Comment by tomhow
13 hours ago
> money and power that entities like A16Z have make the possibility of corruption of endeavours like HN trivial
What does this mean? Why would a VC firm like this "corrupt" HN and how would they do it? And why would we allow them to do it? What would be the motivation of us moderators to allow it?
I don't believe that you got a call from Marc Andreessen to organize a moderation approach that benefits them. Instead I believe that your blind spots created moderation decisions that limited discourse. And it worries me that the reaction is to complain about kafkaesque logic.
Headlines are important. And given that HN has a policy of moderators editing headlines it is really important that mods do a very good job not distorting headlines. This means that your evaluation of the importance of each word in the headline is really important. It concerned me that in your mind the reference to a16z was the least important material in the headline when I suspect that a typical HN participant would see it as among the most important material in the headline.
The title change was consistent with the guidelines, which it’s my job to uphold. Then I changed it when the community made its feelings known.
You’ve continued with the unfalsifiable claims while avoiding the one question that matters:
How does it materially benefit an outside VC firm if the title on an HN post about one of their portfolio companies excludes their name? What is the tangible economic impact?