[conceit]

It's supposed to be distracting, but moodlifting, seeing the post exposes essentially negative oppoinions. Of course they are devoid of content.

[tjbiddle]

I agree. A lot of times I'm just perusing HN for a few minutes as a break; I'm not looking for heavy reading. Setting up the content like this gives me a quick little chuckle in-between paragraphs and I move to the next. Rather than oh god this is too long - next link.

[imtringued]

I've spent an hour reading a 20,000 word article. Don't go down the same path I did!