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TL;DR: Do you have a stance on HN's change in culture? It seems like HN comments are shifting from technical focus toward: * Early Reddit's low-effort but tam

TL;DR: Do you have a stance on HN's change in culture? It seems like HN comments are shifting from technical focus toward: * Early Reddit's low-effort but tame "snark" * Aggressively moralizing posts dismissing sardonic criticism as dangerous mental illness I haven't seen much of OP's style lately, especially since n-gate[1] went inactive. I'm wondering whether that's a bad thing. Although the tone is hostile on the surface, there's usually some aspiration toward competence associated with it. [1]: http://n-gate.com/ http://n-gate.com/

AtlasBarfed 2y ago
n-gate was the best. Referencing it was always worth the downvotes. I get we are semi-autistic nerds and can't appreciate comedy/satire/sarcasm, but comedy/satire/sarcasm is a potent means of criticism and analysis, especially since we are in an ever-increasing torrent of bullshit.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  HN is a bit too serious I think. More comedy would be better than the usual cynicism which can bleed over into your mindset even after visiting the site. You are what you read, after all. Maybe even this comment comes off as cynical; no doubt I’ve been infected too.
  - AtlasBarfed 2y ago
    What the world needs very badly in the generative spam world is a healthy dose of skepticism. What qualifies as skepticism versus cynicism is often in the eye of the beholder.
dang 2y ago
I don't think it's changed much. I think perceptions of the kind you're describing (HN is turning into reddit, comments are getting worse, etc.) are more a statement about the perceiver than about HN itself, which to me seems same-as-it-ever-was. I don't know, however.
- pushfoo 2y ago
  TL;DR: I think you're right. Ty for maintaining HN! > are more a statement about the perceiver than about HN itself I may have some rose tint to my oldest memories of lurking HN. Not only was I younger, but I was also seeing hours-old threads instead of comments arriving in real-time before any sorting or flagging. In other words, thank you for maintaining the site all these years.
  - dang 2y ago
    Yes exactly! These perceptions are strongly conditioned by each generation's "rose tint". It's ok though, because the perception "HN isn't what it used to be" is somehow part of the overall system.

AtlasBarfed 2y ago

n-gate was the best. Referencing it was always worth the downvotes. I get we are semi-autistic nerds and can't appreciate comedy/satire/sarcasm, but comedy/satire/sarcasm is a potent means of criticism and analysis, especially since we are in an ever-increasing torrent of bullshit.

kjkjadksj 2y ago
HN is a bit too serious I think. More comedy would be better than the usual cynicism which can bleed over into your mindset even after visiting the site. You are what you read, after all. Maybe even this comment comes off as cynical; no doubt I’ve been infected too.
- AtlasBarfed 2y ago
  What the world needs very badly in the generative spam world is a healthy dose of skepticism. What qualifies as skepticism versus cynicism is often in the eye of the beholder.

dang 2y ago

I don't think it's changed much. I think perceptions of the kind you're describing (HN is turning into reddit, comments are getting worse, etc.) are more a statement about the perceiver than about HN itself, which to me seems same-as-it-ever-was. I don't know, however.

pushfoo 2y ago
TL;DR: I think you're right. Ty for maintaining HN! > are more a statement about the perceiver than about HN itself I may have some rose tint to my oldest memories of lurking HN. Not only was I younger, but I was also seeing hours-old threads instead of comments arriving in real-time before any sorting or flagging. In other words, thank you for maintaining the site all these years.
- dang 2y ago
  Yes exactly! These perceptions are strongly conditioned by each generation's "rose tint". It's ok though, because the perception "HN isn't what it used to be" is somehow part of the overall system.