Having run communities and forums in the past, it's definitely a lot of thankless and time-sensitive work.
I'm reminded of this post: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tscc3e5eujrsEeFN4/well-kept-...
I think HN's done a reasonable job at keeping the community stable (thanks @dang) but the recent backlash over the press incited by SSC and Clubhouse has made see that the darker side of mob mentality exists on HN, too.