It's funny this article came up today. I was just thinking about how much the 2016 election and the crypto bubble of 2017 changed the dynamics of HN, mostly for the worst. The article mentions scale as being the problem. I think it's more than that as HN was already a large community. I think it comes down to a community reaching a critical mass of people that don't respect the existing rules. At that point, other users, even those that largely respect the existing order, are forced to a.) break the rules to try and combat the newbs or b.) flee. Either way the destruction of what was is complete.