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Am here for over 2 years now, rarely upvote something, haven't submitted anything and this is just my 2nd comment... Pretty sure this rule holds for close to al

Am here for over 2 years now, rarely upvote something, haven't submitted anything and this is just my 2nd comment... Pretty sure this rule holds for close to all kind of forums.

jopsen 8y ago
I wonder if it holds throughout history? How many people posted letters to news papers in the hay day of paper news..
- buboard 8y ago
  most probably much less. The big difference is that they would publish mostly in local papers while the internet's audience is always global.
  - Loughla 8y ago
    Honestly, if you want to see what news editors see in the form of letters to the editor, go to your closest small(ish) (100k or less) town local newspaper or tv station's website and look through the comments on stories. They're frighteningly disjointed, insane, and disconnected from reality. These are real, actual people who submit comments. And those people are anonymous and free to post whatever lies they care to come up with on forums such as this one.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
Kaveren 8y ago
I don't know if you're willing to make a 3rd comment, but I'm trying to understand the lurker mindset from the perspective of someone who posts quite actively. Is is just that you don't care enough to reply, feel like your opinions are unpopular, don't feel like you have anything to say, or something else?
- pjc50 8y ago
  I'm not sure one needs to make an argument for not posting.
  - Kaveren 8y ago
    Of course not, there's nothing wrong with not posting. My question was just out of curiosity for why people never feel "compelled" (not a great word here) to post while actively browsing quite a bit.
- vanviegen 8y ago
  I'm kind of a lurker as well. I read HN comments to gain a broader perspective on issues. Sharing my own thoughts on the matter doesn't really help with that. Of course, sometimes when reading comments I get the feeling that you people are all entirely, inexcusably wrong, and I feel an urge to set the record straight. Normally on HN, it doesn't take long for someone to step up and explain exactly what I was thinking with an eloquence I couldn't have matched. And the world is right again. :-)
- dyadic 8y ago
  I check the site maybe once every couple of days, and I don't comment or reply because it usually seems like the post is "old" by then and the discussion has died down. Your comment now is marked "5 minutes ago" and seems game for a reply, but later today when it's "5 hours ago" or longer, I'd feel like it has expired and any reply would be lost and never seen.
  - veddox 8y ago
    I follow a discussion I'm in for at least a day. HN commenting is asynchronous - it's not a chat conversation. Work hours, time zones and other "hazards" of modern Internet life all intervene...
  - dgpy 8y ago
    Hello fellow hackers, This is my first comment since I started reading HN around 4y ago. This comment thread mostly summarizes why I'm a lurker: most of the time when I read an article someone already made a point that I would like to make. Most of the time it would be superfluous ( objectively speaking this comment can be treated as such...). To make it slightly worthwhile let me share why I keep on consuming HN and lurking here: What I really like about HN in comparison to reddit is that HN is way less negative/aggressive. Many years ago I once tried there to discuss something - wanted to share my joy about some feature in some library on proggit. Instead of arguments I've received bunch of profanities and name calling. That effectively 'cured' me from participating in comments there. I really really enjoy that such negativity is missing here. That trait plus curated links makes my time spent here much better spent in comparison to alternatives. Thank you guys!
S_Bear 8y ago
I have a 12 year reddit account and finally hit 700 post karma this week.
techwolf 8y ago
I've been reading HN semi-regularly for over half a decade, but only created an account ~1.5 years ago and my first comment was last month. This is my second comment as well, and probably my 10th across all social media in the last year. The topics on HN generally align with my interests and the quality of discourse here is fairly high, but I'm rarely willing to make the additional mental effort of participating. I prefer to research any points I make and back them up with data, and it's not worth my time to do so only to end up arguing with trolls or people who refuse to reconsider their position when presented with new information.
xenreal 8y ago
I've made comments in the internet only when I was a 16 years old. In a tiny forum community, where everyone known each other. Some weird shitty things happened because of my post on this forum. After this event became lurker, and post extremely rarely, only anonymously on sites like 4chan to ensure my safety from any crazy guy from the internet.

