Comment by brazukadev
18 hours ago
> Someone posting content frequently isn’t a spammer if the content is valued
Yes, he's still a spammer even if you personally like everything he posts and comments. Most users on this forum simply aren't allowed to post their own links that often. He's clearly exempt from this rule because a significant portion of the site's audience is as much of an AI maximalist as he is.
Agree to disagree, then.
Just remember that the people like Simon who provide this content for free are real people who read these comments. In your case he was polite enough to respond to your criticism.
You can politely object to the frequency of his posts without making it a personal attack. If you ever try putting yourself out there you might learn kindness and empathy towards people who make the internet interesting, even if you don’t like their area of interest.
Does it make you feel good to talk shit anonymously about a kind person? Just move on.
If you had talent and motivation you could just write an extension in a few minutes that blocks SimonW links so you don’t have to be so offended by things that others clearly are eager and want to see.
> Does it make you feel good to talk shit anonymously about a kind person?
I ask you exactly the same, does it make you feel good to attack people to defend him? Why are you making this as me attacking him personally (which I didn't do) and not a complaint that what he does is spam, as many other people are also complaining?
I have the impression you think you are doing the right thing defending him so it gives you a freepass to be offend someone that, differently than you, don't think spamming monetized "free content" is kindness.
I won't write an extension to fix a moderation problem that as a decades long user I have see working much better.
You did attack him. Calling his content spam is as personal as me calling you out for it in harsh language. Implying that he gets special treatment because of ideology instead of the value of his work is incredibly personal.
It does feel right to respond in kind to an anonymous troll attacking someone working in public for free.
If you had opened the conversation with a well phrased criticism or question (“Simon, are you concerned that you post too much, or that you submit too often to HN?”) I wouldn’t have an issue.
Instead you dropped a drive by comment on a tangential conversation to get a cheap shot in (a spam comment, dare I say?).
You are getting what you gave. You doubled down on it too. Don’t act high and mighty now. You chose the tone, not me.
You aren’t a moderator, you aren’t a creator, and your submissions are so unpopular that they might as well be spam (your combined contributions to this site are less valued by the community than a single post from Simon if we use votes as a signal). You are a taker criticizing givers. It’s easy, and lazy.
Go offer to help moderate, that’s how moderation gets better, not shitposting. Go write the articles that you think others should read instead of complaining about the people writing the articles that others ARE reading. Most of all stop doing things that can hurt people and make the world worse.
My last message was much nicer, but you focused on the single negative part of it. That’s human nature. Imagine how someone creating content with their real name on it feels reading flippant dismissals of their work, and still being gracious enough to give you considered response.
You’re so close to getting it. A moment of self reflection about how you reacted to the single harsh sentence from a stranger might help you the next time you decide to write a harsh sentence to a stranger.
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