Comment by jjice | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jjice | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

Comments like this appear on every single post like this. Hacker New's algorithm lowers posts that have too much engagement too fast as a way to prevent flame wars. Is it perfect? No. But I highly doubt this is HN demoting this on purpose.

From the FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

> The basic algorithm divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted. Comments in threads are ranked the same way.

> Other factors affecting rank include user flags, anti-abuse software, software which demotes overheated discussions, account or site weighting, and moderator action.

This could very well be marked as an overheated discussion.

This comes up on HN constantly. The reason I feel confident that this is actually the case and not selective moderating is that these same exact comments pop up across posts from the entire political spectrum.

I believe the reasons for this system where initially good - don't want too many political discussions, keep it on tech only.

The issue is, that the tech is not a niche thing anymore - the biggest companies on earth are all tech now, and they played a very major role in installing the current US government. This topic is a great example too. Any current or future authoritarian state will be a very heavy user of technology, so it may very well be worth it debating these things here on HN.

> keep it on tech only.

I don't think that was ever completely true - it was always "things hackers found interesting". But what was "interesting" then was a product of the much calmer times back then – talking about Blub and build-your-own Lisps, hikes across Japan, etc.

Unfortunately, "interesting" is polarizing – and that is by design by the politicians iin power instigating this.

I think there's value in the homepage placing these things less prominently, while making more prominent the other things we want the culture here to be about - despite those things being less generally engaging and obviously popular.

For when someone is a new person here, they'll then first get mildly introduced and familiar with the expectations and aspirations of space through more neutral discussions. After their initial impression they're always free to seek out these hotter discussions on /active once they realize they happen here.

Thanks for explaining this.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com