"what incentive do I have, other than common decency?"
It's a shame that 'common decency' has to be enforced in some way.
I post under a screen name (obviously), and while my real name is in my profile now, even before it was I never felt the urge to push someone else's buttons just for the fun of it. I realize I'm being a bit optimistic when I say this, but I think people rise to the standard to which they are held.
We have a bit of a reputation here at HN for being stodgy and humorless. While I don't think that is true, I'm fine with that reputation if it means newcomers think twice before posting their witty one liners and meme-of-the-week. Eventually the culture initiates the newcomers and they don't have to think twice... they will know what the community values and what it does not, and they will contribute accordingly.
In short, I don't think we need any technical solution to solve what someone's innate desire to be valuable will accomplish for us. What we do need is for existing members to set the tone, and so far they have done so admirably.
"I think people rise to the standard to which they are held."
Perhaps you're right- An extension of the Broken Windows theory, if you will. But so far it might seem that evidence is against you.
Look back, not just at HN, but Reddit, Digg, Kuro5hin, and even Slashdot have people who say how nice it was before the trolls arrived, before the site became as popular.
I certainly don't want to come across as a wistful elderly man looking back with nostalgia at his youth- I think that there's more to it than hazy memories of the past.
Communities evolve and change- I love Reddit, and my Alien Bobblehead is amoung my prized possessions.. But at the same time, I know that the level of discourse has fallen sharply over the few years. Pun threads are common, and people attack one another frequently.
I once read someone mention the "4chanization" of reddit, and unfortunately, I worry that that is the natural state of all communities, if they aren't tended.
The level of discourse on HN, while still exemplary has been declining of late, and I've seen more personal attacks and discussions of identity politics.
I wish I had your optimism, Andrew, and I hope you're right.
Yeah I'm familiar with the history as well, I was just saying that I think those other sites were not conscious of the need to set a good example for newcomers, and HN mostly is. We have had these self-examination threads almost monthly since we first appeared on TC.
I think setting a good example will cause people to rise to it, and I think being conscious of setting a good example means we will preserve our community values. No one on Reddit or Digg was clamoring to "maintain the level of discourse"... their '4chanization' happened because those communities had no immune response. Here, we have a powerful social response, in that most people set a good example and gently correct those that don't.
It's a shame that 'common decency' has to be enforced in some way.
I post under a screen name (obviously), and while my real name is in my profile now, even before it was I never felt the urge to push someone else's buttons just for the fun of it. I realize I'm being a bit optimistic when I say this, but I think people rise to the standard to which they are held.
We have a bit of a reputation here at HN for being stodgy and humorless. While I don't think that is true, I'm fine with that reputation if it means newcomers think twice before posting their witty one liners and meme-of-the-week. Eventually the culture initiates the newcomers and they don't have to think twice... they will know what the community values and what it does not, and they will contribute accordingly.
In short, I don't think we need any technical solution to solve what someone's innate desire to be valuable will accomplish for us. What we do need is for existing members to set the tone, and so far they have done so admirably.