[Rjevski]

OT - new user here, what does green mean? I assumed it was staff/moderators.

[mbel]

It means new user (hence green color).

[jancsika]

I just assumed green meant admin or some kind of paying customer.

I'd venture to guess green users could use this ambiguity to play subtle rhetorical tricks on users with a moderate number of points here.

[parthdesai]

your username will appear green till you get a certain amount of karma/upvotes.

[striking]

I thought it was based on time.

[parthdesai]

hmm not sure. My username appeared green till i got 50/100 upvotes. I think that makes sense since the number upvotes on HN usually indicates that the person makes valid comments and is not trolling.