[sillysaurus3]

You are way too sensitive though. The virtue signaling is through the roof. All you're doing here is "trying to make sure a terrible person gets their comeuppance." Like really? You've never pulled a prank in your life?

I notice you and a lot of people like you have around 100-500 karma. I wonder if it's just newbies trying to find some way of differentiating themselves. Virtue signaling is in fashion, so it makes sense.

[rhcom2]

> virtue signaling

I'm so tired of this buzzword. Why not take people at face value that they are actually expressing their own moral opinion on an issue and not assume they're doing it for "social standing"... on an anonymous internet forum.

If you're looking for other behaviour that "makes the community worse" I think you should consider your own. Starting discussions with the assumption one side's opinions aren't valid opinions and using user's comment karma as a barometer of their sincerity will lead only to flame wars.

[sillysaurus3]

It didn't lead to a flamewar.

The issue is that expressing your own moral opinion is fashionable. It's considered acceptable to hold someone else's head under water just to raise your own. And that's toxic.

Note that anyone who calls out virtue signaling soon ends up in the crosshairs. I don't mind though.

Also, they were quite serious. And that's the problem. The fact that they're serious in calling out someone as a "terrible person" (when they're not) is what makes it dangerous.

[rhcom2]

It's an internet forum. We're all expressing our own moral and general opinions. It's toxic to assume these opinions are not honestly held and write them off simply with another buzz word. The other poster didn't hold Shkreli's head under the water, his comments will not affect Martin at all. Plenty of people in this thread think he is a terrible person, you don't - that's fine, but it is still just an opinion. I don't see how that (or almost any) opinion is "dangerous" just because you disagree.

I don't know why you feel you're "in the crosshairs". You had no problem criticising the other poster, you should be able to take some criticism of your own.

[sillysaurus3]

It's toxic to assume these opinions are not honestly held and write them off simply with another buzz word.

You keep saying this, but nobody did that. Maybe that's where your anger is coming from. I clarified in my last comment that their opinions are honestly held, so at this point it seems like you're trying to misunderstand me.

I think you really dislike the term "virtue signaling." That's fine, but it doesn't change that that's what is happening here.

The fact that all of this stemmed from the idea that he is a terrible person for threatening to destroy an album as a joke is what makes this situation ludicrous. When the witch hunting mindset is so engrained in our culture, it becomes dangerous to those it targets.

[rhcom2]

I'm not angry at all, I'm just trying to tell you that if you're going to comment on what makes this community worse you need to consider your own behaviour.

> Since 2015, the term has become more commonly used as a pejorative characterization by commentators to criticize what they regard as the platitudinous, empty, or superficial support of certain political views" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_signalling

You can see why I would misunderstand you because this is the definition of the word as I (and obviously others) understand it. So basically saying someone's opinions are "platitudinous, empty, or superficial" is both shitty way to try to have a conversation and a way to write people's opinions off. The wikipedia also pretty nicely sums up how it has become a misused buzzword without any actual meaning, unless you're a signalling theorist.

[vonkow]

I didn't say anything about anything beyond the fact that that's the classic defence of trolling and it's a piss poor one. Cool that you looked at my karma tho, like it means something. I've been around the block more than a few times and am generally too busy to comment on hacker news.

Also, way to use the term virtue signalling to offhandedly dismiss anyone that thinks people should treat other people with some amount of respect.

Anyway, I hope you have a good day and that you treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Edit: and yeah, I pulled a few pranks when I was like 15. They were stupid and I grew out of it once I learned that my actions affected others.

[sillysaurus3]

I've been around the block more than a few times and am generally too busy to comment on hacker news.

This is just another way of saying that you come around to snipe at someone and then leave. What if Martin wanted to come participate on HN? How would he feel?

Calling someone a "terrible person" for threatening to destroy an album (and then not doing it) ruins your ability to call out truly terrible people for truly terrible things.

More than that, it's rather unfortunate to jump on the train of kicking someone while they're down. What Martin did was illegal, and he'll stand for his crimes. Using this as an opportunity to grandstand just to elevate yourself isn't very classy.

[vonkow]

No, that's my way of saying, who cares how many points I have on an internet forum and how are said points relevant to what I am saying? I glance at what's on HN in the morning and occasionally comment when something is super relevant or when I'm bored and sipping on a drink after work.

I was sniping at you and your, oh so typical, defence of trolling, but since you want to talk about Martin (are you on a first name basis or something?), he's a terrible person for waaaaay more reasons than threatening to burn an album. You wanna talk about kicking people when they're down? Let's start with jacking up the price on a drug that a good number of people with HIV need to survive, because that's kicking someone when they're down, unlike calling out a troll for being a troll. Sure, he was legally in his right to do so, but just because something is legal doesn't make it morally the right thing to do.

Thanks for reminding me why I rarely comment on things online, I have better things to do than argue with someone who sees more humanity in a troll than they do in the people he has hurt.

[sillysaurus3]

You don't even have your facts straight. No one went without their meds. At best he was guilty of ripping off insurance companies. And that's not a great thing to do, but you shouldn't feel great about pretending he hurt people.

It matters when you come onto HN for the sole reason of trashing on someone, especially when you hardly participate in the first place. That kind of behavior causes other people to do the same, which makes the community worse.