Thread

1. anon_cow1111 · 1789859036 · focus · HN ↗

   Personally the first HN algorithm anecdote I really noticed was when the "stop destroying videogames' petition hit the front page a couple years ago. In the first hour it got a modest ~100 votes and comments with some organic discussion, so pretty typical for a good HN post. In the next hour it was dead and buried several hundred posts down.

   I don't want to be a tinfoil hatter here, but I think certain industries have a lot more influence over this site than most people realize.

   1. brudgers · 1789862102 · focus · HN ↗

      I think there is a difference between what is important and what is intellectually interesting.

      As a rule of thumb, promoting an agenda (and that's what a petition is) tends to be toward the less intellectually interesting end of the spectrum...occasionally promoting an agenda might involve interesting arguments.

      A petition is not much of an argument. A petition is a call to action that requires very little action and typically minimal commitment.

      By which I mean, I might have flagged it if I saw it on the front page. And maybe I did.

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