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Comment by BergAndCo

1 day ago

Do you have showdead enabled to see how many good comments are being unfairly censored? Otherwise this is just survivorship bias talking.

I have! It's very rare that I see a comment being flagged unfairly. Sometimes it appears as unfair to me, but then I try to look from other angles in case it's just my bias.

Also, don't forget that it's mainly other users who flag, not moderators.

Also also, it's a bit ironic coming from a 3 months old account with already negative karma. I believe HN has a problem with users who create many new accounts and don't bother to understand "what is a good thoughtful comment" and change their behaviour.

If you see a good comment in the [dead] state, you don't have to complain about it being "unfairly censored" - you can intervene to fix it by vouching for it. This is in the FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.

  • That requires the user to reach the "small karma threshold". Difficult when the user you replied to has negative karma after several months of HN participation.

    • The threshold is 30 karma. Anyone can easily reach that if they want to use HN as intended.

I have had showdead enabled for years and I think I can count the number of dead comments that didn't deserve the status on one hand.

  • Same.

    I turned it on very soon after I setup my account. My own personal tolerance for speech is less aggressive than what we see here on HN. I dislike completely inaccessible history, and basic accountability is why.

    Works like the trash does. Want to see how people live? Pick through the trash.

I suspect that dang has been barely surviving the (e-)moderation-technology debt (Arc notwithstanding). Good to have a second, antipodal, guy take on the burden!