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> If the algorithm "working as intended" consistently downranks stories that cast a bad light on YCombinator, the sorts of people y'all mingle with, or the tech industry in general...is that any better than putting your thumb on the scale?

That's the exact opposite of what Dan stated, what this thread (and your link) demonstrate, and my own lived experience here.

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that's fair but the post was on page 3 for a while. glad to see it restored to the front page. (the charitable explanation is that non-moderators can flag stories, as opposed to an official policy to protect YC companies)

Maybe the algorithm down-ranks posts that have lots of down-voted comments? Lots of light-grey text on this page.

This thread required manual intervention to override the algorithm - intervention that it did not always have and not all stories benefit from.

My argument is that the algorithm, as well as the various gameified engagement mechanisms on this site, are badly conceived and gives too much censure and veto power to ordinary users.

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