
Ask YC: HN submissions feels like submissions on reddit post sale, do you guys feel the same way? - _bdcu
HN submissions feels like submissions on reddit after it was purchased by wired parent company. Do you guys feel the same way?
======
ojbyrne
I think what happens is that eventually there aren't enough "good" links out
there that haven't been submitted, but there's still a demand to be filled.
Newspapers keep "filler" stories around for that eventuality ("slow news
day"). I think the same thing happens on social news sites - especially ones
that grow - because the demand (for new stuff) eventually outstrips the supply
(of good new stuff).

------
iamdave
Please pardon the way this sounds, I only aim to help: Lately, yes but
continuously saying "this place is turning into Reddit" really doesn't help
nearly as much as continuously posting the types of articles people come here
to read.

~~~
marvin
Posting good stories and comments won't help if the quality of the community
at large is going downhill. And what else would the falling quality of the
stories and comments be a symptom of? No amount of "following the guidelines"
or "only posting interesting stories" by the regular community will help if
there is a swarm of other users who don't give a fuck.

If this development persists, history dictates that the old regulars won't
hang around for long, which is really sad.

It's such a pain in the ass to drift around the internet like nomads, leaving
for new territory when the locusts come to consume the places you know and
love..

For the record, I do my best: I submit new stories when I find them and
produce (presumably) useful commentary. And it works, for now, but I'm not
very hopeful as to what HN will look like in a year.

~~~
bkudria
That seems to suggest the next system should be designed to expressly counter
this effect. Perhaps, allow groups to form and close themselves off, while
still remaining on the site? Move to a different subsite (instead of a whole
new site)? This might be a little more successful than trying to filter
submissions in some way for some nebulous "quality".

~~~
DenisM
The "funny" thing is that all these problems are not new. They are all
manifestation of Eternal September
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September> Even the Eternal September
itself was a reflection of a problem that happened earlier when USENET has
grown beyond size where most people knew each other and quality of
conversation went down. Alas I am not able to find the links for it, it would
be really nice to find those complains.

The other funny thing is that there is a well-known way to preserve the
comunity - maintain very strict set of rules and punish all deviations by a
singular authority (THE Moderator) and his minions. Fidonet used to work that
way and it worked very well. It only fails when The Moderator loosens the grip
for even short time - the place gets overrun and can not be taken back. The
problem is that any moderator will have a moment of weakness and so Fidonet
got entirely overrun in the end.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

------
fiaz
I like the extra level of filtration from reddit for postings that are
relevant to what draws people to come to HN. I could care less if a posting
was on reddit before it comes to HN.

------
noodle
not really, but i do kind of feel like the majority of the submissions i see
are from people trying to karma whore via automatic submissions of popular-ish
sites

i feel like reading the new links area is like reading my feed reader.

which is unavoidable, and what i do to combat it is submit more quality things
when i can find them, and be picky with my modding things up.

------
ComputerGuru
Dude, give it a break already. Constantly crying about how HN doesn't suite
your taste isn't going to make it any better and certainly doesn't raise the
quality of the front page articles.

~~~
_bdcu
I am not constantly complaining about HN submissions. I do submit good (the
ones I think are good) links.

