by te_platt on 11/10/17, 8:47 PM with 18 comments
1. The quality of the content, both stories and comments, has remained remarkably high. There have been times where I thought things were slipping but a few minutes on YouTube comments puts everything back in perspective.
2. There is just too much to learn and not enough time! On any given day there are more interesting stories to follow than I can possibly follow. Thankfully the comments are consistently good enough that I can read the comments before the actual story to check on credibility and accuracy.
3. I have learned to be more precise in what I say and give a little more latitude to others. Comments can get a bit pedantic. Not every comment needs to be a mathematical proof (although there have been many). I thought about creating a user named “PedanticMan” and going around harassing people about their grammar but I decided instead to try not to let the little things bother me.
4. There are a lot of smart, enthusiastic, knowledgeable people here. There have been so many comments with deeper explanations and links to extended content. Thank you to everyone who takes the time share.
5. Most topics deal with conflicting values and goals. Watching competent people argue different issues has been very instructive. For example, it’s possible to think “C++ is a horrible mess of a language” and “C++ is a powerful tool” at the same time.
6. Karma is strange to me. I’m a grown man with a rich life experience and I don’t care what random people on the internet think about me, there are no prizes for karma, and you can’t sell your points. Still, I notice. I get a stronger emotional reaction to it than seems rational. If any of you ever want to hack the system to get more karma try this: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. I think the best thing is to not care too much but pay attention.
by mitchelldeacon9 on 11/11/17, 2:46 PM
Aside from the politics, I have learned a great deal from HN about my own technical domain: the hegemony of the Linux operating system, advantages/limitations of RESTful APIs, python as the (arguably) preferred scripting language, and much more. But the best aspect of HN is, in my opinion, the continuous stream of commentary and discussion about books on a variety of topics. It was here that I discovered Joseph Frank's magisterial biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky, which alone was worth the price of admission.
Overall, I consider HN to be an intellectual oasis in the chaotic desert known as the Internet. Many thanks to the women and men who develop and maintain this remarkable web site. Bon courage.
by IsaacL on 11/11/17, 12:00 PM
The reason I use it is that sometimes there's a link posted to something genuinely novel, fascinating, and/or perception-shattering. Likewise, sometimes a comment will be deep, insightful and/or informative on a poorly-known topic. These are what bring me back.
But, most often, the community is prickly, fad-driven, and increasingly conformist.
It's always been a mix. I don't think it's actually gone downhill - I think the metric of quality has changed. The new moderation team has cracked down on overt rudeness and trolling. However, the userbase has shifted - it's larger now and more dominated by employees than entrepreneurs. That leads to a narrowing of opinion. The tech industry has also become much more high-profile, and everyone is hyper-aware of the media criticism of startup culture.
Once upon a time people would express controversial opinions and expect at least a fair hearing - it felt like a friendly gathering of smart friends. Now, it feels like people standing on soapboxes shouting to a hostile crowd. People like Sebastian Marshall (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lionhearted) used to be top posters here, and he's no longer active -- and I doubt he'd go down well with the current crowd. Steady changes in the userbase like that change the vibe in hard-to-define ways, but it's definitely changed.
by jamesmp98 on 11/10/17, 11:23 PM
Facebook and Reddit work too ;)
by Heraclite on 11/12/17, 5:46 PM
Also, the hive mind developed here is quite strong and sometimes you can predict the general sentiment of the comment thread.
It's still a great source of news though.
by quickthrower2 on 11/11/17, 10:03 AM
by indescions_2017 on 11/11/17, 1:23 AM
by muzani on 11/11/17, 6:41 PM
by ryanx435 on 11/11/17, 2:25 AM
~Candide.