That's a bit vague so I may not address your concern exactly, but it sounds like you're worried about the front page not being a simple ranking by community upvotes. HN has never been a simple ranking by community upvotes; it has always been a blend of upvotes and curation. Why? Because, unfortunately, upvotes alone would produce a front page of controversy, gossip, and fashion. Upvotes go disproportionately for 'hot' stories. Since we want quieter, more reflective material on, there needs to be a countervailing factor.
Re abuse, you'd have to be more specific about what you mean, but I suppose the general answer is you needn't be more worried about it now than you've been for the previous seven years, since there hasn't been any major change at that level. The major change has been greater transparency, because users asked for it.
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That's a bit vague so I may not address your concern exactly, but it sounds like you're worried about the front page not being a simple ranking by community upvotes. HN has never been a simple ranking by community upvotes; it has always been a blend of upvotes and curation. Why? Because, unfortunately, upvotes alone would produce a front page of controversy, gossip, and fashion. Upvotes go disproportionately for 'hot' stories. Since we want quieter, more reflective material on, there needs to be a countervailing factor.
Re abuse, you'd have to be more specific about what you mean, but I suppose the general answer is you needn't be more worried about it now than you've been for the previous seven years, since there hasn't been any major change at that level. The major change has been greater transparency, because users asked for it.