I know some users choose to add contact details/personal site in their profile, but unfortunately most don't.

Should HN have an option to send a message between its users?

Re: Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#2

Post by dieselgate » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 8:28 AM UTC

I personally don't want the feature and am glad it does not exist on HN. On other forums where it does exist I don't use it. It's good people can put contact info of their choosing in the bio etc.

Re: Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#3

Post by pyeri » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 8:31 AM UTC

It should be left up to them users to post a linkedin or github on their profile should they choose to, the present way works good I think.

Re: Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#4

Post by zynker » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 9:02 AM UTC

One can also have an opt-out of contact feature.

Re: Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#5

Post by bell-cot » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 9:12 AM UTC

No. HN is a News site.

For users who want to be contacted (by pretty much anyone - let's not pretend that HN is some ultra-exclusive club), it's trivial to add contact details to their User.About text - details for platforms they're already on, know & like the features of, etc.

For user who don't, the default is perfect.

For DanG & Co., any "users can contact each other, via HN" feature is a boatload more work. Even if they could just install OpenSourcePackage for that - it'll still need a bunch of hardware infra. Then there's the 1e13 ways in which some users can and will misbehave, via any meaningful chat/message/whatever feature. All of which DanG & Co. would be stuck playing AdminNannyPolice for.

Re: Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#6

Post by ssss11 » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 9:55 AM UTC

Sounds like a spam door

Re: Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#7

Post by The-Old-Hacker » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 12:58 PM UTC

Will that be Zynk or you personally "engaging" with HN members?

Re: Ask HN: Should HN users have a way to contact others on HN?

#8

Post by night-rider » Sun, Nov 26, 2023, 1:42 PM UTC

I added an e-mail address in my bio to an older account I had on here, encouraging people to cold e-mail me. I got one e-mail in the span of six years, and the e-mail was short and sweet. Someone just wanted to thank me for getting their SaaS product on the HN front page. I still check their progress to this day. I literally changed the course of someone's life by submitting a random link.