

Tell HN: Meta-comments typically suck - andrewljohnson

It seems unfortunate to me that the top comment on a story is often a meta-comment - someone will complain that a Chrome plug-in doesn't work on Opera, or that a video doesn't have sub-titles, or they don't like the font of the website, etc, etc. We're probably all guilty of doing this to some extent, because it's encouraged by the system - it's an easy way to score some points without thinking too hard.<p>I'd like to see one of the community guidelines be "Don't make meta-comments, and down-vote them where you see them." I think that would go a long way to getting relevant comments to the top of the thread.
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wmf
I agree. There's a sort of categorical imperative here: imagine if everyone
who had a trivial problem with a site posted a comment about it — HN would be
nothing but meta.

I'd also do away with submissions about sites being down. The Internet is so
large that at any moment _something_ is down, and it'll probably be fixed
before people have a chance to pile on with unhelpful comments anyway.

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mnicole
Aren't those all legitimate usability/accessibility concerns? I can understand
the "Ugh not another one of _these_ services/apps," but when it comes to
actually being able to view data on a site and get a gist of who your visitors
are, that kind of stuff is important for the author to know, and often times
there isn't a comments section to do so.

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debacle
As a counter point, I think sometimes the meta comments get upvoted more than
other comments because they spur the most discussion.

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runjake
Isn't this a meta-comment (albeit in the form of a post)?

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frou_dh
Sorry, but this type of "attempt to turn the table" retort in online
discussion is tiresome and unoriginal.

 _(OMG meta-meta-hypocirspy alert. Pre-emptive medals for all.)_

I sympathise with the OP, but it seems inevitable that communities largely in
the business of making Xs are going to meta-comment incidental Xs. Xs in this
case being websites. Your suggestion for the guidelines might help.

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sprobertson
This post has too many dashes, it interrupts my reading flow.

