

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

I find that there are more nasty comments here than on other similar websites. I&#x27;m not talking about trolling. These comments are thought out criticism combined with pure meanness. Stuff like &quot;This article gave my cancer&quot; or &quot;This is the dumbest article I ever read&quot;. Criticism is more common online that in real life, but there is something very decisive, mean and emotional about the comments here.
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anigbrowl
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/](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.

~~~
schneidmaster
> 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.

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minimaxir
If you think HN has a large proportion of nasty comments, you clearly haven't
visited _any other website_.

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

~~~
sejje
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.

~~~
samsquire
I think the author is questioning whether that is a good thing or not. Do we
want to be in a culture of posturing and derision?

I for one do not think it is a good thing or something to be proud of.
Criticism and derision are different and being toxic or caustic just brings
the level of communication down. It does not reflect well on our industry
either.

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bliti
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.

------
samsquire
I think part of it is a lack of social awareness.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6968526](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6968526)

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

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ereckers
Hacker News has also been called depressing:

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

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deadfall
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection)

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brianbarker
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.

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

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jarnix
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)

