Fair enough. Yeah your plans of "compounding" and "bibliographic concordance" (thanks for the new word) sound good.
I was going to suggest this (but scratch it, your above idea is better): A small section called "a note on moderation" (or whatever) with hyperlinks to "some examples that give a concrete sense of how moderation happens here". There are many excellent explanations buried deep in the the search links that you post here. Many of them are a valuable riffing on [internet] human nature.
As a quick example, I love your lively analogy[1] of a "boxer showing up at a dance/concert/lecture" for resisting flammable language here. It's funny and a cutting example that is impossible to misunderstand. It (and your other comment[2] from the same thread) makes so many valuable reminders (it's easy to forget!). An incomplete list for others reading:
- how to avoid the "scorched earth" fate here;
- how "raw self-interest is fine" (if it gets you to curiosity);
- why you can't "flamebait others into curiosity";
- why the "medium" [of the "optionally anonymous internet forum"] matters;
- why it's not practical to replicate the psychology of "small, cohesive groups" here;
- how the "burden is on the commenter";
- "expected value of a comment" on HN; and much more
It's a real shame that these useful heuristics are buried so deep in the comment history. Sure, you do link to them via searches whenever you can; that's how I discovered 'em. But it's hard to stumble upon otherwise. Making a sampling of these easily accessible can be valuable.
I was going to suggest this (but scratch it, your above idea is better): A small section called "a note on moderation" (or whatever) with hyperlinks to "some examples that give a concrete sense of how moderation happens here". There are many excellent explanations buried deep in the the search links that you post here. Many of them are a valuable riffing on [internet] human nature.
As a quick example, I love your lively analogy[1] of a "boxer showing up at a dance/concert/lecture" for resisting flammable language here. It's funny and a cutting example that is impossible to misunderstand. It (and your other comment[2] from the same thread) makes so many valuable reminders (it's easy to forget!). An incomplete list for others reading:
- how to avoid the "scorched earth" fate here;
- how "raw self-interest is fine" (if it gets you to curiosity);
- why you can't "flamebait others into curiosity";
- why the "medium" [of the "optionally anonymous internet forum"] matters;
- why it's not practical to replicate the psychology of "small, cohesive groups" here;
- how the "burden is on the commenter";
- "expected value of a comment" on HN; and much more
It's a real shame that these useful heuristics are buried so deep in the comment history. Sure, you do link to them via searches whenever you can; that's how I discovered 'em. But it's hard to stumble upon otherwise. Making a sampling of these easily accessible can be valuable.
[1] 3rd paragraph here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27166919
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27162386