This only measures the number of comments; it would be interesting to know the karma difference accrued in a year. It may produce the exact same ranking, as intuitively karma is probably heavily correlated with comment frequency... but maybe not?
Karma in my experience has a lot more to do with comment tone and with reading the room well than with the quality of the comment's content. I accumulated I think about 500-600 karma in 2021, but most of that was just me saying stuff that a lot of people in the thread wanted to believe is true. On the other hand I lost a lot of karma from comments that had the same quality or higher in terms of content, but where I was contemptuous or dismissive or flippant in tone, or just went against the grain. I guess even smart nerds are bland herd normies for the most part
Just looking through the top of the list I see a lot of usernames that I'm not familiar with and some of the more recognizable users further down. There is definitely a significant difference between comment count and karma.
For me it's a sign that I need to change something at work, I often flee here because I am making powerpoints, I'd never do it so much if I was writing code more often. At least, that is what I believe.
HN does give me back a lot though: Being understood, by like minded people, confirmation of my opinions that are just too different from my group of friends (none have ever for example installed Linux, or tried to run their own cloud services). I feel at home here. It could be called addiction, it's also just finding a community where you can express thoughts you can't express anywhere else, and expect to have interactions based on those thoughts. I've often changed my mind or apologized for being a dick here, I don't want to be banned but I want to validate and invalidate my believes and it works for me, I hope I provide value for others as well. Maybe I have an HN shaped hole in my heart?
It would really scare me if dang wasn't the first one. But at the same time, I feel immense pain thinking about what he has to deal with on a daily basis. Literally the entire functioning of the last somewhat civil, fully moderated, independent, anon-friendly board on the internet in 2021 on the shoulders of one admin. I'd like to say how a million flowers should bloom from this shining example, but it seems more like a superhuman attempt to hold back the flood.
In any event, it's been worth it and it's been a job well done.
Also, I'm surprised and a bit ashamed to be #415 in this list. That's probably a whole side-project's worth of time I could have spent elsewhere. But I guess we all need somewhere to commune, talk shop, make friends or blow off some steam. FWIW I've learned far more from HN in the last year than I've been able to bring to it, and I'm thankful for the avenues it leads me down every day as a reader. I would post a lot less if I stopped drinking but, yeah.
Actually, there are multiple admins. See his response to my question here [0].
That's, of course, not to distract from his great work; as I've stated multiple times already, I really think HN is one of the best moderated communities overall.
By now, there should be enough data to automate dang? On a more serious note: Is he really doing this all by himself? If so, I am sure he could train some junior people to off-load the work.
If you want to help you can point out clear-cut guideline violations in a comment, or mail them to dang directly. Just don’t violate the guidelines yourself in the process.
I also prefer to keep the guideline commentary separate from any other matter so as not to dilute the message.
> independent, anon-friendly board on the internet in 2021
There is a lot of stealth censorship on HN that occurs behind the scenes. After I wrote a post that was critical of Stripe, all of my new posts are automatically shadow banned. This place won’t survive for much longer, I don’t think.
Edit: And before dang posts some dumb response, I will tell you that he said “the algorithm” decided that my posts were “self promotion.” Anyway, maybe this is a good way of ending my commenting on this forum — time to help those who want to create something new.
"Also, I'm surprised and a bit ashamed to be #415 in this list."
"humblebrag, transitive + intransitive: to make a seemingly modest, self-critical, or casual statement or reference that is meant to draw attention to one's admirable or impressive qualities or achievements" -- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humblebrag
Does HN have about 10K active users? Then this entire post is more or less clickbait because we are all in here ( I just found myself in the list as well).
I was able to garner some karma in 2021, but being in a Far East timezone seems to be disadvantageous. Basically, much activity appears to happen while North America wakes up in the morning, which is when I am already asleep.
Sometimes I break my vow of online detoxing before sleeping; when I find trending topics related to my domain of knowledge, I frantically respond before the comment section gets too crowded. On the other hand, I can think through more diligently during my noontime, but my effort towards quality commenting is not met by karma from otherwise asleep HNers. It seems like reaping karma is not just about knowing the subject well, but being in the right place at the right time(zone).
And it seems that something like the 90-9-1 rule is in effect - with over 7,000 comments, the top non-dang contributor is more than 100x as prolific as contributor #10,000.
It could be so. IIRC, pg created HN partly to assess how these applicants laid out thoughtful arguments. You gathering much karma may provide leverage when applying to YC.
I for one would not object to getting paid for comments. If I had a penny for every shitpost I made on the internet, I'd have tens of thousands of pennies!
I think it would be even more interesting to see the list of highest average comment karma or something.
