The Website Hacker News Is Afraid to Discuss

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Is Daring Fireball “censored” on HN?

  • Some argue DF is effectively “shitlisted” due to how rarely it now appears on the front page relative to its past prominence.
  • Others counter with the /from view and BigQuery data showing many DF submissions and multiple 100+ point posts in recent years, so it’s clearly not hard‑blacklisted.
  • The contentious example is “Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino”: many consider it a major Apple piece that should have been near #1 but ranked unusually low for its score.

HN ranking mechanics and flagging

  • FAQ confirms: ranking uses points and time, plus user flags, anti‑abuse software, flamewar demotion, account/site weighting, and moderator action.
  • Several commenters explain that flags can downrank a story long before the “[flagged]” label appears, so many flags may silently bury DF links.
  • High‑karma users’ flags are suspected to carry more weight; some believe small “cabal‑like” groups (formally or informally) mass‑flag particular domains, topics, or people.
  • Others emphasize user‑driven moderation over staff conspiracy and note that HN discourages meta‑complaints about voting.

Data and historical popularity

  • Shared spreadsheets and popularity tools show DF was among the top personal blogs on HN from ~2007–early 2010s, with noticeable slumps around 2015–16 and again after ~2021.
  • There is disagreement over whether this reflects a sharp break or a gradual decline, but everyone agrees DF’s relative rank dropped.

Proposed explanations for DF’s decline

  • Content shift:

    • DF seen as heavy on Apple “inside baseball” and opinion pieces, less on technical depth.
    • Some say Apple itself is less exciting now; detailed punditry around a mature platform draws less interest.
    • Others point to more political content (Trump, Elon, Covid, Israel/Palestine, EU regulation) alienating tech‑focused readers; several say they stopped reading specifically over pro‑Israel takes.

  • Audience + culture shift on HN:

    • Perception that HN moved toward Linux/OSS, FOSS culture wars, and broader tech–society topics; Apple‑centric or design‑centric writing is less valued.
    • Many describe an increasingly polarized, flag‑happy user base: flags used as “super‑downvotes” on polarizing topics (Apple, Musk, Trump, Israel, etc.).
    • Some see strong anti‑Apple or anti‑DF sentiment leading to reflexive flagging.

Moderation transparency and fairness

  • One camp defends HN moderation as among the most transparent and balanced online, warning that publishing detailed weighting rules would invite gaming.
  • Another camp believes there are hidden site weightings and possibly moderator “thumbs on the scale,” calling the opacity “cowardly” or at least unsatisfying.
  • Suggestions include: public vouching for buried stories, sentiment analysis of HN over time, karma “resets” to blunt entrenched flaggers, and more clarity on site weighting.

Views on DF itself

  • Supporters: see DF as thoughtful, historically influential, and uniquely insightful on Apple; want more DF discussion here.
  • Critics: call it predictable Apple advocacy, “junk food” opinion, or corporate apologetics, with increasingly cynical tone; some say the HN algorithm is simply reflecting that loss of interest.