Why was the Peter Thiel thread removed?
There was a positive discussion around Peter T. that was just removed. Can HN advise why it was taken down?
Since story ranking for the front page appears to be in part based upon number of up-votes per unit time, it is very possible that only 38 votes over a three hour period was simply not a fast enough up-vote rate to keep it on any of the first X pages below the front page.
Eg. It was suggested 14 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=218141
They also don't like to talk about the algorithm in detail, because there's a lot of interest of gaming it for self promotion/spam.
Other variables: Eg. This one is probably flagged because of users like me: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30240159
(Regarding the post you linked to, I’m not going to dispute whatever’s going on in that thread, but I’ve had multiple comments removed over the years that were critical of YC specifically. That is neither here nor there and it’s been too long for me to recall specifics, though I do remember being thoroughly confused more than anything.
So, personally, that guy might be asking in bad faith but it is something to be diligent about, even if it’s just avoiding the perception, as his underlying logic holds up even if it’s clear he’s looking for a fight today.)
Best regards to both of you.
By "removed" do you mean:
a) "flagged" such that only people who are logged in and have changed their preferences to showdead -> yes can see them?
or b) the words not visible even with showdead -> yes?
I'm curious because my setting is showdead -> yes and I see many otherwise suppressed comments. In fact there are people who are "banned" and I still see their comments (but not possible to reply).
Those topics get easily filtered and understandable.
It's also the part where i have to pay attention too.
The referenced link had probably something similar and that's what they mean with "opposing" views in a lot of cases.
While all discussion on those topics ( except interesting ones) would be moderated.
Dang mentions it a lot.
In general, the usual request is that questions like this one are better handled as an email to hn@ycombinator.com than as a new thread. Dan is surprisingly responsive and usually willing to provide details if you ask.