Am here for over 2 years now, rarely upvote something, haven't submitted anything and this is just my 2nd comment... Pretty sure this rule holds for close to all kind of forums.

jopsen 8y ago

I wonder if it holds throughout history? How many people posted letters to news papers in the hay day of paper news..

buboard 8y ago
most probably much less. The big difference is that they would publish mostly in local papers while the internet's audience is always global.
- Loughla 8y ago
  Honestly, if you want to see what news editors see in the form of letters to the editor, go to your closest small(ish) (100k or less) town local newspaper or tv station's website and look through the comments on stories. They're frighteningly disjointed, insane, and disconnected from reality. These are real, actual people who submit comments. And those people are anonymous and free to post whatever lies they care to come up with on forums such as this one.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

Kaveren 8y ago

I don't know if you're willing to make a 3rd comment, but I'm trying to understand the lurker mindset from the perspective of someone who posts quite actively. Is is just that you don't care enough to reply, feel like your opinions are unpopular, don't feel like you have anything to say, or something else?

pjc50 8y ago
I'm not sure one needs to make an argument for not posting.
- Kaveren 8y ago
  Of course not, there's nothing wrong with not posting. My question was just out of curiosity for why people never feel "compelled" (not a great word here) to post while actively browsing quite a bit.
vanviegen 8y ago
I'm kind of a lurker as well. I read HN comments to gain a broader perspective on issues. Sharing my own thoughts on the matter doesn't really help with that. Of course, sometimes when reading comments I get the feeling that you people are all entirely, inexcusably wrong, and I feel an urge to set the record straight. Normally on HN, it doesn't take long for someone to step up and explain exactly what I was thinking with an eloquence I couldn't have matched. And the world is right again. :-)
dyadic 8y ago
I check the site maybe once every couple of days, and I don't comment or reply because it usually seems like the post is "old" by then and the discussion has died down. Your comment now is marked "5 minutes ago" and seems game for a reply, but later today when it's "5 hours ago" or longer, I'd feel like it has expired and any reply would be lost and never seen.
- veddox 8y ago
  I follow a discussion I'm in for at least a day. HN commenting is asynchronous - it's not a chat conversation. Work hours, time zones and other "hazards" of modern Internet life all intervene...
- dgpy 8y ago
  Hello fellow hackers, This is my first comment since I started reading HN around 4y ago. This comment thread mostly summarizes why I'm a lurker: most of the time when I read an article someone already made a point that I would like to make. Most of the time it would be superfluous ( objectively speaking this comment can be treated as such...). To make it slightly worthwhile let me share why I keep on consuming HN and lurking here: What I really like about HN in comparison to reddit is that HN is way less negative/aggressive. Many years ago I once tried there to discuss something - wanted to share my joy about some feature in some library on proggit. Instead of arguments I've received bunch of profanities and name calling. That effectively 'cured' me from participating in comments there. I really really enjoy that such negativity is missing here. That trait plus curated links makes my time spent here much better spent in comparison to alternatives. Thank you guys!

S_Bear 8y ago

I have a 12 year reddit account and finally hit 700 post karma this week.

techwolf 8y ago

I've been reading HN semi-regularly for over half a decade, but only created an account ~1.5 years ago and my first comment was last month. This is my second comment as well, and probably my 10th across all social media in the last year. The topics on HN generally align with my interests and the quality of discourse here is fairly high, but I'm rarely willing to make the additional mental effort of participating. I prefer to research any points I make and back them up with data, and it's not worth my time to do so only to end up arguing with trolls or people who refuse to reconsider their position when presented with new information.

xenreal 8y ago

I've made comments in the internet only when I was a 16 years old. In a tiny forum community, where everyone known each other. Some weird shitty things happened because of my post on this forum. After this event became lurker, and post extremely rarely, only anonymously on sites like 4chan to ensure my safety from any crazy guy from the internet.