Maybe that would better highlight what I really enjoy with HN: A story about aviation and suddenly 4 airline pilots appear and share insight, or when some tech legend dies and several colleagues pop in and tell stories about them. Or like the other day when one of the authors of the BLAKE3 algorithm (?) participated in some friendly flame-waring.
It would be fun if there were rankings and statistics for karma/upvotes/submissions for all users and from all available years. I'm sure there must be a web page for it somewhere :-)
BTW, I barely made it to the list in #9279 with 77 comments. I agree that we're a somewhat niche community here but there are more readers than users and most users just read/vote and rarely submit and comment.
While I have on occasion been given a "stern talking to" by dang, I guess we can all appreciate his work. Though I sometimes wonder when does he sleep.
(Though yes I should probably be more conservative with my comments)
I imagine dang has a series of scripts and programs and works on automating himself out of the need to manually do things.
While it seems like a boring manual job, it’s an interesting job if looked at as an automation problem. The need to automate in a non-stupid way would be good to apply here.
Near the end of the list, it’s sitting at around a hundred accounts for each number, yet 70 comments has only 18 accounts listed before the 10000 cutoff is reached. Presumably some 80 or so more accounts were also at 70 comments, but are not mentioned. How wewre items ordered? Not by username, not by creation date, not by karma, I guess it’s just random? Alas for the ~⅘ of the 70-comments-per-year users who were excluded by capricious randomness!
Heh, I came here to lurk for a better slashdot/lower-volume r/programming, but I'm actually in the upper Nk because I get dragged into all kinds of political discussions against the part of my will that I endorse.
It would be nice if there was a "solving the world's problems" tag and an rss feed without it ;)
If OP is here: Would be really great to see each users top comment for the year as well, so we can get an idea of A) what kind of topics they are passionate/knowledgeable about and B) how much of the score for just one comment related to their overall score of the year
Looks like I made spot #844. I already knew I spent too much time on HN, but that seems excessive, so it boggles my mind how anyone could have the time to be in the top 100.
> I guess this is because HN de-emphasises usernames.
Not sure I agree, HN makes the username visible right next to the post? What I think (granted, I grew up with mailing lists and forums without images), is that we're so used to associating people online with pictures nowadays, that when there is no picture, why don't pick up the usernames anymore. Because I do recognize a lot of the usernames in the top 100, some even from just one comment I read but had an impact on me, and my memory made of flesh is really crappy most of the time.
Heh, the fact that (IMO) I don't comment that often but still am in the top 5k (rank 4228, 185 comments) just goes to show how all things considered HN is still a very niche/small community.
It's very difficult in HN to put comment and gain points. Atleast for me. Tried couple of times. Downvoted most of times. So I just visit and read comments. Have been doing same for more than 7 years now. I am sure there are lots of readers like me.
Reading over the top few names, even though HN doesn't emphasize usernames at all, I recognized quite a few of them. Quite fascinating and a compliment to their comment quality.
bambax|4 years ago
wly_cdgr|4 years ago
MertsA|4 years ago
TigeriusKirk|4 years ago
baxtr|4 years ago
baxtr|4 years ago
teekert|4 years ago
For me it's a sign that I need to change something at work, I often flee here because I am making powerpoints, I'd never do it so much if I was writing code more often. At least, that is what I believe.
HN does give me back a lot though: Being understood, by like minded people, confirmation of my opinions that are just too different from my group of friends (none have ever for example installed Linux, or tried to run their own cloud services). I feel at home here. It could be called addiction, it's also just finding a community where you can express thoughts you can't express anywhere else, and expect to have interactions based on those thoughts. I've often changed my mind or apologized for being a dick here, I don't want to be banned but I want to validate and invalidate my believes and it works for me, I hope I provide value for others as well. Maybe I have an HN shaped hole in my heart?
noduerme|4 years ago
In any event, it's been worth it and it's been a job well done.
Also, I'm surprised and a bit ashamed to be #415 in this list. That's probably a whole side-project's worth of time I could have spent elsewhere. But I guess we all need somewhere to commune, talk shop, make friends or blow off some steam. FWIW I've learned far more from HN in the last year than I've been able to bring to it, and I'm thankful for the avenues it leads me down every day as a reader. I would post a lot less if I stopped drinking but, yeah.
Sebb767|4 years ago
Actually, there are multiple admins. See his response to my question here [0].
That's, of course, not to distract from his great work; as I've stated multiple times already, I really think HN is one of the best moderated communities overall.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26999571
baxtr|4 years ago
peoplefromibiza|4 years ago
I recognize an hyperbole when I see one, but this one is kinda of a big one.
