[lolidaisuki]

> I've been here since the beginning and I think comments have gotten more hostile since then.

I've been reading HN since around 2010 and to me it seems that there is now less hostility about technical topics but more hostility against anyone who isn't 100% politically correct. I also think that the quality of comments has decreased dramatically since.

> No one outside of HN that I interact with discusses HN, and if there's ever discussion of this stereotype here, I've missed it.

Many IRC communities I'm part of know HN and sometimes discuss it and the stereotype in those seems to be that HN users are overly sensitive, hypocritical, greedy and toxic. Many of them are also former HN users who now hate the site.

[protomyth]

I think its more hostile than when I started. I'm pretty sure some of the comments about other people's religion wouldn't have stood in 2009[1].

The biggest difference to me is a tactical change of not refuting the other side or even acknowledging their argument, but just bury people you disagree with and take their voice.

1) yeah, I'm still a bit peeved https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10574861 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11071013

[dang]

Religious flamewars are not allowed here and we point that out whenever we see them. If something like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10574861 comes up again, it would be good email us at [e-mail]. We don't see everything, so we rely on users to keep us informed.

[protomyth]

It wasn't a "Religious flamewars", it was a drive-by of FUD that has been repeated in political threads. I wasn't arguing for superiority of something, I was just pointing out the historical truth and beliefs of a church. Frankly, getting downvoted for quoting the founder/prophet of the church for the origin of the name was a pretty low point on HN for me.

[TheLogothete]

Naive (and synonyms) is the one I hear the most, and i tend to agree with it.