I've found it remarkably difficult to nudge people to say anything appreciative about Hacker News here on Hacker News. It's easy for people to whine here about negative responses to their "Show HN" posts, or to complain about being downvoted. But it's difficult for people to speak up about what's done right here by the site management and by the community as a whole. One little anecdote I have to support this statement is the more than order of magnitude difference in replies and upvotes for a positive submission, "Ask HN: What do you like about the Hacker News community?"
as contrasted with one of the gripe threads submitted just before.
In general, I can talk about any contentious social policy issue here. I can ESPECIALLY talk absolutely any social policy issue, and about current electoral politics, in my group of Facebook friends. I've practiced cultivating a community of friends from all phases of my life, from first cousins and elementary school classmates to co-workers from when I lived abroad to fellow parents I "met" in other online networks and on and on into a group who are mutually respectful, factual, and curious about every subject. In my today, in my America, you can talk about anything. Just be polite and thoughtful, that's all I ask.
For actual hard information on some of the more controversial topics some people discuss in some places online, I recommend
say, "Please avoid introducing classic flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say about them."
So most of the veteran users here with the highest karma relentlessly downvote and flag stories and posts that refer to electoral politics or other especially heated issues. I discuss those on Facebook, in my carefully curated circle of friends accumulated over decades, but I don't go out of my way to bring them up here.
I think you've pretty much nailed it, although I would disagree with the ordering. I'd put Islam and healthcare at the top (not sure which is more controversial).
[+] [-] tokenadult|13 years ago|reply
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4399678
as contrasted with one of the gripe threads submitted just before.
In general, I can talk about any contentious social policy issue here. I can ESPECIALLY talk absolutely any social policy issue, and about current electoral politics, in my group of Facebook friends. I've practiced cultivating a community of friends from all phases of my life, from first cousins and elementary school classmates to co-workers from when I lived abroad to fellow parents I "met" in other online networks and on and on into a group who are mutually respectful, factual, and curious about every subject. In my today, in my America, you can talk about anything. Just be polite and thoughtful, that's all I ask.
For actual hard information on some of the more controversial topics some people discuss in some places online, I recommend
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/Intellige...
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/Anthropol...
for reliable sources with good information on the subjects.
AFTER EDIT: It's possible to talk about controversial topics here on HN:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4524856
It is worth bearing in mind, however, that HN has a defined topic scope, and the site guidelines
http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
say, "Please avoid introducing classic flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say about them."
So most of the veteran users here with the highest karma relentlessly downvote and flag stories and posts that refer to electoral politics or other especially heated issues. I discuss those on Facebook, in my carefully curated circle of friends accumulated over decades, but I don't go out of my way to bring them up here.
[+] [-] Humjob|13 years ago|reply
- Racial phenotype/genotype differences
- Differences between the sexes
- Using foreign policy sticks (rather than solely carrots) with Israel
- The Drug War's legitimacy
- IQ and its correlates, causes and effects on both an individual and societal level
- Islamofascism
- Single payer healthcare
- US Gov't crackdowns on secrecy and information
- The many fallacies in organized religion (this one is highly regional)
There are probably lots of others but those examples immediately spring to mind for me.
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dwj|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] diminium|13 years ago|reply
People seem to like hearing how awesome they are and what they are doing even if it isn't.