Ask HN: We need a way to discuss political articles here | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: We need a way to discuss political articles here

7 pointsaerovistae10 comments

For the first time, I am spending more time on 'New' than on 'Top' here on HN, because there are dozens of very insightful political essays and articles being submitted which are flagged and dead in moments.

I understand we are trying to keep HN tech-centered, but things have reached a point where we all care deeply and wish to discuss ongoing events. I do not wish to see HN continue to exclude politics.

I would prefer to be able to tag those posts as Political, and give users the option to stick to old-fashioned pure HN, tech only, or to include political content for those of us who wish to engage with it.

View on HN

I really like the fact, personally, that HN is a place I can come and escape politics. I purposely do not read the mainstream news and havn't for years.

Agreed. There are plenty of forums where politics can be discussed. I like that I can come to HN when I want to avoid all of that.

(I'm drawing a line between tech-centered / tech-related "politics" to be different than "general politics". Political issues that directly affect / relate to the tech industry are ("may be") relevant here.)

100℅ this. There are literally millions of news sites where you can go talk about politics all day. I really like the fact that HN stays out of it.

I sort of agree - but on the other hand, the level of politics around right now is overwhelming, and it's nice, going on necessary, to have somewhere that isn't all Trump, all the time. So I wouldn't be particularly happy with just lifting the old-school HN politics discouragement.

A separated HN-for-politics area would seem like a good idea at this point, though. "Show | Ask | Politics | Jobs"?

Second thought on this: outrage fatigue, empathy fatigue, and activism fatigue are all real things.

Having places that aren't politicised may be very important in keeping up resistance to horrible politics and policies beyond a month or so.

> I understand we are trying to keep HN tech-centered

A minor nit, but I don't believe that's the intent. I believe the intent is to focus on things that are deeply interesting, rather than things that are likely to trigger flame wars.

The problem with mixing politics and business is that you get what Nassim Taleb is calling a 'dictatorship of the most intolerant'. If someone foolishly thinks it's safe to express a mainstream opinion, a minority of radicals will attack relentlessly with intent to destroy that person's career. Conservatives and Christians in academia and Silicon Valley have first-hand experience with this. Like Brendan Eich, we know that we can lose our jobs if we identify our political views. Not because we're in the minority, but because radicals make more noise, and most employers are cowards.

Therefore when liberals, who know their jobs aren't at risk, repeatedly ask that we all talk about politics in a professional forum, it comes across as a dare.

I think the separation between HN and politics is intentional. In fact, not too long ago they strictly banned any political submissions for a week (although they cancelled it early because nobody could agree on the definition of political).

I think your best bet in the short term is to create a custom subreddit, invite a bunch of people from HN, and see how that goes. Since you have the early momentum from the audience you want you can set up the mods early and set the tone for the future. Later on you can create your own website if reddit becomes problematic.

I am very sympathetic to the idea, but the reason the "Show HN" and "Ask HN" sections are valuable is that these posts are overwhelemed in the main view, rather than vice-versa.

An explicit "Politics" section even if excluded from the main feed or included with a large penalty (Like "Jobs") would probably suck the air out of the rest of the site.

A better option might be a separate politics-oriented site, perhaps hosted by a nonpartisan policy-recommending organization (in itself a tall order).

Please no politics here. Don't bring dirt here. Please.

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