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0 pointsjules14y ago0 comments

On the contrary, HN groupthink is quite severe (although it has decreased somewhat since the time that comment scores were no longer displayed). I guess it depends on perspective: if you're in the middle of a box, the box looks like the entire universe.

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4 comments · 1 top-level

J3L240414y ago· 3 in thread

I disagree on comment scores. Not having them makes bandwagoning more likely because I tended to not upvote comments that already have high scores. It does likely make the data more useful to pg though. On technical questions it is painful not having comment scores.

julesOP14y ago

That is exactly what I mean. Before the change you would see a thread of two groups of people with alternating low and high comment scores having a discussion with each other, and it would be clear what HN's groupthink opinion is. Now you have to actually read the comments and make up your own mind. That is true even for technical discussions: the hivemind is not always right.

dennisgorelik14y ago

I don't think that PG has time to analyze the data. I think he's just making an honest mistake by taking away comment scores from us.

sitkack14y ago

Why is the metadata so important to so many people on HN? I don't understand it.

Is it a mechanism to find the best comments in a thread? Is it a visualization issue? Is it ego? Is it a voting mechanism to know what others think is important? I honestly do not know.

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