DenisM|4 years ago
I also prefer to keep the guideline commentary separate from any other matter so as not to dilute the message.
numair|4 years ago
There is a lot of stealth censorship on HN that occurs behind the scenes. After I wrote a post that was critical of Stripe, all of my new posts are automatically shadow banned. This place won’t survive for much longer, I don’t think.
Edit: And before dang posts some dumb response, I will tell you that he said “the algorithm” decided that my posts were “self promotion.” Anyway, maybe this is a good way of ending my commenting on this forum — time to help those who want to create something new.
hirundo|4 years ago
"humblebrag, transitive + intransitive: to make a seemingly modest, self-critical, or casual statement or reference that is meant to draw attention to one's admirable or impressive qualities or achievements" -- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humblebrag
janandonly|4 years ago
More useful is knowing
* What were 2021's most upvoted articles?
* Wat were 20201's most upvoted comments?
poulpi|4 years ago
And here: https://app.whaly.io/hacker-news/public/report/3596f39c-5a56...
capableweb|4 years ago
- [1] https://whaly.io/posts/top-10k-commenters-of-hacker-news-in-...
coolandsmartrr|4 years ago
Sometimes I break my vow of online detoxing before sleeping; when I find trending topics related to my domain of knowledge, I frantically respond before the comment section gets too crowded. On the other hand, I can think through more diligently during my noontime, but my effort towards quality commenting is not met by karma from otherwise asleep HNers. It seems like reaping karma is not just about knowing the subject well, but being in the right place at the right time(zone).
codetrotter|4 years ago
clement_b|4 years ago
apatters|4 years ago
emptyparadise|4 years ago
coolandsmartrr|4 years ago
Cthulhu_|4 years ago
NicoJuicy|4 years ago
filleokus|4 years ago
Maybe that would better highlight what I really enjoy with HN: A story about aviation and suddenly 4 airline pilots appear and share insight, or when some tech legend dies and several colleagues pop in and tell stories about them. Or like the other day when one of the authors of the BLAKE3 algorithm (?) participated in some friendly flame-waring.
NKosmatos|4 years ago
vmception|4 years ago
A lot can be written while waiting for an incremental build to compile
Thanks for all the substantive entertainment everyone
raverbashing|4 years ago
(Though yes I should probably be more conservative with my comments)
prepend|4 years ago
While it seems like a boring manual job, it’s an interesting job if looked at as an automation problem. The need to automate in a non-stupid way would be good to apply here.
chrismorgan|4 years ago
Near the end of the list, it’s sitting at around a hundred accounts for each number, yet 70 comments has only 18 accounts listed before the 10000 cutoff is reached. Presumably some 80 or so more accounts were also at 70 comments, but are not mentioned. How wewre items ordered? Not by username, not by creation date, not by karma, I guess it’s just random? Alas for the ~⅘ of the 70-comments-per-year users who were excluded by capricious randomness!
coldtea|4 years ago
tomcam|4 years ago
Baeocystin|4 years ago
I'm also surprised that my name shows up. Like another poster said, small world.
sershe|4 years ago
It would be nice if there was a "solving the world's problems" tag and an rss feed without it ;)
capableweb|4 years ago
ravenstine|4 years ago
ycombinete|4 years ago
unknown|4 years ago
[deleted]
WA|4 years ago
I guess this is because HN de-emphasises usernames.
capableweb|4 years ago
Not sure I agree, HN makes the username visible right next to the post? What I think (granted, I grew up with mailing lists and forums without images), is that we're so used to associating people online with pictures nowadays, that when there is no picture, why don't pick up the usernames anymore. Because I do recognize a lot of the usernames in the top 100, some even from just one comment I read but had an impact on me, and my memory made of flesh is really crappy most of the time.
notRobot|4 years ago
Hamuko|4 years ago
drux|4 years ago
ignoramous|4 years ago
notRobot|4 years ago
itsbits|4 years ago
secondaryacct|4 years ago
I post too much crap here :s Ill be more careful posting since it's easier to stand out than reddit then !
simonbarker87|4 years ago
peoplefromibiza|4 years ago
gonzo41|4 years ago
unknown|4 years ago
[deleted]
unknown|4 years ago
[deleted]
totetsu|4 years ago
toomuchtodo|4 years ago
codetrotter|4 years ago
jcelerier|4 years ago
bob1029|4 years ago
HN is such a good community though... No other place like this exists on the internet.
Sebb767|4 years ago
Reading over the top few names, even though HN doesn't emphasize usernames at all, I recognized quite a few of them. Quite fascinating and a compliment to their comment quality.
robinoh|4 years ago
LightG|4 years ago
Wilson2|4 years ago
[deleted]