

Moving On... - shortstuffsushi

I know that the whole NSA thing is terrible. It is. Seriously.<p>But we&#x27;re not getting anywhere by complaining. I haven&#x27;t seen anyone on here offering ways to make it stop happening (since, you know, we can&#x27;t).<p>Can we stop posting about it and move on? We know, and honestly, have known, that these things are and have been going on. Can we get back to talking about technology? Cool things we&#x27;ve made? Even if those things are things that we&#x27;re making because to make ourselves feel more secure in light of these events?<p>I know I&#x27;m going to be viewed as &quot;that guy,&quot; but I&#x27;m so bored of it. I hate it as much as the rest of you, but that&#x27;s not why I come to this site. Please, let&#x27;s get back to what we&#x27;re about.
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LoganCale
We actually are getting somewhere by complaining. By everyone (everywhere, not
just here) talking about it it's built a momentum of public awareness about
such programs in the U.S. that has never existed before despite other past
revelations about domestic surveillance.

Public interest in the subject has led to more coverage and more investigative
journalists digging up additional details. Public outrage has led to the
government acknowledging portions of it publicly and providing even more
details in secret to Congress, some of which has already leaked.

Because of the events of the past week and a half, the government is already
being more (but far from fully) transparent on the subject than ever before.

Now, I'm not saying this is specifically because we're talking about it on HN,
but without public interest it would fade away and return to business as
usual. It is of special interest to the technology community, so it makes
sense that this would be a primary point to discuss it as it continues to
develop.

Finally, it's clear that many people _do_ want to talk about it, because they
upvote those stories to the top and comment on them extensively. If you don't
want to discuss them, don't upvote them and submit things that interest you
instead. Other stories are still making it to the front page as well.

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pasbesoin
We've seen this with companies as well as with government: One of the things
they still respond to is outsized pressure. Perhaps at its most basic, the
fear that people will quit them. (Lost business, lost good will, lost votes.)

A few years ago, there was a lot of outrage about Facebook's relentless
"publification" of user data. And it did produce some at least temporary
retraction as well as some degree of redesign.

In lieu of other mechanisms and options, people are "voting" with their voice.
And past a certain volume, this appears to produce some success with respect
to the concerns of those voices.

Remember a year ago, when the front page was full of SOPA posts and
commentary? Well, that appears to have led to something that -- at least
temporarily -- was in favor of the majority of those posting.

"60 Minutes" [1], for and by the masses. Tick tick tick tick...

\----

[1] A prominent U.S. TV news / investigative journalism program. (I think it's
now been somewhat internationalized, or "franchised".) Although its
credibility has come increasingly into question in recent years. Its opening
segment and transitions display a ticking stopwatch.

Some of its stories have been credited with producing significant private and
public policy shifts -- in perception, or substance, or both.

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tptacek
You're not "that guy". The onslaught of political stories about NSA
surveillance is so severe that the people who'd normally be piping up
alongside you have given up.

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staunch
HN is to the point where it pretty much needs subreddits (or a basic version
of them, like the "Ask" section) to continue to not suck.

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simgidacav
A point for you sir: complaining is not the way of solving a problem. Still
the complaining is symptomatic of discomfort in the community for this facts;
and discomfort, my good friend, is rich soil for solutions.

The best way of moving on is enabling creativity.

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Sealy
Thats true, NSA related stories have been flooding the front pages of hacker
news for the last two weeks. I don't mind a couple of posts but when every
other story is related to the news, it gets dry fast.

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andymoe
We are, apparently, about this right now.

