[username923409]

i did read the article but didn't come to the conclusion that "Eternal September" is here. although i don't argue that the quality of posts has gone up recently, i do believe that many of the new users of 2022/2023 have become - or will become - the high quality posters that attracted them here initially. as i said in the first post, i think this is true because there hasn't been an unprecedented spike in new users.

basically, quality(new user + time) = quality(old user), as long as the proportion of new users/old users remains small. of course it's subjective as to where you put this value though. i just think it hasn't been reached yet here.

[Karrot_Kream]

What "Eternal September" means to anyone is different.

What I assert based on data (simply map the comments in to the join date of their authors and make a distribution) is that most large threads with a lot of discussion on this site have a recency bias: newly joined users post a disproportionate amount on the website. At any given time, any given thread will be more heavily commented on by newer users. Given that observation, Eternal September is largely personal: do you still value the content on the site given that recent posters create more of it. For me the answer, as borne our in data, is no. I find from ~ 2016 a change in the types of discussions on the site and find that the newer the poster distribution skews from that time period onward the less interesting the discussion becomes to me. That's really all. I'm glad that you still find value in the site but that makes sense: you're a newer user. Of course this may be your second or even nth account in which case I'm obviously wrong, but what I can be certain about is myself and my own preferences, and even those change over time.

[osm3000]

Few points

> newly joined users post a disproportionate amount on the website.

What is your definition of a new user?

> For me the answer, as borne our in data, is no. I find from ~ 2016 a change in the types of discussions on the site and find that the newer the poster distribution skews from that time period onward the less interesting the discussion becomes to me.

I am curious: Can you elaborate on how such analysis is being made?

[username923409]

this is my first account, and i understand your perspective. i did sometimes come to HN from 2015 onwards, but not enough to really get a feel for the level of content and conversation that happened. 2015 is still much later than you first started using it, so i can see how your older first impressions of this site led you to the conclusion that present-day HN is a shadow of its former self.

so i think we agree on everything, except that you're comparing pre-2016 to now, vs. me comparing 2020 to now, which leads to the opposite conclusions. excuse me for being a part of the less interesting era of posters ;-)