I have been thinking on your remark and trying to figure out how best to frame what I think you mean.
My first thought was viewing it basically like I am the customer of a place of business, and I realized that doesn't fit with what I think you mean. I wonder if that is where some people have trouble -- feeling like "hn member = hn customer" and then what follows is "the customer is always right" and seeing this like a personal playground, like a restaurant they visit or a movie theater they bought tickets to (which would fit with the demands for features, etc). So perhaps "a place where I do business" is a phrasing that more clearly conveys the attitude I think you mean. And I really like that.
Should one communicate with snarky one-liners in the workplace?
Or be mean?
Or bait arguments?
The YC partners use HN as a business tool. Founders and investors do as well. When a person shows HN their side project, it's not always just for fun.
I think treating HN like a workplace is the best way to understand the cultural expectations. HN is about helping people be productive (but not of course exclusively).
I was a homemaker for many years, then I worked at a Fortune 500 company for five years. Unfortunately, my firsthand experience of a "workplace" was a somewhat Dilbert-esque experience where I was often surrounded by people whose antics appalled me. I would not wish to replicate that here. Thank you for your remarks. They are very helpful to me.
I wasn't promoting poor workplace behavior or corporate culture. Fortunately, HN doesn't have enough layers to simulate a cubicle farm.
Rather something analogous to an ideal workplace in a slightly Platonic sense. Thus, treating others decently carries more weight because it facilitates their productivity.
I did not mean to imply you were suggesting something negative. Quite the contrary. I meant your positive view was a helpful antidote to my personal experiences.
Comments
"It has a business purpose and the business it serves makes good money."
I've come to the conclusion that the best way to understand how to behave on HN is to treat HN as a place of business.
I have been thinking on your remark and trying to figure out how best to frame what I think you mean.
My first thought was viewing it basically like I am the customer of a place of business, and I realized that doesn't fit with what I think you mean. I wonder if that is where some people have trouble -- feeling like "hn member = hn customer" and then what follows is "the customer is always right" and seeing this like a personal playground, like a restaurant they visit or a movie theater they bought tickets to (which would fit with the demands for features, etc). So perhaps "a place where I do business" is a phrasing that more clearly conveys the attitude I think you mean. And I really like that.
Thank you for sharing that thought.
Should one communicate with snarky one-liners in the workplace?
Or be mean?
Or bait arguments?
The YC partners use HN as a business tool. Founders and investors do as well. When a person shows HN their side project, it's not always just for fun.
I think treating HN like a workplace is the best way to understand the cultural expectations. HN is about helping people be productive (but not of course exclusively).
I was a homemaker for many years, then I worked at a Fortune 500 company for five years. Unfortunately, my firsthand experience of a "workplace" was a somewhat Dilbert-esque experience where I was often surrounded by people whose antics appalled me. I would not wish to replicate that here. Thank you for your remarks. They are very helpful to me.
I wasn't promoting poor workplace behavior or corporate culture. Fortunately, HN doesn't have enough layers to simulate a cubicle farm.
Rather something analogous to an ideal workplace in a slightly Platonic sense. Thus, treating others decently carries more weight because it facilitates their productivity.
I did not mean to imply you were suggesting something negative. Quite the contrary. I meant your positive view was a helpful antidote to my personal experiences.