HN: All of the negativity and toxicity of a Reddit discussion, without having to get disturbed by something as unproductive as smiling or a laughing!
In all seriousness, the average HN comment thread feel a lot less pleasant than the average Reddit thread. Granted, Reddit has way worse places, but comparing HN to all of Reddit is illogical - HN compares more to a single (large/active) subreddit.
> In all seriousness, the average HN comment thread feel a lot less pleasant than the average Reddit thread.
I disagree strongly actually. HN'ers to me make sense, in many ways. Redditors are a crap shoot. I go in with the HN mindset on Reddit and it's 50% reasonable and 50% "what the hell am I reading?"
HN is 95% reasonable.
I understand that to some it's an acquired taste but it was home to me from the moment I discovered it.
I don't mind the Reddit-esque comments here. It's on brand for the topic. I get that when someone has a more serious disposition in life, that this topic would feel a bit grating.
> HN compares more to a single (large/active) subreddit.
HN is indeed one of the few places in the web that I think maintains a more community-like platform and it's a home for me too. However I think how reasonable is the general ethos depends on the topic. It goes without saying that tech is it's strong suit, so the 95% figure (which I read as "the vast majority") is reasonable. For other topics like social problems, civil liberties and personal responsibilities is way less reasonable than that, I'd say half-half...
I have fun with a friend of mine sharing ridiculous comments on such topics and there is no shortage of those.
I have to give props to the moderation though. More often than not, these comments are flagged and die really quick.
The part of Reddit I go to is roughly equal parts memes, serious discussions and derailed threads.
Here I feel like I just lost the first part, so 50/50 between serious discussions and derailed threads.
Either is moderated to be without anything eye-gouging (again, comparing HN to specific subreddits that would carry similar content, and not reddit as a whole).
Sure, some individuals might prefer things this way, but it's definitely not objectively better as the general attitude towards reddit and against any humor seems to suggest.
