←back to thread

PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN

(twitter.com)
482 points ilamont | 2 comments | 11 Jul 20 21:53 UTC | HN request time: 0.445s | source
Show context
dsr_ ◴[11 Jul 20 23:22 UTC] No.23807091[source]▶
The key to getting good discussions is to not have a profit motive coupled to eyeballs.

HN doesn't show ads, doesn't care about growth.

Large newspapers had strict firewalls between advertising, journalism and opinion -- but smaller papers had to fold to pressure from advertisers.

Subscription services need eyeballs badly -- but they need paying eyeballs, which means that they need to offer more than just outrage -- but if they don't show at least some of their content for free, they can't grow.

replies(8): >>23807273 #>>23807344 #>>23807610 #>>23807680 #>>23808527 #>>23808619 #>>23808866 #>>23813896 #
1. fullshark ◴[12 Jul 20 03:43 UTC] No.23808619[source]▶
The best conversations I had on the internet predate the like/upvote button. As soon as conversation became about scoring points and not engaging with an individual in a discussion it went to hell.
replies(1): >>23808627 #
2. Gibbon1 ◴[12 Jul 20 03:45 UTC] No.23808627[source]▶
There is also the era before smartphones vs after smartphones.