[ux4]

I think this becomes true when any programming website becomes popular. Just look at reddit.

Highly technical programming articles can be hard to digest and don't appeal to a wide audience so they get less upvotes, especially if it's about a specialized language. If you really wanted to read those articles, you could still find them in abundance on other programming/hacking/specialized forums.

[cbHXBY1D]

There was a noticeable drop in quality on HN after we started allowing political content. I think it's brought in a new crowd of HN users. I remember how in 2006 to 2010 Reddit changed from a place mostly frequented by programmers to a place filled with memes, trolling, and politics.

Edit: I generally hate the "the past was better" type of attitudes but I think in the case of HN and Reddit one just needs to look at the quality of 6 years ago to today.