I've seen multiple people post similar things on this thread. I actually have the opposite experience. Most of my most upvoted comments tend to be multiple paragraphs with many citations
I guess the difference is I don't make these types of posts on software-engineering heavy discussions. I've been a Wikipedia editor for a few years and I have a lot of niche interests in botany, evolutionary biology, anthropology, microbiology, etc.
There are certain non-software/hardware topics HN seems to really like (phages, the gut microbiome, and nootropics come to mind). It seems that making a long comment with a bunch of citations related to one of those topics is more likely to get you upvotes. Probably because its something a lot of people will be interested in but you're much less likely to be disagreed with given the lack of community expertise around the topics
Maybe my posts wouldn't do as well on a botany forum haha
A decade ago any comment that was less than a couple paragraphs would be almost instantly down voted. Sadly that is the case today. Threads are a lot noisier, and I even see some bad joke reply threads appearing here and there. A dramatic shift in culture.
I notice this too, although I don’t think it’s quite as bad on HN as on the internet in general. I dislike the “sick burn” comments and wish they weren’t so popular.
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Sadly, I've gotten more upvotes on a nasty quip towards someone than I have on any technical subject I've put effort into writing on.
I've seen multiple people post similar things on this thread. I actually have the opposite experience. Most of my most upvoted comments tend to be multiple paragraphs with many citations
I guess the difference is I don't make these types of posts on software-engineering heavy discussions. I've been a Wikipedia editor for a few years and I have a lot of niche interests in botany, evolutionary biology, anthropology, microbiology, etc.
There are certain non-software/hardware topics HN seems to really like (phages, the gut microbiome, and nootropics come to mind). It seems that making a long comment with a bunch of citations related to one of those topics is more likely to get you upvotes. Probably because its something a lot of people will be interested in but you're much less likely to be disagreed with given the lack of community expertise around the topics
Maybe my posts wouldn't do as well on a botany forum haha
A decade ago any comment that was less than a couple paragraphs would be almost instantly down voted. Sadly that is the case today. Threads are a lot noisier, and I even see some bad joke reply threads appearing here and there. A dramatic shift in culture.
I notice this too, although I don’t think it’s quite as bad on HN as on the internet in general. I dislike the “sick burn” comments and wish they weren’t so popular.