Ask HN: Why are nasty comments more common on HN?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7007793

by oznathan • 13 years ago

13 17 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I find that there are more nasty comments here than on other similar websites. I'm not talking about trolling. These comments are thought out criticism combined with pure meanness. Stuff like "This article gave my cancer" or "This is the dumbest article I ever read". Criticism is more common online that in real life, but there is something very decisive, mean and emotional about the comments here.

minimaxir2• 13 years ago

If you think HN has a large proportion of nasty comments, you clearly haven't visited any other website.

oznathan3• 13 years ago

On other websites it's trolling. Here it's not.

minimaxir2• 13 years ago

Negative comments != trolling. Troll comments are comments that are deliberately against popular opinion in order to start arguments. Saying "this article sucks" isn't trolling. Saying "Python is better than Ruby because it's more pure." is trolling.

sejje• 13 years ago

I don't really agree, at least not given your examples. "This article gave me cancer" seems like trolling to me, by your definition.

People here are blunt about stupidity, sure, and maybe it has a more cutting effect because it's more likely they're actually pointing out stupid mistakes, rather than just name calling or something.

Here you're derided in a more accurate, skilled fashion.

anigbrowl• 13 years ago

I think HN is better than many other websites, but certainly worse than some. Obvious reasons:

1. Internet disinhibition effect enhanced by pseudonymity - anyone can create an account called 'internettoughguy3' and start talking shit to people; blatant sockpuppetry/nastiness is punished by the mods, but one can get away with it on an occasional basis.

2. Common interest in hacking-type stuff brings together people whose views diverge on other things, like religion and especially politics; conflict ensues.

3. Persistence; sort of the opposite of #1, many of us have been here for years and know how to 'push each others' buttons,' so lingering dislike or disagreement between individuals will occasionally boil over into a cutting remark.

4. Geeks tend to be introverted and so less good at social modeling. http://xkcd.com/610/ sums this up, though I think the dig at Ayn Rand fans is a bit unfair because such thinking is equally prevalent on the left.

None of the above apply to me, of course. I am perfect.

oznathan3• 13 years ago

I agree.

Also, a lot of people with positive reaction just upvote an article. If you consider upvotes as positive comments, the ratio is way different.

schneidmaster• 13 years ago

2. Common interest in hacking-type stuff brings together people whose views diverge on other things, like religion and especially politics; conflict ensues.

Not just that, but we're also generally quite opinionated and thus argumentative on hacking-type stuff even though it's a common interest.

samsquire2• 13 years ago

I think part of it is a lack of social awareness. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6968526

When people feel justified with their behaviour, they may do or say unnecessary things.

jarnix• 13 years ago

Your post is so useless and boring. It gave me cancer, this might be the dumbest article I ever read.

(obviously it's a joke)

brianbarker• 13 years ago

Idk that HN has more nasty comments. I'd say it has more negative comments, but not sure they're nasty. Nasty are the comments on YouTube.

bliti• 13 years ago

There are some people who simply look down at others because they are not as "smart" as they are. Experience has taught me that these type of people spend too much time writing comments on the internet rather than improving their skills (they are already "smart", they don't need it). I sometimes wonder why I even comment on HN, because somebody will get offended and do a crusade against me. Even to the point of emailing me saying how stupid I am (true story). In reality, I'm never ever the smartest guy in the room. But I do work hard to learn and do things correctly.

There is also the belief of the 1%. People seem to think that there are these magical programmers who are better than anybody out there. This makes a lot of those who have drinked the SV kool-aid look down on others. In reality, all programmers are smart. Just in different areas/aspects. There is no 1%. Just a bunch of people trying to write code and innovate.

deadfall• 13 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

ereckers• 13 years ago

Hacker News has also been called depressing:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5744224

I think it's generally a cool place but negative and nasty comments definitely seem to get traction. Watch for newer accounts that I'm assuming are harvesting karma. They always seem to start out with some negative comment.

MatthiasP• 13 years ago

Comments on HN are probably as good as comments get on the internet. I doubt that there are websites out there with a better community.

ekr• 13 years ago

I can think of only one exception: LessWrong. Of course, this is quite subjective, and the two communities are definitely not disjunct.

Ask HN: Why are nasty comments more common on HN?

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