Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Zee M Kane of TheNextWeb asks me via Twitter:

@gojomo regarding how your comments about us and "comment syndication" - why do you have to automatically go the ultra negative route?

Because you've breached important norms: that I decide where my name and writing appears, and that content contributed to one site isn't bulk-republished at another site for commercial gain.

If you wanted to take occasional hand-selected quotes -- "gojomo at Hacker News makes a good point when he says..." etc. -- that's fair and respectful, even flattering. But scraping and merging every HN comment into your own discussion threads is sleazy, barely a notch above the splogs that grab blocks of others' text unattributed for search-engine spamming.

Attribution is not enough to legitimize the tactic at this indiscriminate scale.

Also: Your presentation removes the threading and feedback mechanisms so important to HN discussions. You add 'nofollow' on the backlinks you do provide. Your iPhone interface includes a prominent YC commenter icon that (when it appears on 7-of-8-comments on your site) implies an affiliation or endorsement where none exists.

The whole thing reeks, and that you don't yet perceive the problem justifies an even more "ultra negative" tone than I've already adopted.



Consider applying for YC's Winter 2027 batch! Applications are open till November 2.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: